Quinn’s opening day woe…

It might be a new era at Sunderland but the end result remained the same as Sunderland were defeated 2-1 at the awfully named Ricoh Arena yesterday.

Despite starting promisingly in both halves and taking the lead in the 52nd minute through Daryl Murphy, Sunderland failed to use their superior possession threateningly and conceded to easily.

The Irish striker, who this week signed a 5-year extension to his contract, could have given new boss Niall Quinn the perfect start in the 3rd minute, but somehow managed to head over from 3 yards out with Sunderland’s best chance of the half.

Alnwick made a smart stop to prevent Stern John from scoring in the 45th minute in a defensive lapse that highlighted the frailties from which Coventry would take advantage of later on.

Sunderland took the lead only 7 minutes after the interval, after Leadbitter’s deflected shot fell to Murphy who stabbed it past a stricken Ward. Quinny’s celebrations were cut short however when only 18 minutes later a long ball was not cleared by Sunderland and landed at the feet of Stern John, who curled a perfectly placed shot into the top left corner of Alnwick’s net.

And only 8 minutes later we were behind, courtesy of yet another defensive lapse. A quick free kick, only seconds after Coventry had failed with a similar attempt, led to McSheffrey breaking away on the left, cutting inside and firing a deflected shot past Alnwick. Not for the first time, had Sunderland shot themselves in the foot after such a promising start.

Despite throwing Kyle on in an attacking 3-4-3 formation, Sunderland failed to create any significant chance of an equaliser, as Lawrence miscued his shot over the bar in the dying minutes.

The last time Sunderland lost at Coventry on the opening day of the season, we won the league. For that to happen, Quinn knows what is needed. He hopes to have at least two new players in place for the midweek game against Birmingham, with more to come. While we have a new board, a new manager and new backroom staff, Quinn’s revolution can not properly begin until he has new players.