Ahead of Saturday’s dead rubber end of season game at Sunderland we’re joined by Graham from the WTF Podcast to find out whether Sunderland’s decision to rest players, crash their form will prove to be a winning recipe for this May's play-offs - the Mackems come into this on a run of four straight losses.

How's the season been for Sunderland?

The season has been a weird. Incredible to begin with, unexpectedly good, then we tailed off a bit after it became apparent we weren't getting automatics. On reflection, it's been a class season, but it feels like one of those smooth flights that suddenly get bumpy in the middle and you worry you're going to die, and even if you manage to get the plane down (get promoted to the 'promised land' of the EPL), you'll land somewhere awful (enter random crap English town). And I'm terrified of flying.

Sunderland in the league so far…
Cardiff 0-2 Sunderland O’Nien 18, Clarke 89
Sunderland 4-0 Sheff Wed Cirkin 11, Mayenda 15, 47, O’Nien 24
Sunderland 1-0 Burnley Mundle 26
Pompey 1-3 Sunderland O’Nien og 90 – Swanson og 31, Browne 51, Mundle 56
Plymouth 3-2 Sunderland Ballard og 54, Hardie pen 73, Edwards 90 – Roberts pen 24, Mundle 86
Sunderland 1-0 Boro Rigg 24
Watford 2-1 Sunderland Ebosele 28, Dele-Bashiru pen 84 – Isidor 49
Sunderland 2-0 Derby Bellingham 40, Isidor 55
Sunderland 2-2 Leeds Rigg 9, Firpo og 90 – Piroe 22, Firpo 56
Hull 0-1 Sunderland Isidor 63
Luton 1-2 Sunderland Adebayo 63 – Rigg 55, Mundle 66
Sunderland 2-0 Oxford Bellingham 16, Isidor 63
QPR 0-0 Sunderland
Preston 0-0 Sunderland
Sunderland 2-2 Coventry Isidor 17, Cirkin 35 – Wright 62, Rudoni 84
Millwall 1-1 Sunderland Azeez 90 – Connolly 10
Sunderland 0-0 West Brom
Sheff Utd 1-0 Sunderland Davies 83
Sunderland 2-1 Stoke Watson 7, 86 – Koumas 6
Sunderland 1-1 Bristol City Roberts 90 – McNally 62
Swansea 2-3 Sunderland Vipotnik 5, Cullen 17 – Ballard 28, Neil 73, Bellingham 75
Sunderland 2-1 Norwich Ballard 47, Bellingham 72 – Slimane 21
Blackburn 2-2 Sunderland Ohashi 13, Leonard 90 – Rigg 51, Isidor 55
Stoke 1-0 Sunderland Cannon 90
Sunderland 2-1 Sheff Utd Mayenda 27, Isidor 35 – O’Nien og 32
Sunderland 1-0 Portsmouth Isidor 7
Burnley 0-0 Sunderland
Derby 0-1 Sunderland Mayenda 28
Sunderland 2-2 Plymouth Isidor 60, Hume 72 – Patterson og 58, Ogbeta 90
Boro 2-3 Sunderland Burgzorg 11, Hackney 59 – Neil 33, Isidor 51, Giles og 87
Sunderland 2-2 Watford O’Nien 16, Cirkin 89 – Dele-Bashiru pen 43, Louza 46
Sunderland 2-0 Luton Le Fee 13, Isidor 58
Leeds 2-1 Sunderland Struijk 78, 90 – Isidor 32
Sunderland 0-1 Hull Patterson og 18
Sheff Wed 1-2 Sunderland Paterson 48 – Mayenda 34, 71
Sunderland 2-1 Cardiff Mayenda 2, Mepham 77 – Davies 41
Sunderland 1-1 Preston Mundle 86 – Riis 65
Coventry 3-0 Sunderland Wright 21, pen 29, 73
Sunderland 1-0 Millwall Hume 20
West Brom 0-1 Sunderland Hume 35
Norwich 0-0 Sunderland
Sunderland 0-1 Swansea Cabango 58
Bristol City 2-1 Sunderland Dickie 55, McCrorie 76 – Mayenda 31
Sunderland 0-1 Blackburn Dolan 33
Oxford 2-0 Sunderland Nelson 29, Helik 48

Do you think this has been an achievement, given where you were a year ago, or is it disappointing that having set the early pace you haven't kept up with an admittedly very good top two?

I think its entirely possible to see it as both, but I can only give you my thoughts. If I rewind back to last season and the mess Micky Footsal left us in it’s been a huge achievement. I honestly feel like, on our day, we are the best of the rest. We've beaten Sheffield United and Burnley, but I think the depths of their squads (inc Leeds) has been what's done us in the end. Money = success. The fact we've been competed for large parts is a huge achievement in my eyes. But you get no prizes or praise for finishing fourth.

What have you made of Regis Le Bris one year in?

I like Reg. But I also have my doubts. He seems smart, well put together, articulate and far too calm for a club like Sunderland. In reality, even if we lose in the playoffs, he's had an outstanding form season, but it rankles with me that he doesn't seem to know how to stop his bad habits like sitting back when we score, or playing Enzo Le Fee on the fucking wing.

What was done in January? What was left undone?

