Sunderland are in a rotten vein of form right now.
The Black Cats have lost their last five Championship fixtures and their opening three under Mike Dodds, after Sunderland sacked Michael Beale last month.
Performances haven’t been totally woeful; in spells against Norwich City and Leicester City last time out, Dodds’ side looked like dangerous.
But without Jack Clarke in the side, there’s no real threat, with the Black Cats having scored just once in his absence.
Sunderland make the long-haul trip down to Southampton this weekend.
It’s another difficult game against top-six opposition, and the Saints will no doubt be eager to take advantage of a misfiring Sunderland side amid a slight dip in form of their own.
The Saints went 22 games unbeaten in the Championship before defeat vs Bristol City in February; since then, Russell Martin’s side have won two and lost two in the league.
But if Southampton win this weekend and deal the Black Cats a sixth-straight league defeat, it’ll be the first time in 18 years that the Black Cats have lost six consecutive league games.
That feat last occurred in the 20o5/06 Premier League season in which Sunderland finished rock-bottom of the table, with runs of five, nine, and six-straight losses for the club that season.
A sign of tough times, but club still on the up. For the Black Cats to go from play-off hopefuls under Tony Mowbray to now being closer to the drop zone than they are to the play-offs is quite astonishing.
Sunderland have had a real fall from grace and it’s not down to Dodds, and it’s arguably not entirely Michael Beale’s fault either.
This run of form is a result of some poor planning and rash decisions from the Sunderland owners.
Poor planning in the summer and winter transfer windows, with the Black Cats lacking a goal-scorer and lacking the balance that comes with experienced players, and rash decisions regarding Mowbray and then appointing Beale.
But Sunderland remain on the up. They’ve only been in the Championship two seasons (including this one) and to be challenging for promotion already is a feat in itself.
The club has a big summer ahead and the manager’s job will attract a lot of top interest, so there’s certainly hope ahead of the next campaign.
But right now times are tough and another defeat could quickly pile some unexpected relegation fears onto Sunderland heads.
