Sunderland Echo football writers Joe Nicholson and Phil Smith look back on the highs and lows of Sunderland's 2023/24 season.
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00:00That almost kind of put the nail in the coffin, almost.
00:04But I do think my overall biggest frustration from the season
00:07is the way that Sunderland went from one of the most enjoyable teams in the country to watch
00:11to what we saw at the end of the season, where, to be honest, it was pretty painful viewing at times.
00:30Hello and welcome to the Raw podcast brought to you by the Sunderland Echo.
00:35My name is Joe Nicholson and I'm joined by my fellow Sunderland writer at the Echo, Phil Smith.
00:40We're going to come on to now our season review.
00:43We sent a tweet out asking fans for some of their highs, lows,
00:47goal of the season, play of the season.
00:49So we're going to go through ours now.
00:51We'll start with the highlights of the season,
00:54which probably comes from the first half of the season for many fans.
00:58I think the obvious one and the one we had most in the comments was
01:01the 5-0 win over Southampton, Phil.
01:04Seems like a different season ago, really.
01:06So much has happened since that day back in September, at the start of September.
01:11It was right after the transfer window closed.
01:14There was this kind of questions asked,
01:17are Sunderland going to sign another striker?
01:18Are our players going to go?
01:19And then they went and thumped Southampton 5-0 team.
01:22They've just come down from the Premier League.
01:24So I say that was probably my highlight.
01:26Would you share that view?
01:28And are there any other highlights that stick out from the campaign?
01:32Yeah, I had to think long and hard about this one,
01:34which told its own kind of story.
01:36As you said, the Southampton game, it just feels so long ago.
01:39I think that was definitely my highlight.
01:40There was a few factors to it.
01:42One was that the season had actually started really disappointingly,
01:47in that Sunderland were playing okay,
01:49but obviously had those two really bad defeats, didn't they,
01:51against Ipswich and Preston,
01:52even though I didn't think they'd played that badly.
01:54Knocked out of the Carabao Cup,
01:56and it all felt, because of the uncertainty,
01:58that being around Tony Moby's future of the summer,
02:00it all felt very unsettled, didn't it?
02:02As you say, and then very difficult to enter the window,
02:05when there was a huge amount of speculation about Jack Clarke, Patrick Roberts,
02:09I think even Dan Neal was being linked with a move away at one stage,
02:11wasn't he, on their bad day?
02:12Yeah, Ekwer, I think, as well.
02:13And so for Sunderland to go out...
02:15Yeah, Ekwer as well, that's right.
02:17So for Sunderland to go out the next day and play that well
02:20against a team that had been in the Premier League the previous season,
02:24it almost felt as if Sunderland had kind of drawn the line
02:27under a very, very difficult few months.
02:31And it felt like, okay, we've got them back on an even key
02:33and we can kick on now.
02:35That's obviously absolutely not what happened,
02:37and it proved to be a bit of a false dome.
02:39But I think it's a bit of a reminder, to be honest,
02:41that for most of the first half of the season,
02:44Sunderland weren't a bad team.
02:45And they played decent football.
02:47They were very, very, very competitive.
02:50This was one of the few days
02:51where they were able to take their chances consistently.
02:54And so, to be honest, I, by and large,
02:58enjoyed the first half of the season.
03:00And it was very frustrating at times,
03:01obviously, with the striker issue
03:02and someone not always getting
03:04what their performance has deserved.
03:05But the first half of the season,
03:07I thought in the main was okay.
03:09And obviously, the Southampton game,
03:10you know, that brilliant fifth goal with Bennett
03:12doing about three twists and turns and Chris Riggs scoring.
03:16Yeah, I think that was definitely the highlight of the season.
03:18And like I say, just a real shame
03:20that actually it proved to be a false dome, really,
03:23rather than more of a turning point.
03:25I was just having a look back at the highlights
03:27from that game before.
03:27And I remember in the first minute,
03:29I think it was Sirkin giving the ball away.
03:31Sunderland had conceded a corner.
03:32And then from the corner, Sunderland broke.
03:34And then Hulme crossed the ball for Clarke.
03:36And then he headed it in.
03:38And then within a few minutes later,
03:39Ecuador had made it 2-0.
03:40It was just one of those days
03:42where everything went right for Sunderland.
