A break? Sunderland’s frustrations need to end

Or that was at least the reason given when assistant Steve Parkin was asked to explain his absence from the media suite after Blackpool were the latest to have frustrated Wearside.

At least this time there were no chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from the home fans, like there was in the defeat to Burton in the last fixture played at the Stadium of Light.

Nor did he leave the grand stadium, albeit much more sparsely populated these days, out of a job like Simon Grayson did the last time he was there; when Parkinson’s Bolton held Grayson’s Black Cats to a 3-3 draw.

Grayson didn’t even get chance to face the media that night because chief executive Martin Bain had already delivered the bad news. He was just 18 matches into his reign when he was sacked that Hallloween in 2017, and had won just once, not at home.

Given the circumstances and similarities, Parkin had to be asked if there was anything sinister in his manager’s non-appearance to offer his thoughts on Sunderland’s latest disappointment.

A croaky Sunderland No 2 said: “Phil has had a busy week. His voice is as good as mine. We’ve both had plenty to say this week on the training ground. He probably just wanted a break.”

It is something Parkinson did quite regularly during his time at Bolton, but at Sunderland it did raise a few eyebrows given the events of the last week - and beyond.

The Aiden McGeady furore, in which Sunderland’s most creative player has been told he can leave and is no longer training with the first team, could easily have taken its toll on the manager and the players.

That scenario has capped an uncertain period where Sunderland have lost manager Jack Ross, executive director Charlie Methven and chief executive Tony Davison all in the space of a few months.

The positive to have come from McGeady’s problems was that the men who did wear the shirt showed plenty of fight for the shirt in front of the disgruntled supporters, of which there were far less than the official 30,000 figure that was recorded.

It was hardly the ideal performance from a Sunderland team now without a win in eight games and a failure to improve on that has seen them drop to 12th, equalling the lowest ever position for the club.

Clearly Parkinson is not the only manager to have encountered problems at Sunderland over the last ten years, but he is the first to have endured such awful form in the third tier. Grayson went through that at the start of the relegation season in the Championship – and he made it to the media suite this time.

“Thanks for reminding me of that. Two years down the line, that’s a nice welcome back! Thank you very much. Is that it then?” said Grayson, smiling.

“I wasn’t getting as much stick, so that was alright. And I turned right instead of left. It’s been nice to see a lot of staff that probably didn’t get a chance to see when I left the club because I was ushered away very quickly.

“It’s a new group, there’s only a few players that I was working with. One of them was obviously sent home earlier in the week, but it’s nice to see a lot of people.”

Grayson, who is back at Blackpool and leading them through a better period again after tough times, would have expected to see Sunderland higher than where they are but knows how hard League One can be.

“This division has been really tough for a lot of clubs. Leeds United were in there for three or four years, Nottingham Forest, Man City, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday - Sunderland are now in there for a second year,” said Grayson.

“There’s no divine right. You’ve got to do whatever’s required, have a lot of unity, good players and a spirit about you to try to do it. If it’s not this year, they’ll try next year, if it’s not then it’ll be the following after that. It’s tough to get out of any league. It doesn’t matter what size you are.”

Grayson’s return couldn’t have got off to a better start and Parkinson must have wanted the ground to swallow him up when Matty Virtue-Thick picked out the far, top corner of Jon McLaughin’s net with a little over three minutes on the clock.

That goal arrived after some hesitant defending from a couple of deliveries into the area, with Sunderland clearly nervous when Blackpool attacked in fear of what might be the reaction from the stands if things don’t go to plan.

In fairness to a Sunderland support which has had to deal with some horrendous football and results this season, the atmosphere didn’t turn and they waited to see how things went. Parkinson got a reaction from his men, even though it wasn’t a performance of promotion material.

Charlie Wyke had Duncan Watmore had already had a couple of headers fly over before the former’s return to the starting line-up after his injury lay-off was justified with his first goal since August.

Wyke moved intently ahead of his marker to meet Chris Maguire’s corner eight minutes before half-time with the sort of volley from a striker that Sunderland have been crying out for.

