Matchday Musings: Another home misfire as Sunderland are beaten by Millwall

21/04/2024 07:00

Fresh from an encouraging win against West Bromwich Albion, the Lads reverted to type with a limp display against the Lions. Phil West reflects on another bad day at the office

Once this godawful season finally ends, Sunderland's players will doubtless head for sun-kissed beaches and five star hotels as they attempt to put a thoroughly dispiriting campaign behind them.

Indeed, as we stumbled to yet another dead-eyed home loss, this time at the hands of Millwall, it was hard to escape the suspicion that many of the Lads, mentally if not physically, are already in the departure lounge.

After taking four points from six against two promotion hopefuls, you would've thought that Mike Dodds and his players would use the positive results at Elland Road and the Hawthorns as a foundation on which to finish the season strongly, but sadly, that wasn't the case on Saturday as a scruffy goal, eventually credited to Duncan Watmore, consigned us to yet another defeat.

As has so often been the case at the Stadium of Light, this game ticked all the boxes that we've come to expect as 2023/2024 has lurched from setback to setback, and even a new Hummel kit deal, Steve Davison's end-of-season departure and the return of Corry Evans can't gloss over what's been a truly abysmal campaign for the club.

Let's go through the list, shall we?

A lifeless, passive display? Check. A multitude of poor individual performances? Check. A tactical approach that was at best overly pragmatic and at worst downright gutless? Check. If the remaining three games were supposed to send us into the summer feeling optimistic about what lies ahead, this was the worst way to start.

From a Sunderland perspective, this game was a real struggle as Neil Harris's side did what they were always going to do: break things up, make life tough for us, and turn it into a classic end-of-season tussle. They looked up for it, we didn't, and the pace of the game, particularly in the first half, was horrific.

Yes, we saw plenty of the ball and the persistence with five at the back did lead to some decent runs forward by Timothée Pembélé, but there was far too much ponderous play and with Bradley Dack given the nod as this weekend's false nine, the lack of cutting edge was almost comical.

After over an hour of very little of note actually happening, the winning goal was suitably sloppy as a ball was whipped in from the right and Watmore seemed to get there first to prod it beyond Anthony Patterson. Inevitable, you might say.

The only bright spark from this ninety-minute snoozefest came in the shape of another lively performance from Chris Rigg, who at least tried to get us going whenever he had the ball and was responsible for our only shot on target during a turgid first half.

Rigg's mentality seems to be that of a freewheeling street footballer.

He plays situations as he sees them and isn't afraid to back himself, even if it doesn't always come off. Assuming he signs a professional contract and remains a Sunderland player, he'll be hugely influential for us next season, especially as he continues to develop physically.

We also got another glimpse into the future on Saturday as the news that Dan Neil will miss the rest of the season robbed us of one of our best players.

Suffice it to say, this wasn't something to relish, as without Neil keeping things ticking over and Pierre Ekwah reasonably ineffectual, we looked short of quality in midfield and incapable of setting a consistent tempo.

As the game eventually petered out, with Millwall using every trick in the book to slow things down and the home fans heading for the exits, the question was, can the club's decision-makers really afford to underestimate the scale of the task they face this summer?

Season ticket sales may well tail off, which wouldn't be a surprise, and it's going to take some serious moves in terms of the coaching team and the recruitment structure to get disaffected supporters back onside.

Simply put, Dodds can't retain his role as part of the coaching setup for next season.

It's time for a clean sweep in the dugout and a clean slate for whoever the next permanent head coach may be. If sufficient flexibility isn't shown, there's a danger of Sunderland's 'model' becoming dogmatic, and the stakes are too high for that to happen.

With two games remaining, the final whistle against Sheffield Wednesday can't arrive quickly enough, because the pattern at home this season has been infuriating, repetitive, and utterly unacceptable.

The optimism of a year ago has been replaced by something altogether more bitter, and ploughing on regardless simply isn't an option.

Sky Bet Championship

Saturday April 20, 2024

Stadium of Light

Attendance: 40,743

Sunderland 0

Millwall 1 (Watmore 71')

Sunderland: Patterson, Pembélé (Ba 62'), O'Nien; Ballard, Alese (Mundle 81'), Styles (Evans 81'); Ekwah, Jobe, Rigg (Aouchiche 63'); Clarke, Dack (Hume 45')

Subs Not Used: Bishop, Hjelde, Burstow, Hemir

Millwall: Sarkic, Leonard, Tanganga; McNamara, Cooper, Honeyman (Watmore 67'); Saville, De Norre (Hutchinson 88'), Longman (Norton-Cuffy 87'); Obafemi (Bradshaw 67'), Flemming

Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, Esse, Harding, Mayor, Nisbet