03:45The other one I had written down as a highlight
03:47was the 1-0 win over Leeds in December,
03:50when Mike Dodds had charged us
03:51I thought it was two massive clubs playing.
03:54It was a night game, wasn't it?
03:55And then Bellingham getting that goal.
03:57I think it was just a big occasion.
03:58They obviously came with a big backing as well.
04:00And that was another game that stood out,
04:03backing up that win over West Brom,
04:05when Mike Dodds was in charge.
04:06So they were probably the two for me that stood out.
04:08That's a really good shout for Leeds game.
04:10So I think off the back of the West Brom one,
04:12obviously it gave us the feeling
04:14that actually there was a bit of continuity there
04:16in terms of, yes, Tony Milgrave gone,
04:18but this was still a talented squad.
04:21Hopefully it won't be too much of an impact.
04:24Obviously they then made some bad decisions
04:26off the back of that.
04:27But yeah, that's a really good shout.
04:29I think especially that Leeds game and that joke goal,
04:32it did feel like things were,
04:34maybe things will still go in the right direction.
04:36But yeah, unfortunately then all,
04:38I think the next home game after Leeds
04:39would have been Coventry at home, wouldn't it?
04:43Which leads us, I guess, into our lowlights really,
04:46because that was sort of the beginning
04:47of the end of the season really, wasn't it?
04:50A lot of fan disappointment and anger in the stadium,
04:53now Huggins' injury, which would be right up there
04:56for a lowlight of the season for me,
04:57given how brilliant he'd been
04:59through the first half of the campaign
05:00and what a good story that had been.
05:02And although there were the odd really good results
05:04in the Michael Bill, I'm thinking specifically
05:06Hull away at Boxing Day was obviously a good win.
05:08Nothing was ever really the same in the season
05:11after that Coventry game.
05:12It felt like a huge turning point in the season,
05:16the manner of the defeat
05:17and also the way things seemed to be unravelling.
05:20Yeah, we'll come on to lowlights.
05:21They mentioned a few there.
05:23You could also throw in the Blackburn game, the 5-1,
05:25but I think probably the biggest lowlight
05:27and biggest frustration will come around
05:30that kind of December, January time
05:31where the season did kind of all unravel.
05:34I remember we were travelling down to Bristol City
05:37in that kind of evening.
05:38We were travelling down on the Friday night
05:39and it was Dodds' last game
05:41and his first spell of interim boss.
05:43And the news came out that Bill was going to get the job.
05:47There was then also that ticketing stuff
05:48about the Derby
05:50and then just the way the season unravelled.
05:52I think that was kind of, for me,
05:53the biggest kind of lowlight and frustration
05:56is just how quickly it did unravel
05:59after those two impressive wins
06:00against, as we mentioned, Leeds and West Brom.
06:03And then even when Michael Beale came in,
06:05there was a big backlash.
06:06There was the reaction
06:07and clearly a lot of fans were very underwhelmed
06:10by the appointment.
06:11And we said at the time
06:12that the Derby game could either make or break him
06:14if he went and won that Derby,
06:16somehow won that game against Newcastle in the FA Cup,
06:18then that would get him a lot of credit in the bank,
06:20whereas actually it worked the other way.
06:22And that almost kind of put the nail in the coffin,
06:26almost because, as you mentioned,
06:28that Hull game,
06:28they'd actually had a few decent results
06:30after the Coventry game,
06:32which was obviously,
06:33there was a backlash in the stadium.
06:34They got a win over Hull,
06:36they got a win over Preston, didn't they,
06:37on New Year's Day.
06:38And I think they were kind of building
06:40a little bit of momentum.
06:41And then the Derby game came at a bad time
06:43and then it was the game against Hull
06:46on the Friday night
06:47where the fans were chanting against Bale.
06:49And that's where you thought there's kind of,
06:51there's no way back for him from there, was there?
06:52Yeah, I wrote down my low light was the Newcastle game
06:55and it was just everything around that
06:57was just completely wrong.
06:59And I think it was a huge turning point
07:03for a lot of supporters
07:04in terms of it really damaged
07:06how they felt about the ownership,
07:07I think, with what happened with the Black Cats bar.
07:10I think obviously we'd been through a period
07:14where something generally had been progressing,
07:15I think, under the current ownership.
