Sunderland have been urged to play more like their north-east rivals Newcastle United.
A few years ago, Sunderland fans would’ve welcomed a comfortable mid-table finish in the Championship.
But there’s a huge sense of disappointment surrounding this season and it shows the expectations of the club, stemming from their top six finish last time round.
The Black Cats were in with a shout again this season, but for some unnecessary changes in management, causing a chain reaction of poor decision-making and poor results on the pitch.
Sunderland lose 1-0 at home to Millwall
Interim boss Mike Dodds is a man under fire after the 1-0 defeat at home to Millwall in the Championship last time out.
Looking at that performance compared to some of the performances under Tony Mowbray at the start of the season, it’s a stark contrast.
Dodds himself said that his team were boring to watch against Millwall, though fans largely blame Dodds for that.
Sunderland fans fumed at Dodds after the Millwall game and rightly so; Sunderland have become a very average team, and also a very flat team, one seemingly lacking in confidence and intensity.
Ex-Sunderland man Lee Cattermole makes Newcastle United comparison
And speaking on Total Sport this week, former Sunderland skipper Lee Cattermole gave his verdict on Sunderland.
He was at the defeat vs Millwall, and he’s now urged Sunderland to take inspiration from rivals Newcastle United and the aggressive, front-foot style of play they boast under Eddie Howe.
Cattermole said:
“You look at Newcastle and the way that they play at home. I think we’ve got to do exactly the same. We’ve done that in the past. We had that a lot under Mowbray in terms of front-foot, attacking football, pressing high, and we’ve just lost our way a little bit. Especially the Millwall game.”
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus needs to do one thing this summer
Hiring a new manager is obviously the big thing for Sunderland this summer.
Not only that but they need to hire the right manager.
Michael Beale seemed to be everything that the club doesn’t want in a manager; he was perhaps overly-tactical whereas Mowbray’s football was simpler, and he didn’t connect with the fans, instead appearing to cause a rift between them and himself.
So Kyril Louis-Dreyfus needs to find a manager like Mowbray, who got the best out of the players and connected with the fans, but who still has whatever it is that the Sunderland owners want in a manager.
Whether that’s a manager with experience of coaching at top clubs or someone who is simply younger and fresher in the game, remains to be seen.
And Sunderland could perhaps take a leaf out of Newcastle’s book when it comes to playing style.
The Black Cats really should be going at teams when they’re playing at home, not standing off them and going on to lose.
There’s certainly a lot that needs to be fixed in the summer.