View From The North Stand
One man's views on Sunderland AFC - County Durham's premier football club.
| TALKING POINT | | | EATING OUT |  | | | EATING IN | | | | PAST TIMES | | |
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We're rebuilding bridges - View From The North Stand
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| MATCH WINNER: Andy Reid got the goal that gave us our first back to back win in the Premier League since 2001 |
WHERE were you back in December 2001?
I was a student, enjoying my first year at university, collecting traffic cones, pizza boxes and beer bottles and thinking it was 'so cool' to stack them up in our halls of residence.
It seems like an age ago. That's because it was. Seven years, in fact.
On the pitch, my beloved Sunderland were not exactly firing on all cylinders in the league. The season before, we achieved seventh in the league and everything seemed peachy.
But something changed. Possibly down to a lack of willing from the board to invest, certainly when we were second in the table the New Year previously.
It was the beginning of the end for Peter Reid.
In fact, he would only spend another nine months in the job before being sacked by Bob Murray for a shocking start to 2002-2003.
But in his last full season at the Stadium of Light, he achieved something no other Sunderland manager would in the top flight until last weekend - win two games in a row.
It's another record we've managed to rub off the hall of shame.
We're slowly rebuilding the bridges burned over the last seven years.
Lowest points total in Premier League history, failure to win an away game for two years, most games without a victory, quickest relegation.
Derby have taken a few of those records, they look to be well-set to thrash our 15 point total, and our victory at Aston Villa a fortnight ago has got the monkey off Roy Keane's back.
Our performances of late are getting people back on side. The ground is almost full week in, week out, we're winning games, we're playing well.
People are sitting up and saying 'Sunderland aren't doing too badly,' we're being taken seriously.
In the last few years, the mere mention of Sunderland would have the national press tittering like schoolgirls.
We've shut them up.
In my years of watching Sunderland, I've seen the highs and the lows. But save for our four-season stint in the top flight between 1999 and 2003, we haven't had that consistency, we haven't been considered a force in the Premier League.
Our first priority was always going to be survival. We're almost there. I think one more win will do it. If we get that sooner than later, there's no reason why we can't start casting an eye on next season. It's an exciting time - Roy Keane has already said that the bar must be raised. There's no doubt the board can match his ambition with money.
The fans are on board, season tickets are selling well, orders are being taken for next season's new kit, the place is buzzing.
It should make you proud to be a Sunderland fan right now. I know I am.
10:47am Friday 4th April 2008
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