He may have his limitations in the final third but the former Middlesbrough academy graduate does offer up a presence to give defenders something to worry about. And, crucially, he knows how to find the net.

Parkin said: “We have tried to sign Charlie when we were at Bolton. He has aspects to his game that can be beneficial to this club. Balance, strength and he can finish. The key thing with him is he needs a block of training where he doesn’t get injured.”

Sunderland would have fallen behind three minutes later had Arnand Gnaduillet not got in the way of stopping former Boro full-back James Husband from finding the net after McLaughlin had not dealt with a ball into the area confidently.

Sunderland started the second half the better too, with Wyke hammering the bar with a header from another Maguire corner. Then midfielder George Dobson, who had been cautioned for a first half clash with Gnanduillet, was sent off with 16 minutes to go when he lunged into the French-born forward.

Sunderland could easily have lost, but they restricted Blackpool. Parkin said: “We showed a lot of character. With the hindsight of seeing it again, the sending off was harsh, I don’t see it as a second yellow. The lads got organised and made it difficult for Blackpool and we may have even sneaked it.”

Parkinson is looking to bring in around five new players in January so the chances are there will be plenty of activity in the window, but the squad has shown under Jack Ross that it isn’t too far away from being able to go up provided it can recapture that winning feeling to boost confidence.

“It’s a bad run, it's not what we want, but if we go and win three, four on the bounce, everything changes,” said Watmore. “It's easier said than done, I know that, but it's on our hands to do that and if we start winning, that momentum and positivity will lift. I fully believe we can do that.  “Me being positive, I don't want it to be misconstrued by fans as not caring. We're fully aware that we're not where we want to be.  That's stating the obvious and we all know that. But at the only way of moving forward is winning the next game, rather than feeling sorry about where we're at.  “It's hard to put your finger on why it hasn't been going right. I'm fully focused on myself going into games, trying to get the best out of myself.  "I'm just enjoying playing, being able to be fit each game and to be able to put my name forward for selection.  It's just nice to be available. It's a good group and we've just got to take it out into the pitch.”

Parkinson escaped the wrath of the fans against Blackpool because there was spirit shown in the team’s play, and they might have even won had George Dobson not been sent off for a second caution with 16 minutes remaining. By that time Charlie Wyke’s volley had cancelled out Matty Virtue-Thick’s early opener.

Sunderland now have to head into the visit of the manager’s former club Bolton on Boxing Day and Watmore is adamant there is no negativity towards the man in charge after he was appointed to replace Ross in October.

“The manager and his staff have been brilliant since he came in, they really have,” said the Sunderland forward. “We have to show them we are working hard for them because they are a good group of people.  We want the points for them, for us and the for the fans.

“Every manager has their own style. I've enjoyed working with him and learning about my position, I like making those runs in behind but also getting in those little spots where I can get at defenders.  I'm just trying to get the balance in my game.  I'm working on that at the moment.”

Watmore was heartened by the response of the fans when Blackpool went ahead inside four minutes, which could easily have led to anger from the stands.  “As soon as they scored I heard them get behind us,” said Watmore. “That is a good feeling to get it here, we needed to keep them cheering after the runs of games we have had.  “That goal could have knocked them so credit to them for sticking with us. it was brilliant we got that response and we played better after that. We stayed calm, got back into it.

 “I felt we could have snatched a winner, I felt like I was going to get something because there was space there to create a chance. Charlie has been brilliant, an important layer for us and for him to come in and score after a few weeks off is important. He is a great lad.

“The only way we can carry on is by putting in performances like this, with the effort desire and commitment.  "We are all on the same page, everyone really cares we really do. We need to keep showing that and the results will come. We need to keep performing for the manager because he is a good man and manager and we need to help this situation.”

Watmore was forced off with 18 minutes ago when he had sustained damage to his knee. After all of the issues he has had in that area over the years his heart was in his mouth.  He said: “I was pretty worried because I jammed my left knee, it didn’t feel right. I am bound to be a bit worried. The physio has done the test and it is all fine. I feel good and I will be aiming for the next game.”