FORMER Sunderland manager Peter Reid thinks Sunderland have already lost the battle to stay in the Premier League and has questioned David Moyes’ negative approach to the job.
The Black Cats are destined for a return to the Championship for the first time in ten years after just one win from their last 14 matches.
Peter Reid in the dugout when Sunderland boss. Picture: NORTH NEWS
Sunderland have also gone seven matches without scoring and their abysmal form has seen them drop ten points adrift of safety with seven matches remaining.
Reid already believes the task of staying up is a lost cause and the challenge will still be a monumental one even if they managed to beat West Ham at the Stadium of Light this Saturday.
Moyes – who has had to endure a fresh accusation of an expletive rant against the BBC’s journalist Jaqui Oatley back in 2012 in the last 48 hours - was quick to predict Sunderland would be in a relegation fight back in August after watching his team lose 2-1 at home to Middlesbrough, which didn’t go down well with Reid or the club’s supporters.
Sunderland boss David Moyes has been criticised by Peter Reid
Reid said: “Early on in the season after a game, David says, 'we are in a relegation fight’. Now he might think that, but as a manager you don't say it publicly.
“I’ve got the highest regard for David. But when he was at Manchester United, and they were champions, and the fixtures came out, he said, ‘I can't believe how difficult these fixtures are’.
“I've been a manager and know what it's like. When I first went up with Sunderland, we were building a new ground, (Niall) Quinn and (Tony) Coton got injured.
"I knew we were under the cosh, but I never publicly came out and said it because I think it sends out a bad message supporter-wise, but even more player-wise.”
Reid spent seven years in charge of Sunderland after taking over in 1995. He led them to two seventh-place finishes before things turned sour and he lost his job in 2002.
That period remains close to the former Everton and England midfielder’s heart and it saddens him that the recent years of struggle and constant chances appear to have caught up with Sunderland this time around.
He said: “I was there at the Burnley game and I had a word with David afterwards. I wouldn't say he was resigned to it, but there was an air of inevitability around the Stadium of Light.
“They've changed that many managers over the years and got out of it. I can't see a way out. I think they are down now.
“The owner is trying to sell the football club and, at this moment in time, there are no buyers. If they go down, like I think they will, it's hard to get out of that league, it's very difficult and it's a slippery slope.
“What they have done, they've geared the contracts for if they go down, so the financial implications aren't as big as if they hadn’t put a clause in the contract. The whole club's flat. It looks as though they are going down with a whimper.”
Sunderland played reasonably well against Manchester United until Seb Larsson was red carded before the interval, although they still trailed and had failed to end their goal drought.
Reid thinks Sunderland’s chances of staying up severely tumbled when the January transfer window closed without Moyes being able to bring in the right men to lift things – like Sam Allardyce had done a year earlier when he brought in the likes of Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri.
In an interview with beIN Sports, Reid said: “You’ve got to have a look at the transfer window which Sam Allardyce had last year, where they managed to get some good players in who kept them up. David was told there wasn’t that money available.
“I think it's gone through all the club. It’s flat on the terraces, it's flat on the pitch and a club that is close to my heart are going down. They are not good enough. They’ve got Defoe up front who has got them goals and won points, but they have gone seven games without a goal.”
Even if Sunderland battle themselves to safety in the remaining weeks of the season, Dutch forward Jeremain Lens is unlikely to be back next season.
Lens has enjoyed his time at Fenerbahce on loan and the clubs are looking at ways of extending the loan agreement for a further 12 months.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here