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Mick McCarthy’s Sunderland team have played well but are finding points hard to come by in the Premiership. Mick exclusively talked to leaguemanagers.com on his view of their season so far.
“I didn’t think we’d go 5 games without winning and not getting a point. In the 1st game we didn’t start well against Charlton but we matched Liverpool in the 2nd, only losing out to a wonderful free kick. After Man. City at home Stuart Pearce said we’d run all over them but couldn’t score and Paul Jewell’s comments after the Wigan game were that they played well for 2min,scored from a penalty and then we were all over them for the other 88mins, ran them ragged but didn’t score. That’s been the problem, we’ve learnt how to play in the Premier League but we haven’t learnt how to win.
“We did against Middlesbrough and that was a welcome victory and hopefully, now, we’re looking more like getting results. The lads were always going to improve, the penny’s going to drop when you’re playing against better players, learning whilst doing it. Everyone can tell you what it’ll be like but until players, managers and coaches experience it, it doesn’t mean a jot. Once you’re right in it you’ll pick it up and learn as you go along. Hopefully, 10 games in, we’ve learnt enough as there are important games ahead and we need to be gaining points.”
Wigan, another of last season’s promoted clubs are doing well and Mick assesses their performance.
“They’ve got 2 centre forwards who can really cause problems with power and pace. Camara and Roberts are a real handful. The 2 centre-backs, although new to the side, De Zeeuw and Henchoz are both vastly experienced. In the main they’ve kept the nucleus of the side that took them up and haven’t made too many changes. Paul Jewell’s been there before and done it, they’ve been fantastic, they’ve responded well to the Premier League and not conceded many goals.
We asked Mick how he can affect his players response to a run of good performances that have gone unrewarded.
“It would be a lot harder if we were playing lousy and getting beat. I do emphasise the positives, the good things that have been done and not dwell on the negatives, the bad things. We obviously mention them and try to put them right but when you’ve played as well as we have, we can take heart.
Also, I remind people of where they’ve come from. Perhaps we expected to have a real tough season, not being disrespectful of the players but very few have had played at this level. Nyron Nosworthy was relegated last season with Gillingham, Gary Breen and Steven Caldwell weren’t fixtures in any Premier League side, Stubbsy was, Dan Collins isn’t, Justin Hoyte’s only on loan from Arsenal, Welchy cost £15,000 from Stockport, Dean Whitehead was £125,000 from Oxford, Tommy Miller was free from Ipswich, Liam Lawrence £125,000 rising to £250,000 from Mansfield, Andy Gray from the Championship, he’s done very well up front for us, causing problems backing in and helping Steve Elliot who cost £250,000 from Man. City.
“All these lads have come here in the last 2 years and got us promotion, they were brilliant, and now we’re stepping up again. It was always, always going to be tough but I do keep reminding them of the leap they’ve made in the last 12 to 24 months, it’s been phenomenal. They’re not playing badly in the Premiership, individual mistakes have cost us goals but collectively we’ve played well.”
We asked Mick how he, himself, reacts to the change from the successes of last season to the difficulties in the Premier League.
“You’ve got to believe in what you’re doing. We lost to Arsenal in the Carling Cup and that’s as bad as I’ve felt after a game. Being knocked out isn’t going to change, too much, our season, but it was the manner of the performance, we didn’t compete, we never looked like winning and that was disappointing. In all the other games we’ve been competitive, we’ve played good football, we’ve created chances and we’ve looked like getting something from every game we’ve played in.
“That’s kept me going, the manner in which the players approach it. It comes from the top any way, sometimes people say how do I always manage to stay cheerful. I’ve got to be cheerful, what wears you down is trying to cheer other people up around you, not the players. I might ask, how are you feeling? ‘OK, but, disappointed about the defeat on Saturday’. I say ‘I am but we’ve got the next game now so we better get on with it and do it with a smile on our faces”.
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