Mike Dodds has issued his verdict on whether Sunderland can still reach the playoffs.
Sunderland endured their fourth successive defeat at the weekend as they were beaten by Norwich City.
The Black Cats put on another underwhelming performance on the road, taking their away tally to only one win in their last 13 games.
It was another shocking bit of defending that allowed Josh Sargent to power the ball into the back of the net and claim all three points for the promotion challengers.
Another loss has left Sunderland in tenth place, though they are now nine points from the top six, while they are just as close to the relegation zone.
Despite that, Mike Dodds has remained upbeat about the club’s chances of finishing inside the playoff places.
When asked if Sunderland are still in the race for promotion, Dodds said (per Sunderland Nation): “Definitely.
“I can’t remember exactly where we were this time last year but I can’t imagine it’s a million miles apart.
“What we did last year was go on an unbelievable run to take it to the last game. The mindset of the players is that they want to win every single game and it has to be that way at a club of this size.
“The play-offs are still very much in my mind, I appreciate at the moment we’re in a bit of a spot – I can’t shy away from that and I know we’ve got two difficult games coming up, but I take a lot of faith from watching the players work.
“I don’t see a group that has given up on that.”
Is there a chance Sunderland will make it to the playoffs?
Even though I appreciate Mike Dodds, having him in the dugout instead of Michael Beale is still a comfort. But why doesn’t he just state the obvious? Why is he giving these players such a free pass?
They deserved nothing more than to lose because of their terrible performance yesterday. Hemir lacked initiative, Trai Hume was lagging behind, and Romaine Mundle appeared to have lost the ability to challenge men.
Our players are just not good enough, and they don’t appear to be able to win even one of the campaign’s eleven games left. Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman have a lot of work ahead of them to make up for the mess they have created.
Although Mike Dodds doesn’t have to acknowledge that humanity is doomed, he also doesn’t have to act as though nothing is wrong.
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