This week, Sunderland were knocked out of the FA Cup in the first round by Gillingham. The replay finished 0-0 after 90 minutes before going into an extra time period where Gillingham broke the deadlock. The result does mean Sunderland have one less competition to focus on this season as they make the push for promotion to the Championship, however.
But while it would be easy for manager Phil Parkinson to suggest that the competition was not a serious priority for the Black Cats, he insists that they put in a lot of effort. He wanted to win this game.
“Obviously, the lads are disappointed because we put a lot of effort in tonight and we’ve got nothing for those efforts,” said Parkinson. (The Northern Echo)
But these comments should be a worry to Sunderland fans. Had he come out and said that the game was a throwaway for the youth, supporters could have gotten behind his honesty. If it was a game to rest up key players for a vital league game, then there would have been some logic. But no, he said that he tried.
The fact that he tried isn’t the issue though. It’s the fact that what fans saw was a team unable to even compete. If a 120-minute match with zero shots on target is the result of ‘a lot of effort’ then what can fans expect during league play? With just two wins in his first nine matches, effort by itself isn’t good enough (WhoScored.com). Fans will start demanding more, and rightly so.
After Tottenham Hotspur sacked manager Mauricio Pochettino after leading his team to the UEFA Champions League Final last season (SportsNet), the Sunderland board will be asking themselves if they need to re-evaluate what is good enough. Of course, it’s completely different levels in terms of Premier League and League One football, but the pure ruthlessness shown by Spurs may be something that Stewart Donald could learn from, as fans surely won’t want the club to wait until it’s too late to change things for the better.