Are Sunderland moving in the right direction?

Are Sunderland moving in the right direction? Let’s take a look back…

Since the days of the 1999-2000 season…Sunderland have undoubtedly became known as a “yo-yo” club – which means that they go up to the next division then get relegated soon after.

In two seasons under Peter Reid of 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 we finished in seventh place consecutively. Nowadays, if you finished 7th in the Premier league you will enter the UEFA cup (now called the UEFA Europa League) – however, that rule wasn’t there at the time…so it looked all was well for Sunderland – but all was about to change…

Next season we just survived RELEGATION from the Premier League – finishing just 1 place above the dreaded drop. Next season (2002-2003) we WERE relegated with a, then, all time record low points total (19).

Nightmare…utter nightmare! Being relegated was bad enough – but with a record low points’ total – embarrassing!

In steps a new man…Mick McCarthy – ex Ireland manager. His first job was to gain promotion which he came so close to doing so at his first attempt – he reached the play-offs but was knocked out by Crystal Palace in the semi-finals (who went on to gain promotion that year). Season after that was to be successful! As Sunderland were crowned champions of the Coca-Cola championship! The title clinched in a win over West Ham at Upton Park 2-1 where Stephen Elliott scored a beautiful curler.

Now then…season 2005-2006 – my first as a Sunderland season ticket holder – first game of the season summed up our season – a 3-1 defeat to Charlton Athletic at home. This season was deemed, by some, 1 of the worst ever seasons for a Sunderland fan to handle. Defeats such as 4-1 thrashings from Portsmouth and Newcastle are still fresh in my mind! The season ended with another all time low points total of 15 points! Just one home win all season! A 2-1 win against Fulham!

We needed a hero – Bob Murray was not the correct chairman – he simply didn’t supply the cash…in steps a Sunderland legend…Niall Quinn! Supported by the Drumaville consortium with cash! Things were at last looking up now!

However, after the 2-0 cup defeat to Bury – who were bottom of League 2 – Niall Quinn stepped down as manager and revealed that a “big name” was set to take over the hot – seat. That man turned out to be Manchester United legend, Roy Keane, who started his reign with a 2-1 win over Derby County. That season saw spectacular goals – like Carlos Edwards’ winner against Burnley (watch it on you-tube) and spectacular results (3-2 against Burnley; being 2-1 down and 2-2 against Burnley; being 2-0 down with 10 minutes to go). We clinched top spot with a 5-0 win over relegated Luton Town.

Season after that – 2007-2008 – we had yet another chance…transfer spending of 40 million spent on the likes of Kenwyne Jones, Craig Gordon, Michael Chopra, Paul Mcshane, and Andy Reid were signed to help us from surviving another relegation. We survived – with plenty of players playing their part – finishing 15th place with 39 points was a massive relief! Things were looking up

Next season (the season just gone) we were signing talent such as El Hadj Diouf, Djibril Cisse, Teemu Tainio, Steed Malbranque, and Anton Ferdinand – who were clearly a step up from the signings made in the previous season. We struggled this season – and after a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Bolton – Roy Keane resigned as manager of Sunderland. Ricky Sbragia took temporary charge and after a 4-1 win over high-flying Hull followed by a 4-0 win over West Brom – Sbragia got the job permanently. Months of desperation followed – desperation of just a one more win which could be enough to avoid ‘second-season syndrome’. We won Hull City 1-0 in a nervous encounter – which proved vital…as on the last day of the season – Sunderland survived – despite being beaten by Chelsea 3-2 at the Stadium of Light. Plus, that wasn’t the only good news. Newcastle United and Middlesbrough – our rivals – were relegated.

Ricky Sbragia stepped down as manager and, after weeks of speculation, Steve Bruce was confirmed as Sunderland manager and has already signed 2 players – Frazier Campbell and Paulo Da Silva – others are linked are players like Alan Hutton, Tom Huddlestone, Lee Cattermole, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Tuncay, Richard Dunne and a few more – plus our new owner is a billionaire so can obviously supply the cash. It looks as though Sunderland are moving in the right direction whereas hated rivals, Newcastle, aren’t!