Jack Ross’ reluctance to close games out will cost Sunderland promotion

Portsmouth’s 84th minute equaliser in yesterday’s Checkatrade trophy final took place, in my head, in slow motion. Our team sat idly by as Nathan Thompson headed in a deserved equaliser for Pompey, who would go on to win the game on penalties after extra time.

Too many times this season, we have been the architects of our own downfall.

Now I’m not about to write a lengthy rant about yesterday’s loss being catastrophic for the club. Did it hurt? Absolutely. But promotion is more important, and that last minute McGeady equaliser was worth the trip in itself. It was a magical weekend for me, and although we came out as losers, I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.

As the title suggests, I take issue with our game management yesterday in a scenario where we really should’ve built upon a solid first half and extended our 1-0 lead, but Ross elected to sit deep and defend our slender lead, which inevitably led to us surrendering it just 6 minutes from time. Take nothing away from Portsmouth, who fully deserved to lift the trophy at the end of the afternoon, but I can’t help but feel our sitting back allowed Portsmouth back into the game – a habit which, if not addressed immediately, will likely see us preparing for a second season in the 3rd division.

Now, I can understand if some people reading this take everything I’ve written above this as me calling for Jack Ross’ head, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I lament calls for Ross to be axed after his first season. This is a huge project that requires patience and togetherness, but I do believe it’s natural, and indeed constructive, to note where Ross falls down tactically.

His substitutions yesterday hardly struck confidence into the hearts of the Sunderland contingent, especially from the 60th minute onwards when we were playing with 0 (zero) strikers on the pitch, instead attempting to utilise Lynden Gooch as a false 9 which, as you can probably infer, didn’t work. As well as this, he substituted League One’s most expensive player in Will Grigg for what was originally meant to be Charlie Wyke, but in a moment I’m still yet to grasp, was instead replaced by left back Denver Hume.

His subs are *somewhat* excusable, and I’m not the manager of a professional football team for a reason, and since Jack Ross is, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. But my main gripe, and one I know is shared by many of my fellow Sunderland fans, is the fact that the aforementioned Grigg is not being used effectively, at least not enough for a side trying to get promoted to the Championship. If Ross wanted to play long ball football with Charlie Wyke leading the line, I’d understand even if I wouldn’t be totally onboard with the idea. Something I do not understand, however, is paying upwards of £3 million for Grigg and then not playing to his strengths at all. Grigg is a magnificent striker. If he even scores 5 goals in the next 9 games, that could well be enough to see us promoted, but the lack of goals from open play from both him and Wyke (one each) is an inexcusable problem, and one that is largely due to factors outside of their control i.e. the service provided from teammates.

It’s frustrating that I can count on one hand the number of games this season where I feel we’ve really played like a top 2 side. We’ve had good spells in games, but we’ve not really blown a team away for the majority of a match. We undoubtedly have the quality at our disposal, and I sincerely hope the issues we encountered yesterday, though in a match which is not as important as promotion, galvanise the Ross and his side into showing their quality when it really matters and getting us back up into the Championship.

We have 9 cup finals between now and the end of the season, and in order to cement our place as real promotion candidates we must improve upon our performance yesterday, show more ruthlessness and prove to everyone that we’re truly worthy of a spot in the Championship next season.

I have absolute belief in this side, and I really don’t want to play Portsmouth at Wembley again, my heart just can’t take it.

words Alex Gardner, D3D4 Sunderland correspondent