SUNDERLAND IN EUROPE

Following Sunday's events, ALS co-editor Sobs was asked to put his thoughts into writing for a piece on the club's website...

They say that to appreciate the good times, you have to experience the bad, which is fair enough, and we Sunderland fans had gratefully accepted the turnaround that saw us climb from League One to the Premier League.

What happened next is truly the stuff of legend, of film scripts, and of pure fantasy. On the first anniversary of that dramatic Wembley win, the Lads ended their league campaign in style by completing the double over current World Club Champions Chelsea, thus claiming a place in European competition.

Last summer, we accepted that there would be popular players leaving, and that we needed to recruit well – but I don’t think any of us thought we’d recruit as well as we did. The arrival of Xhaka was probably the deciding factor in other arrivals, and the way that host of new boys were built into a functioning team was immediately impressive. We didn’t follow the usual mantra of promoted sides, to do what they’d done to get up but try to do it better – we went for the jugular from the off. Aim for the stars, and you might hit the moon, and that’s pretty much what we did, playing with style, passion, and togetherness – the latter two of those properties sadly lacking in several of the so-called bigger teams. You can spend all the money, you can pay the highest wages, but if you haven’t got what we’ve got, you’re wasting your time, and I include Hume and O’Nien in what we’ve got. From League One to Europe in four years, they epitomise the spirit and togetherness of SAFC.

Of course, we fans were glad to be back in the Prem and determined to enjoy the experience, but to see the way we proved ourselves the equals - and betters – of established sides was barely believable. To go from the level of a year ago, which was pretty damn good, to where we are now is simply fantastic. Never have tactics been so intelligently implemented, skills so cleverly utilised, on a consistent basis for many a year. Le Bris? Manager of the Season, but a lot of this has to be down to the character of the players, for which the recruitment people deserve credit. None of the players who came in have showed any prima donna behaviour, none have thrown a hissy fit when not selected, and nothing off the field has happened to tarnish the name of the club. Oh, and every one of them has bought into the ‘Til The End philosophy that guaranteed that the inevitable bumps in the road were just that, and brought us 22 points from losing positions.

Spectacular goals, battling comebacks, two wins over them up the road, and a seventh place finish. It’s a great time to be a Mackem.