Sunderland, why? Just why, WHHYYYY?????????
Imagine a world where Sunderland didn’t do this to their fans? Imagine a world where we were secure, safe, didn’t have to go through this and could relax towards the end of the season? But NOOOO, we have to sweat don’t we! We have to go grey, bite our fingernails off, and hang on tooth and nail right until the death to see if maybe, MAYYYYBE we can stay up?!
Article by Ben Mummery
The good thing is, our survival is back in our hands, which is all anybody can ask. There is nothing worse in football than having to rely on other teams to do you favours, if you control your own destiny then you only have yourself to blame if you fail!
I won’t spend long writing about Saturday’s win against Chelsea, suffice to say we earned the right to go into Wednesday night’s game knowing that a win will secure our league status. We fought hard against a superior side with quality throughout their ranks.
Chelsea have had an iffy season, but when your midfield boasts the likes of Fabregas, Matic, Hazard, Willian etc, you’re going to be up against it from the get-go! These are players who can win a game in seconds with a single decision, Sunderland managed to get by them not by playing magical football, but by simply wanting it more – enough said!
Wednesday night against Everton IS a winnable game, and has every Sunderland fan in the land licking their lips at the prospect of the Stadium of Light rocking under the lights, the fans in full voice, the Roker Roar screaming the lads on to 3 points, survival and another season of Premier League football. However, we mustn’t get carried away just yet, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here!
Everton are dangerous, and our history against them isn’t exactly sparkling! Their starting eleven boasts some impressive attacking players who’ve done damage against us in recent years. Mirallas, Lukaku, Barkley and Lennon can all wreak bloody havoc if given too much of the ball, we must be solid in front of our back 4 to stop them having everything their own way or we’re in for a long night!
For many of our fans, a win this Wednesday night will have the added incentive of not only securing our status in the top flight, but also the special bonus prize of relegating bitter rivals Newcastle United. I’d like to go on record right now as saying that I personally will take no pleasure from this particular aspect of our survival!
Newcastle are a huge club, and stand as one of the leading factors in what makes the NorthEast of England what it is. I believe completely that our region is better off with both Newcastle and Sunderland in the top flight, both sets of fans are fantastic, passionate and for the best part, understand and appreciate the game of football. We have excellent turnouts at both grounds for all home games, more than can be said of some of the “big clubs” in our top two divisions! Newcastle fans, like Sunderland supporters, pay a lot of hard earned money to attend games on a regular basis, and have been treat to a bevvy of disappointment in the last few seasons. They deserve better from a club of that size, and I think that whether we revel in it or not, we can all agree that the club has let down their loyal supporters without whom, they wouldn’t exist!
For me, Sunderland’s last two games matter for our safety, NOT Newcastle’s relegation!
However I am optimistic for Wednesday, and hope to God that we can get the job done midweek without having to go to the last day, I don’t think my nerves could handle it!
The stadium of light crowd can play a massive part in cheering the side on to a win, we need every fan there and in full voice. More of what we saw against Chelsea, against Newcastle on so many occasions, against Cardiff in 2014, against Manchester United earlier this season – we need the Roker Roar in full swing!
For me, only 3 points will do it, come on Sunderland – get the job done this week and enjoy the last away day at Watford, then and only then can we try and work out how the hell we make sure this doesn’t happen again next year!`
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