Sunderland promotion seasons after 10 games 1964 Alan Brown Played 10, won 6, Draw 2, lost 2 GD +8, Points 20 (was 14 as it was only 2 points for a win back then) Position 2nd 1976 Bob Stokoe Played 10, Won 7, Draw 1, Lost 2, GD +9, Points 22 (again based on 3 points for a win.) 1st 1980 Ken Knighton Again based n 3 points for a win) Played 10, Won 4, Draw 2, Lost 4, GD +2, Points 14 Position 8th 1988 Third Tier Denis Smith Played 10, Won 4, Draw 4, Lost 2, GD +4, Points 16 Position 10th 1990 Play of defeat to Swindon. Denis Smith Played 10, Won 5, Draw 4, Lost 1, DG +7, Points 19 Position 2nd 1996 Peter Ried Played 10, Won 4, Draw 4, Lost 2, GD +2 Points 16 Position 6th 1999 Peter Ried Played 10, Won 5, Draw 5, Lost 0, GD +16, Points 20 Position 1st 2005 Mick McCarty Played 10, Won 5, Draw 2, Lost 3, GD +7, Points 17 Position 4th 2007 Roy Keane Played 10, Won 4, Draw 1, Lost 5, GD -1, Points 13 Position 14th 2022 Third Tier Alex Neil ( Lee Johnson) Played 10, Won 7, Draw 1, Lost 2, GD +12 points 22 Position 2nd Current Played 10, Won 7, Draw 1, Lost 2, GD +11, Points 22 Position 1st.
The whole it's early days shtick is starting to drift off. To be first after 10 games is a fantastic start. Gives us a real chance.
Stats suggest a textbook promotion trajectory with no issues to speak of If only it was that easy The team looks to have that promotion mindset. Able to win 50/50 matches, capable of getting a result in scrappy games
The most impressive thing is that we've got a new coach, our players are a bunch of kids, we're miles away from hitting top gear and yet we're still top of the league. Looking very, very promising.
Great thread. Was thinking about comparative starts earlier and thought this must be about the best we have had. What encourages me is I think we will get better as the season goes on. I said at the start of the season I thought we would be better second half than first half. I still think that is true. So far Regis has really solidified us defensively. You can see with real clarity the work he has done on our defensive shape. In particular full backs and the midfield 3. It is so tight. I think we will start to see a development in our attacking play as time goes on. Interesting to note the new coach is given a defensive focus. Hopefully that allows others to start developing those attacking patterns. There is room to improve in those areas, and I think we will do it. It all leads me to think me could well be in for a very good season. January could still be a key period for us. Sides may try for some of our players. I think we may be able to stave most interest off. Can we push the boat out for a player or two that will push us on again? Why not. I was really intrigued to hear the tone of the language used by Bent and co in the sky studio yesterday re Henderson. Bent in particular was using terms like when, not if. Probably adding 2 and 2 and getting 5, but it stood out for me. I will be greedy and ask for another right winger as well, ideally with pace to burn.
Yeah we have seemed a little out of form the last maybe five games. Relative to the start of the season. Which is crazy as we are still picking up points.
Also,we have 2 or 3 reportedly good players we haven't seen yet and another 2 or 3 very good players to come back from injury. Taking that into account,the squad would look good going into the second half of the season,particularly,as things seems to indicate,our achilles heel of recent seasons has been solved with Wilson and Connolly getting going,Mayenda aswell. If we're in the same position at the turn of the year,it'll take a hell of a bid from someone to prise one of our top young stars away in January,but,if it happens,I'm confident it'll be the right decision for us,and it won't slow us down.We are being very well managed at the minute. In fact,if we were to see a PL club come in to poach KS and our recruitment team,it would cause us as much pain as losing a couple of our players.......and I never thought I'd be saying that! I agree with you....we should fear no-one,after 10 matches we're the team at the top...everyone is looking up at us.....and we're looking at an exciting season.
No doubt someone over the road will pull it out from stats somewhere,to try to deflate our bubble,but I don't care....just enjoying what we're doing and where we are.
Big if given our luck with injuries but if/when we have everyone back we have some serious depth and I don’t think we’ve played anywhere near our best yet, Burnley aside, IF we can hit that consistently we’re in the top 2 race for me, would still snap your hands of for 6th though
Great thread, love comparisons like this. It’s still a great start and I hope it continues as long as possible. I’m still in the “playoffs would make a great season” camp and as I said in the match thread, the fact we are already 6 points above 7th is excellent day light. 4 out of our next 6 games are away (despite our last game being away), so this is a crucial period coming up. Still top after 16 games and people really start to take notice.
This is the point at which Le Bris’ Lorient side began to fall away. That’s why I’m still cautious and subscribing to the early days shtick. Not to mention the precedent in this league for big changes in the table over a ten game period. It’s looking good though.
I think we can only get better. Of course,this is a tough division...perhaps the toughest....anyone can beat anyone else...the positions in the table don't really account for that much game by game......we could just as easily come unstuck at horrible Luton's ground on Wed,but,despite the fact I expect a setback here and there,I just think these players are getting to grips with it.
We’ve got 36 games left and we need to win 23 of those to get to 90pts so that gives us a 13 game deficient for a few losses and draws. Easy said than done of course but the start is very encouraging. The defensive shape and the out of possession stuff makes me think that we could do it. It’s something we haven’t seen in a while. Early days of course and like others have said RLB Lorient started to fall away at this stage after 10 games.
