Dan Harrison says…
I think when it comes to changing our fortunes, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact we still have an awfully long way to go in the 2026/2027 season.
Whilst there’s no direct comparison, Aston Villa found themselves in a similar position last season and yet still finished the season in the Champions League places.
Our start was deemed the second most difficult in the league, turning into the most difficult when you extrapolate that over the first fifteen games. Whilst it’s easy to see us snowball and it becomes difficult to turn the ship once you build negative momentum, every team hits patches of adversity — it’s how you respond to them that sets you apart.
Régis Le Bris and multiple players have correctly identified and called this out early on, and it’s now about using the fact we’ve spotted it early as a warning and a lesson to avoid spiralling further.
There are thirty one games remaining, — that’s ninety three points still up for grabs. We aren’t going to win them all, but ninety three points would’ve won you the league in every season since 21/22.
We’re in a bad spot but there’s still eighty percent of the season left to play, so let’s fix it whilst time is still on our side.
David Elliott says…
It’s vital that we keep a sense of perspective at this time.
Régis Le Bris and the first team players haven’t become bad at their jobs overnight. Le Bris is still tactically astute; the players remain skilful and committed. Yes, the last two performances have been well below what we’ve come to expect but I am sure the manager and players are well aware of that.
I would hope they have honest discussions when analysing what has gone wrong and how they think they can turn things around.
Last season, it was absolutely clear that everyone understood what it meant to represent the club, the city and its people. This message needs to be reinforced, we need to get back to basics and remain humble — this is particularly pertinent if the squad has become arrogant as Nordi Mukiele suggested.
We as supporters also need to play our part by committing to the players on the pitch.
There’s no place for booing during the game, any criticism (of the constructive sort) can come later in the cold light of day. The rallying call for me is pretty straightforward and is a chant I love: “We are Sunderland, We are Sunderland!”
John Wilson says…
I sincerely hope and think the rallying cry has already been done by Régis Le Bris, Granit Xhaka and especially Nordi Mukiele, who hit the nail right on the head.
If arrogance isn’t quite the right word, “complacent” is certainly kinder and more apt. It’s far too early in the season to panic, but I guess that’s just the way some people are.
We’re still two points better off than against the same teams last season. We’re one win away from jumping up the league and have one win less than Brentford who sit in sixth position. Deemed to have one of the hardest starts to a season, there are many supporting statistics to fall back on.
We played well in quite a few games, apart from Bournemouth. We’re right up for the Europa League challenge, so it could be argued it’s a very unfair and negative perception that we’re all of a sudden struggling and a poor team. It’s purely attitude.
Let me ask you this: when you get into the ground for a game against Manchester United or Arsenal, do you have the same excitement and adrenaline rush as when we play Crystal Palace or Fulham? Probably not.
That’s what the players are suffering from: a lack of application against the less attractive teams. Yes they’re professionals and should approach every game with the same respect for the opposition, but they’re also human.
Hang the Mukiele quote up in the changing room, and let the fight from last season come back. I for one will be very shocked if we don’t see an upturn in the next two games.
Malc Dugdale says…
My message to the lads is we simply must start to work as hard as we possibly can to get ourselves back where we were in the recent past, and we will be fine. Most importantly, you need to know they we know you can do this, and we’re behind you all the way.
Just under ten years ago, we had our worst start in the Premier League ever, with only two points after ten games. You already have four way ahead of that point, so this isn’t that. You’re nothing like that team. It’s like chalk and cheese.
We have had tough Premier League fixtures, and the extra burden of European football, which you earned and have done very well in. The demands have been amplified by injuries and suspensions, and more than our fair share of bad luck.
As fans, we’ll always allow for those aspects. What we will not tolerate, however, are levels of effort and performance below what is befitting of this club and its fan base. And we shouldn’t, either.
Some of the recent games have been heading in that direction and that has to be reversed through honest hard graft, positive attitudes, improved communication and the team being better than the collection of individuals again.
You’re good enough to flip this. You proved that by winning a slot in the Europa League last May and you haven’t become poor since then. You’re very good footballers and with more graft and the right mindset, you can show everyone ‘second season syndrome’ is not a factor for us.
We brush ourselves down, listen to our leaders like Granit Xhaka, Nordi Mukiele, Luke O’Nien and others, take this tough start on the chin, and crack on.
The path back to being the best team in the North East is a short one, and if any squad can navigate the next handful of games and get us both further in Europe and back up the Premier League table, you can, with Régis Le Bris by your side.
Now go and smash these Polish lads and after that, let’s watch Leeds falling apart again…
Ricky Clucas says…
When you think of rallying cries and football, it’s usually a bunch of useless bastards who somehow need to find an extra couple of gears that everybody, deep down, knows they don’t really have. Think John O’Shea’s almost weekly rallying cry as a perfect example.
There can be many things thrown at this group of players, perhaps some even fairly so, however the one thing we all know for a fact is that they aren’t useless. And most of them aren’t bastards.
It should therefore be a straightforward message to the players and management: just go and do what you did all last season.
They don’t need to hit unforeseen levels of quality here — they just need to do what they did five months ago. And then do it again next week. And the week after. Midweek too, ideally.
We’re undoubtedly in a bad spot at the moment but the season is still a bairn. We’ve seen how quickly league positions can change with a couple of results so let’s stop fannying about and win some games. Easy.
We all have our part to play here as well.
The messaging coming from the players is that they seem to understand their part and hopefully we as fans understand ours on Sunday and get behind them from the start. Turn the Stadium of Light into a cauldron and even the mighty Leeds United — a team we took four points off last season — will surely struggle.
Tom Albrighton says…
Look to your team mates and look within yourself.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Don’t forget who you are, the men who proved every doubter wrong, who through sheer will and determination silenced every critic, who through hard work and a complete refusal to be beaten made the impossible possible.
Right now, the shirt may weigh heavily on your shoulders, but ask yourself this: is it your battle or everyone else’s? If you think it is not yours or that you can’t fight it, look your team mates in the eyes and tell them so.
Tell them you cannot go to the well once more for those who would go a hundred times over for you. Tell them you cannot sacrifice your own ego for the good of the collective. Tell them you don’t have the stomach, the courage or the bravery to first look at what you can do for others, before you look at what you can do for yourself.
Sunderland is built on the shoulders of the giants who stood before; those who answered the call without wavering, those who put themselves last and the collective first, those who never gave up, who fought the good fight and did so until the bitter end. Those are the heroes we remember — not those who couldn’t stomach the fight.
And when history is written, how would you like to be remembered — with your name as a footnote in the history of this great club, or one that echoes in eternity?