Sunderland lost 0-2 at home to Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday night in the Europa League, ending their unbeaten start. Luka Stojković scored in the 22nd minute, Dion Beljo made it two before half-time, and Régis Le Bris watched a Stadium of Light crowd turn. Six fan YouTubers watched it so you don't have to.
Black Cats TV: Reis needs to go
Black Cats TV did not soften it. "I think Reis needs to go which I agree is very harsh but I'm starting to think now the players don't believe in his system and don't believe in his ways anymore." The manner hurt more than the scoreline. "We don't look like scoring ever. We don't look like able to keep a clean sheet ever." Ahoka, "one of the only bright sparks of the first half," was hauled off at the break while the midfield still looked lost. The thesis was already written.
Themadmistake: what is our identity?
Themadmistake kept circling the blank page. "What what is the instructions? What is our identity? What what what are we what are we supposed to be doing out there on the pitch?" First half got the short version: "It was just absolutely abysmal. Abysmal." Four half-time changes improved the shape without inventing a goal. The crossbar did more defending after the break than the back line had managed before it. The identity question stayed open.
Michael Bowers: where have the standards gone
Michael Bowers asked it for about the sixth time in three weeks. "Where have the standards gone." He was past anger and into apathy. "I actually felt a lot of apathy throughout that second half." Accountability got shared three ways: the referee, the players, and Le Bris. "A real lack of motivation within that first half." Zagreb could have been four or five up by the interval if the finishing had matched the openings. Joint top of the league phase was on the table. Sunderland played like they had not read the fixture list.
Only Fools and SAFC: absolute disgrace
Only Fools and SAFC opened with a warning for the happy clappers, then filed the charge sheet. "That was an absolute shambolic performance yet again." Granit Xhaka stayed on while Jules Ahoka and Chris Rigg, "probably our two best players in the first half," came off. The rest of the XI got the blunt cut: "The rest of them were an absolute disgrace." Terminal at half-time. Could have been 4-0. "This is not good enough." No apology attached.
GILESY AND STEVE: no creativity when it mattered
GILESY AND STEVE had liked the team sheet and hated the first half. Centre-halves again. Reckless yellows. Unmarked bodies on corners. "First half was just simply not good enough." After four changes Sunderland were the better side without finding a finish. "The creativity of the final third just wasn't good enough." Wilson Isidor's early header was chalked off. Kevin Danso hit the bar. Possession without a punch. The referee was shocking, and still not why they trailed by two.
Eddy Bamber: diabolical, then the bar
Eddy Bamber did not want to film it and filmed it anyway. "It was just diabolical. This first half, it was so bad." Danso, in particular, "made Paul McShane look like Maldini at the peak of his career." The opener reminded him of Lech Poznań: half a chance, instinctive strike, 1-0. Half-time changes helped. Danso then hit the crossbar. "We don't have anything, right?" Cups had been a distraction from the Premier League grind. Thursday night made the distraction look like more of the same.
The argument
The rooms agree on the facts. Stojković and Beljo finished the first half before Sunderland had finished warming up. Le Bris made four changes, Isidor had a goal wiped out, Danso hit the woodwork, and the Stadium of Light still booed them off. One win in six. Bottom of the Premier League. First Europa League defeat of the season. The argument is no longer whether the standards have dropped. It is how many more nights like this Le Bris gets before the board answers the same question Black Cats TV already has.
More from the rooms: Sunderland.