Cats not ready for Europe says Phil Bardsley

Nov 30 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

Precisely because it is standing between them and a first European campaign for 36 years, Sunderland’s perplexing away form will be a topic of conversation until it is put right, but Bardsley does not have the answer.

“I can’t really explain it,” he said. “To have beaten Liverpool and Arsenal, then come to Wigan and Birmingham and places like that and not perform, we need to get over this and get a win away from home. It’s disappointing to come away from home and play like that. In the first half we weren’t good enough, in the second half we had a go but we lacked a cutting edge and we got punished for it.

“It was a sloppy goal and you can’t give goals away like that in this league, as we found out.”

The Black Cats’ problems are more complex than the unflattering statistics suggest. Their run includes derby draws at Middlesbrough and Newcastle, points at Manchester United and Arsenal and a recent 2-0 defeat at Tottenham which greatly flattered the hosts. The pattern seems to suggest a Sunderland team which struggles to motivate itself away to supposedly weaker sides. “I don’t know if that’s it, I can’t put my finger on it myself,” Bardsley admitted. “It’s a team thing, it’s not just individuals.

“It’s no good one or two turning up and not the rest. It was a disappointing day but we’ve got to dust ourselves and get on with it. It was especially disappointing for the manager coming back to his former club.”

A miserable day for Sunderland was completed when Darren Bent claimed on his Twitter feed that his mother was racially abused by a Black Cats supporter. The club have been quick to condemn the behaviour and are liaising with Northumbria Police on the matter, while Greater Manchester Police have appealed for witnesses to call them on 0161 872 5050.