Point is, the Cats need to be better
WAS Sunderland’s draw at Coventry City a good point? Or a missed opportunity?
If you want to make a case for the former, you can reel off the trio of injuries the Black Cats suffered at the Ricoh Arena, look to the chances the Sky Blues either missed or saw thwarted by man of the match Jon McLaughlin and fall back on the old cliche that ‘any away point is a good point.’
If you want to make a case for the latter you can point to the fact Sunderland let slip the lead given to them by Lee Cattermole, failed to convert several chances of their own to score a winner and fell off the promotion pace after failing to win against a mid-table side which had found itself 3-0 down inside 25 minutes the previous weekend at Bristol Rovers.
The truth is it was a missed opportunity - but not for any of the reasons outlined above.
Results and performances have to seen in context.
If the extent of a club’s ambitions are a mid-table finish, or to avoid relegation, then iffy performances and inconsistent results are only to be expected.
Sunderland have had plenty of seasons in the Premier League when away draws were viewed as good results, precisely because they came against the backdrop of a relegation battle.
Now the Wearsiders are in the third tier, the bar has been raised.
They have designs on winning League One.
Or at the very least, finishing in the automatic promotion places.
In that context, draws away from home against anyone other than a promotion rival must be viewed as missed opportunities.
‘Any away point is a good point’ does not apply to sides competing at the top of the table - in any league.
Manchester City, Liverpool Chelsea, clubs who are chasing the Premier League title, would not be satisfied with a draw at Brighton, Bournemouth, or Burnley but their opponents would be delighted.
Some will point to the injuries which Glenn Loovens and Denver Hume substituted in the first half and which left Lynden Gooch to play on while injured for the final 15 minutes because all three changes had been made.
Picking up those injuries was far from ideal but it should not be used as an excuse - and boss Jack Ross was careful not to deploy it as such.
Instead Ross, whose ambition extends to more than avoiding defeat on the road, was disappointed his side could not reward the incredible 5,000-strong travelling support with the win they craved.
He knows the Black Cats have performed well in fits and starts this season but have so far failed to hit top gear - a situation he is determined to put right.
Sunderland’s results have been better than their displays and they need to raise their game if they are to go up.