On This Day (21st Feb 2015): Sunderland Draw After Poyet’s Open Letter

Only days after Gus Poyet’s open letter to the fans, his Sunderland team drew their thirteenth game of the season with a familiar 0-0 scoreline.

The Uruguayan felt compelled to write after some horrid results at home cranked up the pressure and left the team languishing just above the drop zone.

In the letter, Poyet asked fans to stay patient and positive in the midst of a bad run and accepted that criticism laid at his door.

So I invite all of you to stay positive, to be strong, closer to each other and keep believing in what we started together last year, working harder to make it better this season.

To finish I would like to clarify once more: the responsibility of the results of our team is down to me. I always said it and I will always accept my responsibility.

Sunderland struggled throughout the season and in truth, if you were a season ticket holder at the Stadium of Light, you’d certainly be wondering if you were getting “bang for your buck”, given that the team had only scored twelve goals at home by this stage of the season.

It was hoped that the signing of Jermain Defoe would make a difference and whilst he’d already picked up a couple of goals, the team still looked bereft and devoid of ideas in front of goal.

A 0-2 defeat at home to QPR — then near the bottom of the table — was another nail in the coffin of Poyet’s already fragile tenure at the club, and it was in the aftermath to this defeat that he wrote the aforementioned letter.

Days later, the Lads faced Tony Pulis’ revitalised West Bromwich Albion at the Stadium of Light and after the unexpected defeat to QPR, victory was certainly required here to alleviate some of the pressure on the team.

By this stage, Pulis had the Baggies purring and they’d only lost once in their previous ten games, so this was surely going to be a difficult encounter and that turned out to be the case, with the game finishing scoreless.

Without much difficulty, the away side absorbed our best attacking efforts and according to the match reports, our best attacks came from corners in the second half.

Sunderland’s best chances came from corners.

Santiago Vergini headed wide a Larsson delivery amid more pushing and shoving in the penalty area, while substitute Connor Wickham turned Johnson’s ball straight at Foster.

With a trip to Old Trafford on the cards, this was a terrible week for Poyet and the team as the Lads only picked up one point from a potential six. Despite this, the manager attempted to take the positives out of the result and spoke about them after the game.

The performance was higher in commitment. Going for it, it was spot on. We needed a break. We needed a lucky goal or the right decision from somewhere. In England, you say it wasn’t to be and it was that kind of day.

It’s difficult for me. Tony has improved his team, he is one of the best and they are difficult to beat. I think we did enough to get a break today. It was important to get back to basics and we just needed that goal to be a perfect day.

We can take positives. We were higher up the pitch, we crossed I don’t know how many times. It wasn’t to be. You need to play this way. You need to anticipate the second ball. We will see.

It was a clear sign of a manager who potentially knew his days were numbered.

Sunderland’s style of play had become so sterile and ineffective that they were quite simply too easy to play against and with the drop zone looming, something had to change sooner rather than later.