07:17And although there were a lot of debates
07:19and a lot of frustrations at certain times within that,
07:22not signing strikers on deadline day,
07:24all these kinds of things,
07:25I think generally there was a sense of progress.
07:27And I think the appointment of Bale
07:29and things starting to go wrong
07:31and then the Derby game,
07:32I think, undid a lot of that,
07:33from which I still don't think
07:34Sunderland recovered at all.
07:36But I do think my overall biggest frustration
07:38from the season is the way that Sunderland
07:40went from one of the most enjoyable teams
07:42in the country to watch
07:43to what we saw at the end of the season,
07:45where, to be honest,
07:46it was pretty painful viewing at times.
07:49Even when Sunderland lost games
07:50for a long period of time,
07:51I came away feeling as if I'd enjoyed
07:52watching what they were doing
07:53and felt really good about it.
07:55And the reality is that
07:57the appointment of Michael Bale
07:58was the moment in which
08:00pretty much they stopped
08:02being that vibrant, front foot, fearless team
08:04that we loved watching.
08:05And that's something which has just accelerated since.
08:07So that's probably my biggest frustration, maybe.
08:10It's so long we'd wanted this young,
08:13vibrant, front foot Sunderland team,
08:15finally got it,
08:16and then almost just kind of
08:17taught yourself, inflicted, moved away from it.
08:20Yeah, that's something which still
08:21really, really frustrates me at the end of the season.
08:23And for me, it's like the biggest thing.
08:26I want to see changes this summer.
08:27I want that Sunderland back
08:28because you can accept your defeat
08:32if you sort of feel as if you're moving
08:33in the right direction.
08:34And with the players and the squad,
08:36I don't think there's any reason
08:36why it shouldn't be that,
08:37you know, shouldn't be good to watch.
08:39One of the biggest disappointments for me
08:41was just the way it kind of ended
08:42for Tony Mowbray.
08:43I think, just speak for you as well,
08:45kind of just one of the kind of nicest guys,
08:47had time for everybody.
08:49Obviously, did a great job last season,
08:50incredible job last season,
08:51really, to get Sunderland into the playoffs.
08:54And of course, he's had to step away now
08:56from Birmingham.
08:57We still wish him well and pass on our thoughts.
09:00But just the way it kind of ended for him.
09:01And as we've said before,
09:03like Sunderland,
09:05they weren't in incredible form
09:06when Mowbray left.
09:07I think it was two wins in nine.
09:08But just the way that they went
09:09from a team that was very dynamic
09:12on the front foot,
09:12and then the season just unraveled so quickly
09:17was a big disappointment for a lot of fans
09:19and us covering the team.
09:21But we'll move on to goal of the season.
09:23I have to look back at a few of these.
09:25Conveniently, the club put out a video
09:26just about an hour before we came on
09:28of all the goals this season.
09:29So I was having to look back at some of those.
09:32The one that got mentioned quite a lot
09:34on our post on social media
09:35was Niall Huggins' goal against Watford,
09:37where he beat a couple of players
09:39and then hit one into the top corner.
09:42I think that was his first goal
09:43in senior football as well.
09:44And as you mentioned before,
09:45a big disappointment for him
09:46to get injured in that Coventry game
09:48and now be out for a long time.
09:49But just kind of the emotion he showed as well.
09:52We spoke to him after the game as well,
09:53and he was saying how tough it had been
09:55to come back from the injury that he's had,
09:56which makes the injury he's got now
09:58kind of very disappointing as well for him.
10:02So that was one that stood out.
10:03The other one that I thought
10:04was just an unbelievable goal
10:06was Jack Clarke's hip switch,
10:09where I think it was at a corner
10:11that sort of broke to him.
10:12And I still don't really understand
10:14how he managed to strike it that cleanly.
10:17And the reason I picked out that goal
10:18was at the time,
10:20the best goals are always the ones
10:22that are just so unexpected.
10:23And when the ball came to Clarke,
10:25we just didn't see how he was going to score
10:28that quickly,
10:28how he was going to get the back part of the goal.
10:30I don't even remember the goalkeeper move,
10:31and it all happened in such a flash.
10:34It's hard to say that's a goal of the season
10:36because at the end of the season,
10:37I'd lost the game.
10:39But I remember thinking that strike
10:41was just absolutely unbelievable.
10:42So in terms of the actual quality of goal,
10:45I think that one would be up there.
