Fan letters: “Stop using the head coach as a scapegoat for unreasonable expectations! »

Dear Roker Report,

I suspect that KLD, Speakman and the majority of fans have expectations that are too high. Most seem to believe that reasonable expectations for the upcoming season should be to contend for the playoffs at a minimum. So that could mean at least a top 8-9 and not being adrift of the top 6. Bris could be sacked if he doesn’t meet those expectations.

The bookmakers currently rate us between 16 and 17th. The odds of promotion are currently 12/1.

Someone will be wrong. Either the bookmakers or the majority of people associated with the club.

By the way, this seems to be a long-standing problem. It’s been the same for at least a year, with bookmakers more skeptical about our ability to compete.

Personally, I think it would be wise to either:

Increase the budget. Which won’t happen. And I understand why KLD is reluctant to increase the budget and run the club with a heavy annual loss; it’s bad enough with an annual loss of £9m announced recently. Or:
Lower expectations. Perhaps to the extent that it is simply a matter of avoiding relegation, and certainly well below a top 6 challenge.

To me it seems like KLD and Speakman are creating unnecessary problems for the club and themselves when they seem to insist on high expectations for the team and whoever their current head coach is. The fact that Alex Neil and Mowbray overachieved does not warrant high expectations. At least not, as long as we have one of the lowest salary budgets in the league. I think it would be better for the club if KLD and Speakman lowered their expectations and made it clear to the public that this is a slow, long-term project. They should be more patient and supportive of their head coaches. They should be less jerky. Less likely to use the head coach as a perpetual scapegoat for their own unreasonable expectations.

In time, I believe this promotion will be achieved. I like the long term focus of KLD and Speakman. They seem to be doing a great job gradually building the team’s salary budget and market value. A few seasons from now, we’ll probably be in a position to mount a sustained promotion challenge before finally succeeding. But unless we go further, it is too early to have such ambitions.

I suspect the problem of unreasonable expectations is the norm in football. Not just at Sunderland, but at most clubs. But I do not know ; I barely follow football, apart from Sunderland. Either way, just because most clubs fall into this trap doesn’t mean we should too.

Thanks for this wonderful fansite, by the way. I enjoy reading most of the content here and listening to the podcasts with Gav, Martin, Chris and others. I appreciate the high quality content you create.

Dan Ejstrup-Andersen

Note from Ed (Martin): Hi Dan, thanks for the email and kind words about the site and podcasts – I really appreciate it. It’s funny – I think the way the club is run, this slow and steady improvement over several years is the aim, rather than going all in on promotion – however, some statements from the club seem to contradict this. What is the club’s objective for next season? We don’t know – perhaps it will become clearer when the new head coach is officially introduced. It has to be, otherwise we are setting him up for failure unless we win the promotion! From a fan perspective, I guess 99% of us would say playoffs at the very least. Wishful thinking? Maybe, and it has to be aligned. I don’t want us to risk the future of the club to go up, but conversely, I want us to get on with it. Ultimately, as long as we can see decent progress – which we couldn’t see last season – I think most will be satisfied.

Dear Roker Report,

My four priorities for our new guy are pretty simple: win, win, win, and finally win.

Gerald Kearney

Note from Ed (Martin): So no pressure! He can only win if he has the right tools, which means a significant strengthening of the team. As Dan says, the head coach cannot be the scapegoat for unreasonable expectations!