It's been a season to forget for the Black Cats, a 1-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth confirmed their 10 year stay in the Premier League was over, as they were officially relegated to the Championship.
In another season of disaster for David Moyes, after failures at Real Sociedad and Manchester United, fans have begun to question whether he should still be in charge come the first game of next season. England international and often Mackem saviour Jermain Defoe looks set to leave in the summer in a bid to resurrect his England career, and with him being one of Sunderland's few bright sparks this season we'll have to see whether they can replace a man of his importance as the club would hope to bounce back at the first attempt.
The season began with Sunderland already in a conundrum, weeks before the season started Sam Allardyce had left to answer the call of the national team, a job he has wanted for years. He was replaced by David Moyes, who since leaving Everton hasn't had a good time in the managerial business. Moyes in his first interview bizarrely conceded that Sunderland would be in for a rough season fighting relegation, a statement that had every Mackem questioning if he was up for the job before a ball was even kicked.
Their season kicked off away to Manchester City, in a game they were unlucky to lose, with Paddy McNair scoring a late own goal to decide the tie. Sunderland then would go on a run which wouldn't see them register their first win of the season until November, and by this point they were firmly in the relegation places and seemed doomed before we even reached the halfway point of the season. They registered 4 more wins to finish the calendar year to give fans a small sight of hope, and come from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw against Liverpool showcased the fighting spirit needed to avoid falling through the trap door and this was then boosted by a 4-0 win away to relegation rivals Crystal Palace in February. But from then on they would endure a winless and scoreless run which sealed their fate, they were then put out their misery as a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth relegated the Red and Whites with 4 games left of the season, in the same week local rivals Newcastle celebrated promotion back to the premier league, ironically.
Now how will Sunderland fare in the Championship? It's hard to predict, we saw how hard Newcastle made it for themselves en route to their eventual Championship winning campaign, with a much better squad. Sunderland have already said that funds will be limited, and will probably only buy if they're able to sell. Replacing Defoe and keeping players like Jordan Pickford, Wabhi Khazri, Didier Ndong and Lamine Kone will be key factors in deciding what sort of season next season is, use of U23 talents such as Elliot Embleton, George Honeyman, Rees Greenwood and Joel Asoro will be hoping to get game time next season as they look to make their mark on the club and gain some all important match experience in a challenging league.
Sunderland fans will be hoping that their stay in the Championship won't be too prolonged as they feel they are a Premier League club and their stadium deserves to host top level football games. It will be a season of rebuilding and reshaping for Moyes. He will need to identify problems, deal with them effectively and most importantly find out what his best XI is as there was no real consistency with his squad selections this season, and another season like this, replicated in the championship could prove to be very detrimental to the stature of the club.