Enzo Le Fee largely. An outstanding football that has been pushed out onto the left wing to cover injuries, and due to a combination of injury and...well more injuries, he hasn't been placed in the middle where he's played for Lorient and Roma.

We signed Jayden Danns as an alternative striking option, which was a good move in principal. But we picked up a back injury during his medical, and still signed him anyway. Can you guess what happened? Yeah. He's not played a minute. I think we could have done with a few more, just to add some depth, but January is such a tricky market.

Summer Ins >>> Milan Aleksic, 19, CM, Radnicki (Serbia), £3m >>> Ahmed Abdullahi, 20, CF, Gent, £1m >>> Alan Browne, 29, CM, Preston, Free >>> Ian Poveda, 24, RW, Leeds, Free >>> Simon Moore, 34, GK, Coventry, Free >>> Blondy Nna Noukeu, 22, GK, Stoke, Free >>> Aaron Connolly, 24, CF, Unattached, Free >>> Wilson Isidor, 23, CF, Zenit, Loan Salis Abdul Samed, 24, DM, Lens, Loan >>> Chris Mepham, 26, CB, Bournemouth, Loan

Jewison Bennette, 20, LW, Cherkasy, £450k >>> Aaron Connolly, 24, CF, Millwall, Undisclosed >>> Abdoullah Ba, 21, RW, Dunkerque, Loan >>> Adil Aouchiche, 22, AM, Portsmouth, Loan >>> Nazariy Rusyn, 26, CF, Hajduk Split, Loan >>> Nathan Bishop, 25, GK, Cambridge, Loan

You've known you're a play-off team but not an automatics team for months now, similar to our situation in 2013/14 and like us your form has dropped off a cliff with four defeats coming into this game. Are you worried about momentum? Or is this going to be a nicely rested team ready for May?

I've been largely on the "these don't matter. Let's keep 'em rested and go for the playoffs. Momentum is dead" until last weekend. We've had Mundle, Le Fee, Mayenda, Ballard, Cirkin, Watson and about five more who've been out for a decent period of time this season - so I get Regis' thinking. However, this is Sunderland. A club so bad it once got relegated twice in a row, and streamed it on the world's biggest streaming service, before a league playoff final with the final kick off the game. It’s never really been us celebrating in my lifetime - not without a crashing downfall straight after it. So, we had football-PTSD. We need something to clamber onto and believe in, so these four defeats in a row have sunk us a little bit and made us worry the worst is yet to come. But every dog has its day. Let's hope it’s ours.

Player of the year candidates?

It was Jobe for me, but Trai Hume won the supporters one, and I find it difficult to argue. Dan Neil, Riggy, Wilson, Mepham and L09 have all had good seasons, but each one of them have had little dips at points. I'm not sure Trai has. He's a top class fullback, perhaps only bettered by Jaden Bogle at Leeds in my honest opinion.

Weak links?

Weak links at the moment are all over. Our defence can't keep a clean sheet, and Mepham and L09 are having really poor spells at the moment. I love Leo Hledje, but in truth he's not at the standard we require him to be. Wilson Isidor has had a good season, but he's 11 games without a goal and he is desperate to change that, but just doesn't look like he will at the moment. There's oddly a fair amount riding this one to be honest, like...has any team every lost five straight games then won the playoffs?

Neck on the line, will you see this through? Does Le Bris stick around and everybody goes again next season if you don't?

I have to say I don't think we will, no. Coventry are the team who feel like the most likely. They've fu**ed us over in plenty of relegation battles, so why not in a promotion one? Ultimately, football is about stories, and Cov missed out on the playoffs by the lottery of penalties two years ago. I hope it isn't, but I feel like it's their time. Regis should stay if we don't, but it's an intriguing summer if we don't. Hume, Jobe, Rigg etc will all likely be gone to clubs higher up the chain, and it’s about how we reinvest that and how long it takes to remedy a decent team. I think it will be silly to remove the man who has the most experience with the players that remain. But football owners are inherently silly and care about things like money and success. Whatever those things are.

Links >>> Sunderland official website >>> Sunderland Echo — Local Paper >>> Roker Report — Blog >>> Not606 — Forum >>> Ready to Go — Forum >>> Wise Men Say – Podcast >>> What The Falk – Podcast >>> A Love Supreme – Fanzine

If you enjoy LoftforWords, please consider supporting the site through a subscription to our Patreon or tip us via our PayPal account loftforwords@yahoo.co.uk.

Pictures - Reuters Connect

Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.

• Page:
• 1

stowmarketrange added 15:40 - May 1 A striker who hasn’t scored in 11 games and they’ve lost 4 on spin while not being able to keep a clean sheet.Oh dear oh dear.
4

E1Hoop added 16:19 - May 1 “ I think it will be silly to remove the man who has the most experience with the players that remain. But football owners are inherently silly and care about things like money and success. Whatever those things are.” Mmm…. I assume he was talking about Sunderland.
4

TacticalR added 11:43 - May 3 Thanks to Graham. I can understand your scepticism about your play-off chances given Sunderland's current lack of momentum, but you never know.
0

• Page:
• 1

You need to login in order to post your comments

Blogs 31 bloggers

Derby County Polls