GUSTAVO Poyet thinks progress has been made at Sunderland, but it has been far from plain sailing in his attempts to turn around Sunderland.

He got his first glimpse of the enormity of the task at hand when he suffered a 4-0 drubbing in his first match in charge at Swansea City on October 19. Despite taking the Black Cats to a Wembley final, Poyet was still coming to terms with the size of the problems in early April.

At that point, after a worrying second half collapse at Tottenham, there looked to be no way back for Sunderland and Championship football seemed a certainty, particularly after the home defeat to Everton the following weekend.

Yet, somehow, and from somewhere, Sunderland found an extra gear to go on a five-match unbeaten run, winning four of those including a 2-1 success at Chelsea. That little sequence of results proved enough for Poyet to achieve his first goal: stay up.

Seven matches in to his first full season in charge, Poyet has not had it all his own way this time around either. It took him until early this month to enjoy his first league win.

HIGHS

Derby double

Poyet was the first Sunderland manager to do the double over Newcastle in a season since 1967. His first win, at the Stadium of Light, arrived in his second game in charge when Fabio Borini struck a late thunderbolt to secure a 2-1 win.

Then Sunderland travelled over to Tyneside in February to humiliate Alan Pardew and Co in front of a packed St James’ Park crowd. Borini got things rolling. Adam Johnson added a second before Jack Colback, who controversially swapped clubs in the summer, completed the win.

Capital gains

Sunderland had started to deliver in the cup competitions under Poyet, but could the confidence rub off on Premier League displays? It certainly did at Fulham in January.

Adam Johnson reminded everyone of his true ability when he tormented the Cottagers from start to finish with a blistering hat-trick as he helped deliver a 4-1 victory. He went on to earn the player of the month and the overall team display was exactly what the manager had been demanding.

Ripping in to the Red Devils

Even when Sunderland stunned Manchester United at the Stadium of Light by earning a 2-1 first leg advantage courtesy of an own goal from Ryan Giggs and a Borini penalty, few could have imagined what was to come in the return fixture.

It was a night at Old Trafford to remember. David Moyes’ side had one foot in the final courtesy of Jonny Evans’ first half opener but Phil Bardsley struck a minute before the end of extra-time to turn things around.

There was still time for Javier Hernandez to go and put United ahead and force the game to penalties. Step forward Vito Mannone, who denied Rafael with the final spot-kick, and Sunderland were in a first final in 22 years.

Dare to dream

Thousands upon thousands of Sunderland fans made the trip to London for the Capital One Cup final, packing Covent Garden on the eve of the date with Manchester City.

It was a joyous occasion which threatened to have an even happier ending with Borini struck Sunderland ahead in the first half. In the end City turned on the style after the break, eventually winning the League Cup through Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas’ goals. Defeated but far from deflated.

Done and dusted

Premier League safety was the priority throughout Poyet’s first season and he achieved his target with a game to spare. A point at Manchester City was followed by incredible wins over Chelsea, Cardiff, Manchester United and West Brom to get the job done.

The win at Stamford Bridge was the first defeat suffered by Jose Mourinho on home soil in 77 games. The revitalised Connor Wickham hit five goals in that run, earning him the player of the month award for April, and Poyet could finally start to plan for the summer and another season in the Premier League.

LOWS

Dreadful start

Poyet looked stunned after taking charge of his first Premier League fixture in October as Swansea made the most of Sunderland’s shattered confidence to cruise to a 4-0 win.

After Bardsley had scored an own goal in the 57th minute the goals just kept flowing. Jonathan De Guzman and Wilfried Bony added a further two inside seven minutes before another own goal, from Steven Fletcher, compounded the misery ten minutes from time.

Tamed by the Tigers

If Poyet needed a further indication of the mess he inherited then a trip to the KC Stadium in early November provided it. Not content with a dreadful first half in which they failed to retain possession, Lee Cattermole and Andrea Dossena were both red carded within six minutes of the second half.

Despite a spirited display following the introduction of Wes Brown from the bench, Sunderland could find no way back to cancel out the lead given to the Tigers by a Carlos Cuellar own goal. Sunderland were in big trouble – and the fans knew it.

Cup hangover

What should have been the day when Sunderland capitalised on the momentum built up from the Capital One Cup heroics, turned out to be another day at the KC Stadium to forget for Poyet.

In resting a number of key players, Sunderland bowed out of the FA Cup cheaply. Poyet later suggested it was one of the biggest mistakes he has made and it marked the start of an eight match slump without a win at the wrong stage of the season.

Shambles down the Lane

“We need a miracle to survive” were the words uttered by Poyet after Sunderland slumped to a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Tottenham at White Hart Lane. It was the Black Cats’ fourth successive defeat and left them staring at relegation with just seven matches remaining in April.

Poyet looked a beaten man afterwards and, after a further defeat to Everton in the next outing, he was left reflecting that there was a long term problem running through the whole club which he needed to find and needed addressing.

The Fabio Borini saga

Another lesson learned? Hopefully. Many of Sunderland’s early season problems this time around can be, in many respects, put down to a player no longer on Wearside.

Poyet spent the whole summer tracking the £14m forward from Liverpool and was left high and dry on deadline day when the Italian decided to stay at Anfield rather than return or head somewhere else.

That left Sunderland short of the extra forward Poyet had been looking for and the manager has since hinted that he wasted far too much time trying to land him.