In December 2020, I wrote an article on why (while wishing him the best if he got the job and hoping I was proved wrong) I thought Lee Johnson was the wrong man for the Sunderland job. That article offers three concerns – his refusal to do anything that doesn’t follow his own philosophy, his long standing problem of failing to keep players focussed while winning games resulting in streaks of good performances followed by strings of bad performances and a dreadful away record all pulling Bristol City away from their league targets.
We saw our first streak from streaky at the end of last season. We were going up automatically, cup under the arm, ready to go. Then seven points from the last nine games and we missed out.
Was he worth a second chance? Well, for me, no. The story was playing out in front of us exactly as we’d been told would happen. But others were more forgiving. It was a one off and he’d offered a genuine apology, taking it on the chin and accepting it was his fault.
Then we played Portsmouth. And he said ‘no one could play football on that’. Portsmouth managed it. Perhaps the most telling part of that game was a recent interview with Johnson (before the reverse fixture) where he said he had footage of that game and another game called off that day. He said it showed he was right that the game shouldn’t have been played.
It sounds like he has a file with ‘things that prove Lee was right’ on the cover. Let me save him some time, you were right, Lee, it was a game that shouldn’t have started and certainly shouldn’t have finished. It was a game where it was blindingly obvious that playing balls over the top into the swimming pools in the (literal) channels and then taking as many shots as possible was the only course of action. The problem that probably isn’t written in your scrap book is that you sent out a team to play it out from defence with short passes.
Then came the first streak of the season. Playing six games in all competitions, winning none, drawing two and losing four. Scoring two and conceding eleven.
The evidence was clear. He would not change his ways. He would not be able to maintain a title winning points average for the full season. He was the wrong man at the wrong time. But others were more forgiving. It was a one off and he’d offered a genuine apology, taking it on the chin and accepting it was his fault.
And here we are again.
Last five games – won 1, drawn 2, lost 2. Scored 6 conceded 13.
So what happens next? The next five games are relatively straight forwards. I’d expect a winning streak. But the question is when does the next streak start? We have a run of six games in a month’s time including Charlton, Wigan, Lincoln and Rotherham. I have no doubt that those games are the ones where Lee Johnson has his fourth one off, unlucky, apologise to the fans, cuttings in his not my fault book, run of games. And we accept our play off position and hope for the best. That’s option one. Option two sees us sack him.
And the only defence I’m seeing on social media is ‘who else would we get’. Last year I was less than complimentary about Charlie Wyke’s contribution to the team. I observed that, with 31 goals from 32 touches, he was doing a job that could be done by a well positioned door.
I think that door could manage this Sunderland squad into the play offs.
We need a manager to take us forwards. A manager who has played or managed at a very high level. We are signing players used to the organisation and set up of a club competing in European football. We have a board whose football knowledge is at the same level. We have a manager whose career highlights involve being given the captain’s arm band at Yeovil… by his dad.
The most successful times in Sunderland over the last thirty years have been with managers who had recently ended their playing careers at the top level. I’d like to see that sort of appointment. I think our new manager might well be new to management. Is it a risk? Yes. But let’s be honest, our last six managers have been appointed based on their experience and the combined efforts of Moyes, Grayson, Coleman, Ross, Parkinson and Johnson haven’t really been the joyous time we’d hoped for.
Time for a young hungry manager to meet a young team and young board and take this very old club back where we belong.
