Unexpected development: I believe that Sunderland may be in trouble after missing six chances.

Unexpected development: I believe that Sunderland may be in trouble after missing six chances.

All we had to do on Saturday was display some perseverance, self-control, and patience, and we would have had what would have been an invaluable point.

After falling behind Southampton 2-0, it seemed hopeless, but goals from Jobe and Romaine Mundle in the second half had given us a surprising lead. We’d picked up our game and started to throw more punches, just like in the second half against Leicester, and in an instant the situation had changed.

But at that point, in keeping with the overarching theme of the previous few weeks, we appeared to have a nosebleed.

Our defensive structure vanished along with our shape, and the Saints scored two more goals with delight to seal the victory and send us reeling into our sixth straight defeat—our worst run as a team since the dog days of 2006.

Without a doubt, this is a concerning situation, and the 2023–2024 season now feels more like a last-ditch effort to avoid the bottom six than a desperate attempt to clear the baggage at the doors of Mike Dodds, Kristjaan Speakman, and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.

The last three games might have felt like “free hits” if we hadn’t lost to Huddersfield, Birmingham City, and Plymouth, but instead they dealt us three serious blows, leaving us on wobbly legs and hoping the cornerback could carry us through the remainder of the fight while the opposition smells blood.

We’re in a terrible situation where we have to hope for favors from other teams and pray that we can score enough points on our own as the teams at the bottom of the table keep getting better while we keep losing.

The current state of affairs is terrible for everyone involved, but it has been building for five months. This is because in November, Tony Mowbray left and a massive storm from the North Sea arrived, setting off a series of events that are now being manifested.

Dodds’ shortcomings have been ruthlessly exposed since taking over from Michael Beale, despite the motivation provided by two victories over West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United earlier in the campaign. However, Dodds shouldn’t have been in this position in the first place because Beale shouldn’t have been appointed as Mowbray’s replacement.

Due to a self-inflicted destructive spiral, the players’ form has declined and their confidence has been severely damaged. We’ve had none of the above, and the sporting director’s credibility has suffered greatly as a result. Speakman and his team owe it to the players to give them stability.

Talking about a “obsession with progression” is acceptable when things are going well and you’re riding high, but in light of the events that have transpired under Dodds, the fallout from his incredibly brief tenure in office, and the Beale scandal, that soundbite now seems terribly misplaced.

This club has brutally highlighted the fact that overconfidence is the enemy of anyone in a position of authority since November.

On the field, we have five days until we return to our home field; we need to figure out how to stop this downward trend and win the next game by any means necessary.

Seven points should be sufficient to guarantee our Championship status for 2024–2025 (a statement I never thought I’d be typing, but here we are). If we lose to QPR, who appear to be in reasonable form under Marti Cifuentes, the possibility of hiring a “proper” head coach in the capacity of a firefighter may become more real.

It is not even possible to consider relegation because the stakes are too high and there could be disastrous consequences. Even though we no longer really need stopgap measures, if six losses turn into seven, it might be necessary.

If the rotation in the dugout this season has been less than ideal, the effect it’s clearly had on the players is perhaps most damning.

In contrast to the miserable 2017/2018 campaign, during which a bunch of spineless, overpaid wasters disgraced the red and white shirt en route to League One, I don’t dislike this squad and I don’t dislike any of the individuals within it.

They’re talented, honest, dedicated and eager to impress, but they’re currently lacking direction and what they haven’t had since Mowbray departed is a strong, authoritative voice on the touchline. That was his biggest strength by far, and we’ve not come close to recapturing it.

As is the case inside any dressing room in any sport, the players are only as good as the environment allows them to be.

At the moment, individual struggles are hindering the team’s chances and it’s been painful to see such promising players looking so lost and bereft of confidence, which is what we’re witnessing with the likes of Leo Hjelde, Hemir and Jenson Seelt.

The campaign of 2023–2024 hasn’t been what anyone would have wanted, and while the inquest is still going on, we can’t lose sight of what has to be done.

After two more victories, the messy process of analyzing the season and implementing the necessary adjustments can start. There is no way that anyone at the club is happy with what has transpired, and after everything is said and done, there won’t be any room to relax, sigh with relief, and do nothing.