10:47Jobes at Southampton,
10:50an amazing goal,
10:51the one that he placed in the far corner.
10:53Again, you're sort of biased against that one
10:55because at the end of the day,
10:56it didn't end up with a win.
10:58So that's why I think I would give it a huggins.
11:00But those are the two strikes
11:01that I remember at the time,
11:02sort of my jaw actually dropped
11:04because you just didn't expect him
11:05to score from there.
11:07So yeah, those are the two
11:09that sprung to mind as well.
11:10Yeah, the Jobe one,
11:12at the time when he went in,
11:12obviously suddenly come back from 2-0 down,
11:14you're thinking this could be
11:15a really special away day
11:17against a side that were fighting for promotion.
11:19If someone had gone on to win, for example,
11:20unfortunately, they'd go and lose it 4-2.
11:23The other one I had written down
11:24was Pritchard's goal against Preston
11:26on New Year's Day,
11:27where he kind of cut across the ball
11:28and it kind of swerved away from goalkeeper.
11:32That was the other one I had
11:33in terms of just a strike.
11:34The other one was Dan Neal against Norwich,
11:37where I think Jack Clark
11:39beat a couple of players
11:41and then slipped it through to Neal,
11:42who then beat the goalkeeper
11:43that roosted his movement
11:45and kind of created some space in between.
11:48Yeah, I think to be honest,
11:49at the start of the season,
11:50if he'd said 16,
11:51I would have been bitterly disappointed.
11:53We still have to be patient
11:54with these players as well.
11:55We've seen that it is natural
11:57when you're that young,
11:59you're going to have dips in form.
12:01We'll come on to player of the season.
12:03I think it's going to be pretty obvious
12:05in most people's eyes
12:06that it's going to be Jack Clark.
12:10Definitely.
12:14I don't think you can see otherwise,
12:15really, when you just look at his goal output.
12:17I think the other thing about Clark
12:19is it's not as if he just picked up
12:23where he left off.
12:24Actually, there was a huge improvement.
12:26Last season, he was a really good player
12:27for some,
12:28but I don't think we were looking
12:30coming into the season
12:31and going, this is the guy
12:32who's going to carry Sunderland's attack.
12:34I think last season,
12:35it had mostly been about Ahmad, hadn't it?
12:37And even Roberts, to an extent.
12:39Again, that's not saying Clark
12:40hadn't been very good.
12:41He'd been excellent.
12:42He'd scored some really important goals.
12:44But I think the way he took on that burden
12:46from Ahmad
12:47and became pretty much the best player
12:49in the championship.
12:50Obviously, he had some of the other players
12:51in his position for Leeds
12:52who won the award in Smodic.
12:54But I think Clark,
12:55up until his injury,
12:56was right up there.
12:57And I think that was an incredible achievement.
12:59So for me,
13:00I don't think there's really much
13:02of a debate.
13:02I think it has to be Clark.
13:03I think you could pick out
13:04a few of the players
13:05who I think took a big step forward this season
13:08and deserve credit
13:09for their consistency in a difficult season.
13:11And I would say
13:12Dan Neil, Trey Hugh and Dan Ballard,
13:14I would all put in the same category of
13:17they'd had a pretty solid previous season
13:19and had shown they could play at the level.
13:20I think they really stepped up
13:22and became leaders
13:25despite their age,
13:26which I think is really to their credit.
13:28And I think for the most part,
13:29they all performed at a really consistent level.
13:32So I think they all deserve
13:33sort of a mention and some credit.
13:35But yeah, Clark's the,
13:36you know,
13:36Clark's the clear player of the season
13:38and the young player of the season.
13:40I would probably say Dan Neil,
13:41but I would definitely put Trey Hugh
13:43in that category
13:44because I think sometimes
13:45it's easy to forget that
13:47it's only 18 months ago
13:48that he barely played a game for Sunderland.
13:50You know, and again,
13:51the fact that he's performing so consistently now
13:54and I think also the fact that
13:55he's played 55 games,
13:57including internationals this season.
14:00Actually, I haven't seen
14:01much of a drop-off from him recently
14:03and I think that's really creditable.
14:04And I think Joe would have to go
14:06into that conversation as well.
14:07I think to get seven goals
14:08in pretty much his first season,
14:10I think that's really impressive as well.
