Football eh? "Bloody football" as my mother says. From unrivalled ecstasy to mindless despair, such a wide and varied range of emotions can be packed into any given ninety minutes. But for me this week has been all about despair. The whole January window, the whole season in fact. There I've said it. The season has been a disaster for Sunderland AFC, for the fifth campaign in a row. I'll admit I've analyzed and obsessed about it all week.
As I write, the club have just signed
Joleon Lescott on a free transfer after four matches in the Greek top flight
with AEK Athens, our solitary piece of business so far. He hasn't played
competitively since November. He teams up with Pienaar, Rodwell, Anichebe and
Moyes as we try to morph ourselves into Everton's 2009 side. Papy Djilobodji is
facing four games out through suspension after an altercation with Darren
Fletcher last weekend, so we also have that to contend with. Victor Anichebe is
out of action for three months, practically ending his season. The treatment
room must resemble Paddington Station at the moment. We know the club has very little
financial clout and David Moyes has shown no hint inspiration in his time here. In
fact his demeanour is getting worse. Supporters would rather leave their seats
for an early half time ale than sit and vent their spleen or show their
discontent. They've seen it all before, too many times.
If and probably when, Sunderland do fall through the trap door this season,
what other uncertainties does such a scenario throw up? Is Moyes the right man
to turn the club around and build an immediate challenge for promotion? (Build
what exactly?) There's all too different financial aspect to consider if relegation becomes reality. Will Ellis Short find a buyer? How much of the garbage can we
try and ship out? (Once again). A lot of fans will stay away. That is the
nature of the beast unfortunately. The Championship is a phenomenally difficult
league to get out of and many big teams have struggled at the wrong end of the
table after dropping out of the Premier League. Wolves, Leeds etc have even falling
through to the third tier. Sheffield United are still there, Pompey in the
fourth. I'm not saying that this will happen at Sunderland
but we must be prepared for every possible outcome. Mind you, when have Ellis
Short and the board ever been properly prepared for anything? As a club we've
been applying sticking plasters to openly infected, gaping wounds for too many
seasons now, haemorrhaging money along they way, and it's becoming extremely frustrating and tiresome.
Some supporters believe David Moyes
should be fired, maybe with some justification too, but what exactly would that
achieve? The squad is poor, thin and it's looking increasingly likely that it's
not going to be good enough to stay in this league. Forgive me if this all
sounds too negative, we are only three points from safety, somehow, but the
whole scenario sort of, feels a little different this time around. Lamine Kone
doesn't want to be here. Patrick Van Aanholt doesn't want to be here. I'd
suggest Adnan Januzaj doesn't want to be here. Jeremain Lens isn't here but he
still wants us to be relegated. Hell, does David Moyes even want to be here?
He's aged so much as the months have gone by. It's incredible. The guy looks like he wants to be
put out of his misery. He isn't inspiring me so how can he inspire his players?
How long will it be before any kind of feel good factor returns? With incoming
signings looking increasingly unlikely, the club currently finds itself in a
state of disarray.
I toyed with the idea of writing this
in the way I have, but I believe people appreciate a bit of honesty. People
need honesty. I'm not going to paper over the cracks, put an arm round your
shoulder and tell you it'll be alright, because it won't be. There are
unbelievably, still some positives to take. We are not cut adrift. We do have
some players to return from injury and The African Cup of Nations. We have a
phenomenal set of supporters, who turn up in their tens of thousands at home
and pack out away grounds up and down the country every fortnight. Players will
do the media side of things, telling us all they're working hard to put things
right. That is all well and good but it's only words, the real demands are out
there when they cross that white line to hopefully fight tooth and nail for
this football club, but that's not happening at the moment. Is it ability?
Attitude? Both? Who's knows? It is the minimum requirement of any footballer.
Don't boo a player because he's not good enough. Boo a player because of his
work rate and bad attitude. Those players will come and go. Managers come and
go. Owners come and go, but we'll still be here. The supporters are the
lifeblood of any club and none more so than up here in the North East, and I
include Newcastle
in that. Ellis Short is the owner, but he's merely the leaseholder, minding the
shop for us. We'll keep on supporting our club, because that is what we do.
There have been some difficult times, and there are undoubtedly dark days
ahead. There'll be some good ones too I promise, even though that may seem
a little hard to believe.
Michael
