Dan Neil addresses Sunderland’s implosion and has message for fans about club’s new signings
Dan Neil says there’s no worse feeling than having nothing to play for and wants Sunderland to come out all guns blazing after the international break.
The Black Cats have taken just one point from their last seven matches, drifting 13 points away from the Championship play-off places, with a nine-point cushion to the relegation zone. The way Sunderland’s season has derailed is even more disappointing considering the club finished sixth last term, with a Premier League return now the target.
“It’s frustrating. I think I’ve been in the stands when there have been implosions in the past,” admitted Neil. “I think everything has kind of been fine and dandy the last few years and everything has kind of been smooth sailing. I think this year was going to be a tough year regardless.
“I think last year everyone was just kind of happy, we’re tenth, we’re ninth and then all of a sudden we’re in the play-offs. I think that has kind of sparked a massive ambition from, especially the fans and I can understand why. I think when you finish sixth one year, even us as players, you want to go and finish fifth, or finish fourth, or you want to be competing for the top two.
“It just hasn’t gone our way this year and we need to look at ourselves for that. We need to take some accountability. The mentality is still there within the group and we are going to keep fighting. The last eight games are massive and we will be trying to win them all.
“I was saying it the other day, you don’t want to be going into the last few games of the season playing for nothing, because it just breeds a bit of,
probably a bit of laziness because we can’t go up and we can’t go down. That’s why after this international break we have to hit the ground running and we have to put a run together so at least we have got a glimpse of it going into each game.
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