14:13So yeah, I think,
14:15I do think,
14:15although there aren't loads of candidates,
14:17I do think there are a few players
14:18who have sort of deserved some credit
14:20for their consistency
14:21in a really difficult season.
14:23The next one we've got,
14:24because we've kind of covered
14:25young player of the season there.
14:27Player you want to see more of next season?
14:30The one I put down was Dennis Serkin.
14:32I think it's obviously a very obvious one,
14:34but I think that
14:35one of the,
14:36obviously the two positions
14:37we spoke most about being a problem
14:39for Sunderland this season were,
14:41as you mentioned,
14:41of all the midfield and strikers.
14:43They were the two obvious ones.
14:45But I do think left-back
14:46has been a massive issue all season.
14:48So for much of the season,
14:50you know,
14:50Sunderland have either had to put
14:51one of their right-backs at left-back
14:53and Trehearne was fine
14:54whenever he was there.
14:55He was very good in fact,
14:56but Cooley is better at right-back.
14:58Or as we've seen recently,
15:00they've had to put a player there
15:01who would probably rather play
15:03in a different position,
15:04but can do it.
15:04So Yelder and Styles
15:05are the two obvious ones.
15:06Yelder, who I think I've told you,
15:08I think actually signed
15:09that he was a centre-back first.
15:10Styles, who's obviously a midfielder
15:12or a wing-back rather than a left-back.
15:14I do feel like that was a massive issue
15:16for Sunderland all season.
15:17I think it took away
15:18sort of in attack and in defence.
15:21I thought Alise,
15:21when he first came back,
15:22which was around the sort of
15:23Preston game, the Newcastle game,
15:25I thought he was one of
15:26Sunderland's best players.
15:28I think he's made a solid
15:29comeback recently,
15:30and so that gives me a lot of optimism
15:31for next season.
15:32I think Serkin,
15:34there's two aspects to it.
15:35One, he's a very good defender.
15:37And two, I think he is excellent
15:39in terms of getting forward
15:40and supporting Jack Clarke.
15:41He overlaps him.
15:42He makes it really hard
15:43for the defenders to sort of
15:45double up on Clarke,
15:46because Serkin obviously
15:47gives that option
15:48to either go outside or inside.
15:50I just think he's such a huge talent.
15:52I think he's been such a massive
15:54miss for Sunderland this season.
15:55And I think if he can get fit
15:56in pre-season and stay fit,
15:58I think what has been
15:59one of Sunderland's weakest
16:00positions this season
16:02becomes one of their absolute
16:03strongest positions
16:04without having to spend a penny.
16:06So, yeah, for me,
16:07if there was one kind of player
16:08I could push a button and say,
16:09you're going to get 40 games
16:10out from next year.
16:12For me, it would be Serkin,
16:13because I think that
16:14if him and Elise stay fit,
16:16then I think that's going to be,
16:17I wouldn't go as far
16:18as to say transformative,
16:19but I think that's going to make
16:20a massive impact on Sunderland.
16:22Yeah, I'd add your
16:23Elise written down
16:23and kind of going back
16:24to the biggest disappointments,
16:26and frustrations.
16:27I think the head coach
16:27is obviously the biggest one.
16:29But you mentioned
16:29Niall Huggins' injury.
16:30I think Dennis Serkin's injury as well.
16:31I think he actually
16:32started the season well.
16:33I think the first few games,
16:35he was one of Sunderland's
16:36better players,
16:36and then he picked up an injury.
16:37And then there was another
16:38injury setback when he came back.
16:40And it was just a shame
16:42to not have him,
16:42because he would have been
16:43such a big boost.
16:44And to not have him
16:45and Elise stay there,
16:46it did really take away
16:47from that centre-back position.
16:49And Elise as well,
16:50a player who had his injury
16:51setback last season
16:52and then had surgery in the summer,
16:54and then came back in January
16:55and had another setback.
16:56And as you say,
16:57when he came back
16:58towards the end of the season,
16:59he looked like he gave Sunderland
17:01a lot, whether he was playing
17:02as a left-back,
17:03whether he was playing
17:03on the left of a three
17:05like he did at Watford.
17:06I think he looked
17:07very comfortable there
17:07and gave Sunderland
17:09that natural left-footed option.
17:10So I'd like to see
17:12a lot more of him next season.
17:14He signed a new contract as well,
17:15Elise said, this season,
17:16I think until about 2027.
