How do you feel about the rest of Sunderland's season?

Yesterday at 02:00 AM

We've had a chance to reflect during the international break - so how are you feeling about the rest of the season from this point for Sunderland?

John Wilson says…

For me, the restart will tell us a great deal about the rest of the season.

We've been putting in unconvincing home performances for a while, but there was a time when I remember moaning about our displays and some folk mentioning that a win was all that mattered, and why was I expecting to be entertained as well?

The point I was making is exactly what's transpired recently — a poor 'ground out' result is always within a split second of a disappointing draw or a loss, and we haven't 'fired on all cylinders' for that many games this season.

Our brilliant start and all those clean sheets gave the players confidence.

They got the bit between their teeth to keep up the energy levels and go for games, and whilst they've never gone for the jugular and killed many games off, they always played with a confidence that was nice to watch.

Since the turn of the year — and possibly after the Leeds game — we've visibly lost some confidence. The high press has gone, the attacking mindset has faltered and a lot of fans are starting to worry about where the run in will leave us.

As I've said before on these pages, we can't acclaim Régis Le Bris as a breath of fresh air one minute and then question and doubt his every decision, so I for one will support and back whatever approach he uses — and his sports science doctorate will certainly have to be utilised.

As has been mentioned, we're in quite a unique situation where we're almost certain of a playoff spot without the angst of trying to push for automatics. What I hope he'll do is find the balance between resting and rotating the squad but keeping us competitive and in decent form. Easier said than done!

The 'cattle prod' metaphor has been used recently to encourage the team to come out of the traps and go at teams. The question is, as we haven't got that type of player on the pitch (Ball, Cattermole, Hurley, etc, has Le Bris got that in his locker and can he deliver a 'Once more unto the breach'-type of speech?

We need a response from the team and I remember an earlier post-match interview with Le Bris, when asked why the team seemed to drop back and defend deeper after taking the lead, and he replied, 'I didn't ask them to do that'. So you can be a tactical genius, but it's the players that have to deliver.

Did they all feel that automatic promotion had gone after the Leeds defeat? Has the international break given them the time to reflect and re-energise? We can happily discuss it but we have to have faith in Le Bris and his staff to get the preparation correct and motivate the squad.

We also have to have faith in the players to rekindle their confidence to keep clean sheets, to go at teams with the skill and flow we all know they have, and to give their all to achieve their goal of playing in the Premier League.

For me, rotation would mean a starting role for Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda. It would also mean using Alan Browne and all his experience, putting Enzo Le Fée straight into central midfield when he's fit, and rotating Chris Rigg, Jobe Bellingham and Patrick Roberts.

The Millwall game will provide answers as to whether we can confidently approach the playoffs or accept our season was twelve games too long.

Malc Dugdale says…

For once, I think the international break has been timely for us.

There have been others in the recent past where we haven't wanted the interruption due to good runs of form and results, but this one wasn't like that.

Our form and stamina were patchy at best before the break and our confidence seemed to be on a downward trend. We did well at Leeds until their squad found a way past us late on, but we were poor against Hull City and Coventry City, and the less we say about the cheating scum formerly known as Preston, the better.

Although we won the games against Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City, our performances weren't super convincing, but any win is a win at this point in the season.

Going forward, I remain happy we're strong candidates for the top four, and the focus has to be on momentum and confidence building for the playoff process to be tackled optimally.

We need to continue to blend in Romaine Mundle and Tommy Watson, also adding Enzo Le Fée to the mix once fit, and we need to find answers for the injuries that have arisen, such as Dennis Cirkin.

The errors across defence, in goal and in midfield — where we seem to be getting overrun and out-fought — need to be cut out, and we need to start converting the chances we create more effectively.

We need to pretty much get back to where we were early in the season, with flowing football, being solid at the back, bossing the middle and being clinical up top.

With eight games to go, the focus has to be on making the run in complement our playoff preparations optimally. The table will be what it'll be, but we need to get back to being hard to beat and hard to stop, as there's no room to work on those attributes once we get into the playoffs.

As fans, we need to keep the faith and do our bit. This has been a good season and it's not over yet.

Phil West says…

I agree that the international break was well-timed.

After all, we'd been on a run of wholly unconvincing performances prior to the latest pause in domestic action, and the players were looking increasingly jaded, so the chance for those lads not on international duty to recharge their batteries ahead of the run in will have been beneficial.

How do we attack the remainder of the season?

I hope with the kind of purpose that we've simply not seen enough of recently, but I have to be honest: I'm not exactly oozing belief and the visit of the always-abrasive Millwall, accompanied by the subplot of Alex Neil's latest return to Wearside, is hardly the kind of scenario that fills me with confidence as we restart our domestic campaign.

Despite the largely stellar work he's done up to this point, I really hope that Régis Le Bris has used the international break to consider whether he's getting the absolute maximum from the players, and if not, why?

The slow, cautious and largely ineffectual style of play we've deployed in recent weeks and months simply isn't a recipe for success, and given the likes of Enzo Le Fée are hopefully edging closer to a return, I'm desperately hoping to see some greater attacking intent, which in turn will hopefully translate into results.

If we want to be considered genuine contenders to win the playoffs, we have to start building momentum, showing a willingness to capitalise on the lift that an early goal gives you, and most importantly, demonstrating greater resilience and the ability to close games out.

We have the players and they certainly have the capability — as they've shown throughout the season — but do we have the right mindset and can we hold our nerve during what'll be a fraught couple of months or so?

I'm really not sure, but the visit of the Lions this Saturday will certainly put the Lads' resilience to the test, and hopefully we can get things going with a home victory. The fans have been more than supportive this season and it's time for the coaches and the players to rediscover the formula we need for promotion.