Being the geek that I am I play Football Manager a lot and I have to say that there are few teams as consistently frustrating to manage as Sunderland. It is one more thing on a big list of things that makes me wonder why I was not lucky enough to be brought up in London. Oh to support a successful team.
We deserved to beat Norwich. I don't care how you look at it, it was another game we should have won. I would say that we should've beaten Cardiff too, despite playing poorly. Apparently it is the sign of a good side to play poorly and win, does that mean that to play poorly and just lose is the sign of an ok team? A mid-table Championship team perhaps?
I said a couple of weeks ago that we needed to take points out of our games with Cardiff, Norwich and Southampton. That I thought these points would be vital if we were to make a real effort at the play-offs.
Well we've been unlucky, we should've had a penalty that would draw the game against Cardiff and one that would have won us the game against Norwich. But that's the way these things go.
One thing I am curious about is if anyone can tell me of an occasion where they can remember Sunderland being fortunate to win a game. I can't remember the last time I said "Wow we didn't deserve to win that game." It just hasn't happened in ages… if at all.
At the minute I'm not even fussed about that, I don't want us to get fluky victories or to win because of a bad decision. All I want is for us to get fair treatment. To get the decisions that other teams are always seeming to get. Surely if fate doesn't want to help us win a game it can at least stop screwing us over. There must be some kind of middle ground that we can arrange?
And the ultimate result of this is we are lower mid-table and too far adrift of the play off places for my comfort. I remember looking at Norwich in their first season back in the Championship and thinking poor lads, they're screwed. Of course they didn't think so. They were saying "Lets just stay in touch with the play-offs till January."
But it is always different when it is your team. Maybe we're kidding ourselves, maybe we have a shot. I guess it all comes down to Niall Quinn, we have to hope that players still want to come, provided he even has the money in the first place. I for one am not looking past Southampton this weekend.
FTM
Regards,
Michael
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