Season Review: Sunderland miss out on promotion yet again

The 2020/21 season is not one many will look back on fondly on Wearside after Sunderland, yet again, missed out on a return to the Championship via the play-offs.

The Black Cats did win the Papa John’s Trophy with a 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers at Wembley, but that will do little to ease the pain of facing a fourth consecutive season in League One.

Despite a slow start to the season, automatic promotion looked a real possibility at one stage for Lee Johnson’s side, but they couldn’t see it through.

A summer of change could well be on the horizon, and they will need to get it right this time around, having not always managed to do so in recent years.

Key Games

November 27, 2020 – Fleetwood Town 1-1 Sunderland

Phil Parkinson’s Sunderland reign came to an end after the 1-1 draw at Fleetwood in November, with the club seventh in the table.

Sunderland had a game in hand on half the teams above them, and could have climbed as high as third had they won it, but there was little disappointment with the decision on Wearside, with many having called for his departure for months before it happened.

February 13, 2021 – Sunderland 4-1 Doncaster Rovers

This was a big result for Sunderland, a big win against a side higher than them in the table. Four assists from Aiden McGeady for four Charlie Wyke goals.

This result started a great run of form which saw Sunderland unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions, winning 11.

April 2, 2021 – Sunderland 3-1 Oxford United

The game against Oxford United was the final win for Sunderland in that run of form. It was another good win against a side doing well, Sunderland were now third in the table with a game in hand, and could move into the top two with a win. They had two games in hand on top of the league Hull City and were just three points behind.

Sunderland won just one of their remaining league games after this match. It was also a match where there was a fight in the tunnel which ultimately saw Oxford manager Karl Robinson, and Sunderland assistant manager Jamie McAllister, given touchline bans.

Whether the fallout from that incident played a part in the derailment of Sunderland’s season is not clear, but what is clear, is that the results fell away after this game.

April 10, 2021 – Sunderland 1-2 Charlton Athletic

It had been over two months since Sunderland had last lost a league game before Charlton Athletic rocked up to the Stadium of Light. But this game was the start of a run of three consecutive defeats, and part of a seven game winless run, which started the game before away at Peterborough United.

May 19, 2021 – Lincoln City 2-0 Sunderland

The play-off semi-final first leg, where Sunderland ultimately lost the tie against Lincoln City. Johnson’s side had probably been the better side for much of the game, but they didn’t manage to beat Josef Bursik in the Lincoln goal.

At the other end, two sloppy goals were conceded to put the Imps in a commanding position going into the second leg.

Although Sunderland had levelled the tie by half time in the second leg, they looked to have slightly ran out of steam and Lincoln grabbed the only goal after the break to put them through to Wembley. Although Sunderland still had chances and could have taken the game to extra time, they had left themselves with too much to do from the first leg.

Key Transfers

So many of the players Sunderland signed last summer made little, or no, impact that it is difficult to pick out key transfers. The signing of Bailey Wright, who had previously been on loan, helped to shore up the defence. Dion Sanderson was an impressive loan signing, although he missed the end of the season with injury. The January signings did not offer too much improvement either.

Sunderland could have a big rebuild on their hands this coming summer, and they will need serious improvement on what they have brought in over the last couple of windows if they want to be promoted.

Key Players

Sunderland ended up with four players in the League One team of the season. The inclusions of Charlie Wyke and Aiden McGeady speak for themselves with the goals and assists they provided throughout the season. Lee Burge was a slightly more surprising inclusion although there were only two sides who conceded fewer goals. Luke O’Nien completed the Sunderland contingent.

Season Verdict

With one manager sacked, and some calls on social media for his replacement to now move on as well, I think that tells you what you need to know about how this season has gone from a Sunderland perspective. Missing out on promotion in the third tier is not good enough.

Lee Johnson did improve Sunderland after replacing Phil Parkinson, and did put them back into automatic promotion contention, but the streaky form that plagued him as Bristol City manager followed him to Sunderland, with the great run of form followed up by a terrible one, which ultimately saw the Black Cats finish in the play-offs.

Next Season?

Sunderland have to aim for promotion. The league, on paper, looks very difficult next campaign with a lot of strong sides in it, but Sunderland will still have one of the biggest budgets, if not the biggest, in the league.

There is talk of a reduced budget, and a high turnover of players, but there was at Lincoln City last summer where all it took for Michael Appleton to turn it around was a squad of players who could play his style of football.

If Sunderland, and Lee Johnson, can achieve a similar level of improvement to what Lincoln did, then they will be promoted automatically, if not as champions, next time around.

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