Phil Smith: Sunderland’s Millwall reunion an uncomfortable reminder of disappointing campaign’s turning point
Much has changed at both Millwall and Sunderland since their last meeting, a 1-1 draw in early December.
For Millwall a long and challenging winter saw Joe Edwards, a highly-rated coach but inexperienced in management terms, replaced by club legend Neil Harris. Fears of relegation have somewhat eased in recent weeks, though are not yet entirely extinguished. For Sunderland, well, that Millwall game would come to be something of a turning point in their campaign.
They would of course go on to win their next two games, impressive performances against West Brom and Leeds United overseen by Mike Dodds. In truth, though, their campaign never recovered from the tumultuous week that ultimately saw Tony Mowbray relieved of his duties.
It had started a week previous at Plymouth, a performance that was probably a microcosm of the first half of the campaign. Sunderland dominated, created numerous chances that they couldn’t convert, and were then picked off on the break. A genuinely woeful performance at Huddersfield in midweek followed, though there was mitigation in that Mowbray had missed the entirety of the build up with a nasty virus. And then to Millwall. The frustrations and tensions that had steadily been building from the moment Mowbray sensed the club’s ownership were casting envious glances elsewhere in the summer previous bubbled over, a relatively forgetful game with significant consequences.
The catalyst for the fall out was in part Mowbray’s triple-substitution on 56 minutes, a young trio of Abdoullah Ba, Adil Aouchiche and Mason Burstow withdrawn for Alex Pritchard, Patrick Roberts and Bradley Dack. To Mowbray’s internal critics, it highlighted a lack of tactical detail and trust in many of the club’s summer recruits. To Mowbray, it was a move to add some experience and guile to a side that seemed to be heading for defeat. All three who were introduced had an influence as Sunderland turned the tide, landing an equaliser but ultimately not creating enough to win the game.
