In mid-November, Julio put pen to paper on a new contract. Just under two months later, his teammates did their best to show Sunderland fans exactly how valuable that signing was. Without him, the team looked lost, nervous and decidedly uncreative. With McCarthy continuously speaking about our strength in depth, this performance, against a disciplined but very poor Gillingham side, if anything, highlighted how the absence of just one player can influence the performance of many.
His absence, however, didn’t just affect what happened on the field, but off it as well. It forced McCarthy into completely reshaping the side. In hindsight, a move which he may regret. With our two wingers, namely Julio and Lawrence, out with injury, McCarthy opted to revert to the 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 formation with Stewart and Elliott acting as wingers-cum-strikers. Whilst Stewart seemed to cope quite well with this, it didn’t work and this was clear throughout the match.
The early warning signs were there from the start. Even with three up front, there was no cutting edge and the wings looked vulnerable. Even though Sunderland had a goal disallowed after Thornton, in an offside position, stole the ball of Elliott’s foot, both Byfield and Hills had good chances from breakaway runs. And soon after this, following good work and a good cross from the left by a certain former Sunderland striker, Henderson met the ball with a good, flicked header, leaving Myhre stranded and granting Gillingham the lead. While this was just what they deserved, Sunderland took no time in hitting back. McCartney, reminiscent of his past form, powered down the left wing before cutting inside through two defenders and squaring the ball to Brown who took his chance well from a few yards out. This opened up what was a previously tight game, yet both teams still failed to carve out any real chances, with only Brown and Whitley having any convincing shot on goal before half time. The only real action of the last half hour being the substitution of Breen, who, after seemingly playing through the pain barrier in the last few games, limped off with a suspected knee injury.
During the half time break I had the displeasure of being on the receiving end of a one-way argument about the merits of Thornton over Whitley, although the second half would have done little to support any of our arguments, with Whitley being replaced by Piper just ten minutes into the half and Thornton, like the rest of midfield, becoming insignificant and non-existent. Whitley failed to show any of the effort and fight which I would have, if I’d got a word in, based my argument upon while Thornton failed to show any of the ingenuity and imagination he’d entered the side because of. Whitehead, meanwhile, like the aforementioned two, was a man off, looking tense and panicky every time he got the ball. This meant that the second half was always going to be an uphill struggle to get the winner and it proved just too much for the admittedly weakened Sunderland side. Piper’s introduction did lead to a bit more attacking prowess than had been shown before but all that Sunderland could muster during the second half was a couple of half chances and a failed penalty appeal. This came ten minutes before the end when, after the substitution of Brown for Bridges, Banks handled the ball, what looked like in the penalty area. However neither the ref nor his assistant agreed, awarding a free-kick on the edge of the box. A great disappointment as this looked the only way the Lads were going to steal a win. Indeed, if it weren’t for some poor Gillingham finishing they could have edged an unlikely and probably undeserved win.
So, without wanting to sound like a broken record, it was our lack of creativity that was, once again, our pitfall. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this has got to improve if we are to avoid those dreaded playoffs.
Man of the Match: Marcus Stewart, worked so hard in both attack and defence.
Matthew Woolston