17:18So a player who's in it
17:20for the long term
17:20and two young players there
17:21that if they can stay fit,
17:22Sunderland have got
17:24two excellent players
17:25there on their hands
17:26in kind of the same position as well.
17:28Maybe Elise could even move
17:29into a centre-back position
17:31as that left-footed centre-back.
17:33He brings a lot of options there.
17:35The other one I had written down
17:36as played,
17:37maybe we'll see more of,
17:38and you could kind of put him
17:39in the young player
17:40of the season category
17:41from the second half of the season
17:43is Chris Rigg and still
17:45quite hard to believe
17:46that he's still only 16
17:47the way that he played
17:49in the second half
17:50of the season, wasn't it?
17:51Yeah, he was exceptional, really.
17:53And I think we reached the point,
17:55didn't we,
17:55by the end of the season
17:56where he was in the team on merit.
17:59I think, obviously,
18:01the big question is
18:01whether he decides
18:02to sort of stay
18:03and sign a pro deal next month.
18:05We obviously still don't know
18:06which way that's going to go.
18:08He'd be very hopeful
18:08he's going to stay.
18:09We know he loves it here
18:10and Sunderland have kind of shown
18:12that they're willing
18:12to give him opportunities.
18:14I think you can look at Joe
18:16this year and see that
18:17there's potentially the chance
18:18for him to be a regular starter
18:19next year in his first
18:20sort of full season, if you like.
18:22And I suppose
18:23the interesting question
18:24then becomes, you know,
18:24does he stay out wide
18:26or does he move into the middle?
18:27He's obviously going to be
18:28centre midfielder in the long run.
18:30You know, as Mike Dodds has explained,
18:31it's something that's very common
18:32with young centre midfielders
18:33to start on that wide
18:34where there's a bit more time and space
18:36and there's a little bit less pressure.
18:38So if he does stay,
18:39which hopefully he will,
18:40I do think he'll be a regular
18:41next season or relatively
18:43regular next season.
18:44And what's going to be interesting
18:45is how quickly he matures
18:47and develops
18:48into some of the movement field
18:50and potentially, you know,
18:51going somewhere to address
18:52some of the issues
18:53we've talked about earlier
18:54in the podcast,
18:55or does he kind of stay out there
18:56and compete with Barr and Roberts?
18:58And yeah, I think he's potentially
19:00a player with a
19:01with a big part to play next season.
19:03What we're hoping is that
19:04something they're going to get back
19:04to this front foot, aggressive style.
19:07And I think Riggs energy
19:08certainly is pressing.
19:09You know, I think there's definitely
19:10a chance he plays regularly.
19:12So that would be something
19:13really exciting to see.
19:14And like I say,
19:15we've all got a long wish list
19:16for the summer, haven't we,
19:17in terms of things we'd like to see.
19:19But I imagine for a lot of supporters,
19:20you know, seeing the picture of Riggs
19:22signing a pro contract
19:24would be right up there.
19:24And that's that's testament
19:26to how well he did.
19:26It'll be interesting to see
19:27where he does fit in,
19:28because in preseason,
19:30like last summer,
19:31he was kind of played
19:32in that number 10 position,
19:33wasn't he, in Sunderland's
19:34tour of America.
19:35And then in the last few weeks,
19:37he's been playing
19:37on this right hand side
19:38ahead of Patrick Roberts as well,
19:39who hopefully with a good preseason
19:41can get back to kind of the levels
19:43that he showed last season.
19:44But it'll be interesting to see
19:45how Riggs fits in.
19:47Still not kind of sure
19:48where his best position will be,
19:49which is understandable
19:51when he's only 16.
19:52It's very similar with
19:52Joe Bellingham as well.
19:53Still not quite sure
19:54where he's going to fit in.
19:56Is he going to be
19:56a boxer box midfielder?
19:57Is he going to be a 10?
19:58Is he going to be a striker?
20:00There's a lot of the younger players
20:01where you're not quite sure
20:03where they're going to fit in.
20:03And it's going to be interesting
20:04to see how they do develop,
20:05how much game time they get.
20:07And I think one thing is
20:09we still have to be patient
20:10with these players as well.
20:11We've seen that it is natural
20:13when when you're that young,
20:15you're going to have dips in form.
