Fan Letters: “We Were Quiet When We Needed To Be Raucous!”
· Yahoo Sports
Dear Roker Report,
The most depressing thing about the game against Fulham wasn’t the result or the performance of the Lads. It was us — the fans.
Are we only great supporters when things are going well?
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We were quiet when we needed to be raucous. We allowed the Fulham fans to make more noise than us when our team needed our energy. We were back to a half-empty stadium before the final whistle, then I find out Romaine Mundle was subjected to racist abuse online after the game. Depressing.
No Wise Men Say at the end of the game, and what happened to ‘Til the End’? That’s just for the players, is it?
We have had such a positive experience at the Stadium of Light so far this season. We’ve seen real commitment from our team on the pitch and they’ve always put a shift in.
On Sunday, they were poor, but so were we as fans.
Jeff Johnson
Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Jeff. Thank you for your letter.
Sunday was just a bad, bad day all around. Possibly the worst day at the Stadium of Light since we were promoted back to the Premier League, I would say.
The atmosphere was flat, the performance was dismal, there was tension and anxiety in the air from the first whistle, and the sickening racist abuse of Romaine Mundle capped off a wretched Sunday for everyone connected with the club.
I don’t know what the solution to the issue of the fluctuating atmosphere at home could be, but what I’d say is that the players do look a little bit short of confidence at the moment. Hopefully one or two positive results on the road can help to address that before we return to Wearside to play Brighton in mid-March.
Dear Roker Report,
A couple of seasons ago, I wrote about Abdoullah Ba being a headless chicken.
You didn’t agree, but I was correct and now we have Mundle who, in my opinion, is in the same category: useless. On Sunday it was harder to miss than score, and he hasn’t a clue how to cross a ball into the box. Last week Brian Brobbey chastised him for not crossing.
The Fulham outcome would’ve been a lot better if he had a head on him. Why he wasn’t sent on loan beggars belief.
We’re digging a hole for ourselves that wasn’t with the program, but I’ll say that it’s Sunderland A.F.C. who I’ll always follow and love.
Michael Ohuigin
Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Michael. Thank you for getting in touch.
Frankly, it’s time to lay off Romaine Mundle and to consider that this is a young, promising footballer who is trying his very best to make positive contributions yet repeatedly finds himself scapegoated for his alleged failings and on Sunday was the recipient of racial abuse. From faceless cowards. In 2026. The mind boggles.
In my opinion, the way he’s being singled out by pockets of the Sunderland fanbase is nothing short of a disgrace. The team as a whole isn’t performing to the standards they’ve set for themselves, but much of the criticism being sent Mundle’s way has gone too far.
It needs to stop and it needs to stop now.
Dear Roker Report,
It’s just as well we have the points from the games before Christmas, because the last few games have been disasters and on current form, it’s relegation, which no one wants.
The Fulham match was shocking, with just one shot on goal, and winning just two out of eleven isn’t good enough. There are some serious questions to be answered quickly, because if the teams below us start picking up points, we’re in deep trouble.
Bill Calvert
Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Bill. Thank you for your letter.
Although I don’t think we’ll be involved in the relegation battle during the final games of the season, I agree that our current league form is poor and that we appear to be in danger of limping over the line as opposed to ending the season strongly — which would be disappointing after some of the performances and results we’ve seen.
I hope the Fulham game represented a “line in the sand” moment for Régis Le Bris and his players, and with two challenging away games up next, we’ve got to get back to doing what we did well earlier the season if we want to turn our form around — whether that’s through changes in tactics or personnel.
Here’s hoping.