On This Day (29 March 2006): Whitehead speaks out as relegation looms

03/29/2025 02:00 AM

As a dreadful 2005/2006 season headed for its inevitable conclusion, the midfielder admitted that he understood the frustrations of the supporters — but also defended his own performances

With Sunderland's fate more or less sealed weeks (or arguably even months) prior, Dean Whitehead spoke of his frustration and sympathy for the fans, with unrest growing off the pitch to match the poor results on it.

Around this time, protests against chairman Bob Murray's ownership of the club were taking place — often on the same days as Sunderland were playing at the Stadium of Light. Supporters were frustrated with the team's performances, given that this would be our second relegation from the Premier League within four seasons.

Such was the anger that was being felt around Wearside that there was a second successive demonstration after the previous Saturday's defeat to Blackburn, demanding both the resignation of Murray and his board, but whilst Murray had admitted that he was willing to sell, he was yet to find a buyer.

A third protest was scheduled for the visit of Fulham on April 8 and whilst Whitehead admitted that the unrest and discontent surrounding the club was making it a difficult environment to play in, he could understand the frustrations of the fans after a string of poor results and performances.

I'm not going to say it's easy (playing in the current atmosphere), because it hasn't been.

The crowd want us to do well and they turn up in their thousands home and away. We've not performed as well as we can this season, so they've got every right to complain.

I knew when I came here it was a big place. You can't really compare it with Oxford, where I signed from, because the fan base here is so much bigger.

However, fan discontent didn't end there, with the midfielder himself coming in for criticism for some apparently sub-par performances despite having a decent start to the season and embarking on an impressive goalscoring run before the turn of the year.

Despite this, there were some who were disappointed with how he was playing, but he was quick to defend himself and his performances.

People can say what they want to say about how I've been playing but I think I've been doing all right. The manager's been happy with me and he's the only person whose opinion I'm worried about.

I haven't scored a league goal in 2006 but as a team we've struggled to score goals this year. Hopefully we can put that right before the end of the season. It's all down to confidence and confidence comes from winning games.

Despite being linked with Premier League clubs after our inevitable relegation to the Championship, Whitehead stayed put and played a vital role in the 'magic carpet ride' that would take place under Roy Keane when he was appointed in August 2006, captaining the club during what'll always be seen as one of the most memorable periods in recent times.