20:16It happened to Dan Neil
20:16a couple of seasons ago
20:18that there will be times
20:19where maybe if they're overplayed
20:21or kind of hectic schedules
20:23in the championship
20:24where they will have dips in form.
20:25But it doesn't mean
20:26they're a bad player
20:27and doesn't mean
20:28they can't come back.
20:28So I think that's something
20:30to remember next season as well.
20:32But we'll come on to
20:34the last category that we had,
20:35which is overall mark out of 10.
20:38Now, quite difficult,
20:39considering, as you've mentioned,
20:41the first half of the season
20:42was so promising
20:42and then it tailed off
20:44quite dramatically
20:44in the second half of the season.
20:46But Sunderland finished
20:4716th in the championship.
20:49Still easy to forget.
20:50They're still in their second season
20:52back following that promotion
20:54from League One.
20:55And I think if they hadn't
20:57have finished sixth last year
20:59and got in the playoffs,
21:00would we view this quite differently?
21:02Because 16th does seem
21:03quite underwhelming,
21:04but it is easy to forget that
21:06the club have, you know,
21:08it's only their second season
21:09back in the championship,
21:09but equally the aim
21:11at the start of the season,
21:12I think Christian Spiegel said
21:13it was to get in the playoffs again,
21:14and they've fallen
21:15well short of that.
21:17Yeah, I think, to be honest,
21:18at the start of the season,
21:19if you'd said 16th,
21:20I would have been bitterly disappointed,
21:22you know, and you're right
21:24in terms of the context
21:25and in terms of the division,
21:26the fact that it was still
21:27only their second,
21:28they had overachieved
21:29the previous year.
21:30But I still think 16th
21:31would have been seen
21:32as a big step backwards.
21:33So I've ended up going
21:34with four out of 10
21:35because I marked the first half
21:37as probably about a seven.
21:39And then the second half,
21:40I think you could go as low as a two,
21:41not just because of the results,
21:43but because the football
21:44has been so bad to watch.
21:45And I think that's been
21:46so disappointing,
21:47certainly over the last
21:48sort of six weeks or so.
21:51And I think the fact is that as well,
21:53it's not just been the results
21:54and the style of play and stuff.
21:56I think it wasn't.
21:58It stopped being fun
21:59following Sunderland for everyone
22:01because of the sort of
22:02what happened with Michael Beale,
22:03what happened with the Derby.
22:05It just became,
22:06I think Sunderland had worked
22:07so hard and done so well
22:09to sort of shake off this image
22:10they had of, you know,
22:11being a bit of a basket case
22:13impossible to manage,
22:14always some drama.
22:17And although it means
22:17there's always something
22:18right about for us,
22:19I actually think it made
22:20the whole experience
22:21a lot less fun
22:21than it had been in the previous year.
22:23So I think the second
22:24half of the season for me
22:25is like a two at most, really.
22:27So I've kind of gone
22:28somewhere in the middle
22:29because as you say,
22:30and as we've talked about
22:31a lot on this podcast,
22:32there was some good football play
22:33and some good positives
22:34in the first half of the season.
22:35So I'll end up with a four
22:37and very much must do better
22:40next time around.
22:41Yeah, I'd probably agree with a four.
22:42I think, as you said,
22:43the football at the start
22:44of the season where Sunder
22:45were, there was still
22:46that excitement
22:46kind of carried over
22:47from from last season
22:49under Mowbray,
22:49the fact that they'd
22:50they'd been in the playoffs
22:52the last season,
22:52and it felt like
22:53they could be a challenge,
22:55they could challenge again.
22:56And I think based
22:57on the kind of squad,
22:58you look at it,
22:59with Sunder that far off,
23:00kind of West Brom Norwich
23:01towards that fifth, sixth spot.
23:03I don't think so.
23:04If they had kind of
23:05a natural goal scorer,
23:06a reliable goal scorer,
23:07I think that'd be
23:08that would kind of be the
23:10realistically where
23:11they should be finishing around.
23:13Competing for the playoff spots,
23:14but the way that they did
23:15fall away in the second
23:15half of the season was
23:17was extremely disappointing,
23:19even though Sunder and I
23:19are playing over
23:20the next few weeks,
23:21there's still going to be
23:22a lot going on.
23:23And you can find
23:24all of the latest news
23:26over on the SAFC section
23:27of the Sunder and Echo website.