The true cost of relegation for Sunderland

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Football has evolved over the years. At one time if you walked into a pub and started talking about financial fair play, false number nines and TV sponsorship deals, the chances are you would be viewed with suspicion and labelled as the establishment’s bore.

Now, almost as soon as the game has finished people are examining their phones talking about the amount of “key chances created by the ball playing midfielder” and the kilometres ran by your team in comparison to the opposition. As a result football is increasingly becoming a sport where the significance of an event is discussed in terms of cold hearted statistics as opposed to the raw emotional impact it will have on the supporters.

Every year the media impress upon us the importance of avoiding relegation because once again the Premier League has struck a record breaking deal with Sky rendering dropping down to the Championship unthinkable. Not only does this sensationalist reporting seem to happen every summer, but it does not take into account the emotional impact of supporting a Premier League team threatened by relegation.

For Sunderland, relegation would be unbearable, but not because the club would miss out on millions in TV revenue but because for the first time in years the Wearsiders look to be on the verge of assembling a decent top flight team.

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Since the game against Manchester City at the end of January, performances have been encouraging. Despite only winning two games in that period, there is a genuine feel-good factor around the club. The new signings have breathed life into the club, Kone has formed a strong defensive partnership with Younes Kaboul, Jan Kirchoff has been so impressive that he’s been nominated for PFA fans player of the month and despite some frustrating displays of late Kazzari has looked bright and shown plenty of commitment.

This, in short, is why the atmosphere around the club has improved. Yes, the results have remained frustrating having dropped too many points from winning positions but there is a sense of togetherness. The players are evidently trying for eachother, and it has not gone unnoticed by supporters.

You can see this when they score, at Newcastle, Jermain Defoe ran the whole length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the travelling fans and at Norwich, when Defoe made it 2-0, the entire team celebrated as jubilantly as the away end. Contrast this to Stephen Fletcher cupping his ears to the fans after scoring his first goals in over six months and it’s easy to see why there’s a lot more good will these days.

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As well as the improved displays and team spirit Sunderland have a manager with a history of providing long term stability. If they stay up the future looks bright with Yann M’Villa and Jan Kirchoff having full pre-seasons on the back of consistent first team football, they will also be able to retain the better players at the club including Jermain Defoe. Combine this with a few quality signings in key positions and there is a genuine chance of Sunderland finally kicking on and finishing in a respectable league position. This would also allow Jordan Pickford to benefit from a more stable environment if he was to become the club’s number one goalkeeper.

However, if the club was to go down the consequences would be severe. With him only signing a two year contract would Allardyce fancy another total rebuild at the stage of his career? Would the new signings who have galvanised the club want to stay and play in the Championship when they could easily move on to better things? Throw in the obvious scenario of Sunderland going down while Newcastle stay up with a former Champions League winning manager in charge and it doesn’t worth thinking about.

If the worst happens it will be a hammer blow to the club not because they miss out on TV money or increased revenue but because they are so close to achieving better things which could be so cruelly snatched away, leaving the club with yet another huge rebuilding process.

Featured image: All rights reserved by Jonathan Sosa.