2 Up, 2 Down: Sunderland’s Woes Deepen As Coventry Emerge Victorious

I'm not saying we were unlucky at all but they did score three times from four shots on target — two of which took deflections — and they had an xG of 0.67, so if we're looking for any positives, maybe it wasn't as bad as it felt.

There were also twenty minutes in the second half when we looked OK. Far too late, but at least we didn't throw the towel in.

Enzo scored his penalty — it would've capped off the day if he'd missed.

We seem to be finding the self-destruct button far too easily and too often this season.

Gifting Coventry the first goal was the last thing we needed in the circumstances. We then did the same thing for the second, gifting them the ball to make it pretty much "game over" before half time. I wouldn't have minded so much if we were played off the park, but that wasn't the case and Coventry benefitted from so pretty woeful defending.

We weren't any better going forward either, with Brian Brobbey missing the only decent chance created in the first half. He should've scored as well.

The lack of urgency and fight from the start was really worrying — as if the players, or the head coach, don't realise how serious this is now looking.

Brighton and Bournemouth had all the hallmarks of a team in a relegation battle. If Régis Le Bris doesn't realise, he needs to go. If he can't get that over to the players and get a response from them, he needs to go.

It would be incredibly sad and tough on him if they do sack him.

I think he might get the Chelsea game to save his skin, but what do I know?

I didn't think we were that bad in the first half.

Now, I'm very much an optimist when it comes to Sunderland and I had high hopes of a comfortable victory. Maybe it's my fault we lost as I had a bet on Sunderland to win and Brian Brobbey to score. I do think we at least matched them first half and we weren't deserving of a two goal deficit at half time.

Yes, I'm afraid not being quite as shite as it sounds is one of my positives.

The subs were a positive but we should've been changing things at half time for me.

I'm baffled by swapping a right back for a right back at 3-1 down regardless of whether Thomas Meunier played as a right back. For me, Jocelin Ta Bi had to come on at half time and even with the more attacking setup, we didn't look like getting back into that at any point.

Has Régis Le Bris run out of ideas or is he being stubborn about not playing on the front foot?

Either way, he's on borrowed time and I never thought I'd have one foot in that camp. If he survives the weekend, I imagine he has to go balls out for the next couple of games, or he's toast.

It might be my positive attitude again, but why, whenever we make a mistake, does it always fall straight to the opposition and then cost us dearly?

If that happens while we're attacking, somehow the ball gets smuggled away and we don't get a shot off. It didn't seem to be like that last season…what's changed?

Whatever it is, I'm £30 down and as disillusioned as I've been in a long time.

I'm sure that Régis Le Bris would've sent his side out with instructions to avoid defensive errors and not to concede the first goal.

These mistakes at the back have been haunting us and is why we're struggling in the Premier League. Omar Alderete looked frustrated throughout and has left us with more problems at the back with his late dismissal.

Dan Ballard's influence is being missed.

The second goal for Coventry was down to weak tackling in the centre of defence, with Luke O'Nien being robbed too easily.

Robin Roefs was often making his feelings known to the players in front of him, and deflections didn't help him for two of the goals. But overall, just not good enough.

The impact of the substitutions was remarkable — Chemsdine Talbi had a shot just wide ahead of the penalty decision.

The third Coventry goal made life very difficult, as psychologically it would've been much easier to come back from 2-1 behind, but at least Sunderland put in a decent shift in the second half and had a number of good chances.

Coventry bring more motivation to their game

When a team is at the bottom of the league, the minimum the fans expect is a battling performance, and we did see some of that after the substitutes came on.

But it seemed that Coventry were often more switched on than we were, especially in the first half. The home team were clinical in front of goal.

Just as winning becomes a habit, so does losing.

The general hesitancy which was completely absent in the winning team display versus Brentford in midweek was back again, on a day when we needed points.

To be fair, Coventry did play well, but with each loss, tensions rise, and we need a win very soon.

When Trai Hume got behind the ball, with the goal gaping and Carl Rushworth stranded on the floor, it felt like a golden chance that we needed to take.

Sadly, in the Premier League, it's been the first half of the story of our season and the second half of our story followed soon after with some absolutely criminal defending.

Last season, when we went behind, there was a genuine feeling of resilience and that we simply wouldn't roll over and accept the result. This season couldn't be more of the opposite — we looked crestfallen and then proceeded to accept an absolute battering.

Any human being with basic function could've seen at half time that our plan wasn't working and that changes needed to be made. Why, then, did the same team come out for the second half?

As much as it's a cliché, had we started the second half with more attacking impetus at 2-0 down, we could have recovered.

Allowing Coventry to score a third goal is just unacceptable. The players have let down Régis le Bris and themselves in a disappointingly familiar tale.

I can't believe I'm saying this given the highs we've experienced with Le Bris, but it's so vital that we retain our status in the Premier League.

Persisting with poor selections such as Chris Rigg and Trai Hume on our right side, along with not acknowledging the horrendous form of our midfield, is making me question if a change is needed.

Honestly, I'd be devastated if Le Bris was to leave, but these players are simply not performing to the standards needed. They're putting his job at risk, but his tactical selections aren't helping proceedings, either.

A good penalty from Enzo Le Fée and scoreline comforts

Nerves of steel on a shit day. We also lost by one less than the pricks up the road so I'll take that.

Not good enough, and too many errors for about the fifth game or more this season.

Shocking performances and major step ups needed, and as if the defensive errors weren't enough, Omar Alderete getting sent off as he did late on is absolutely stupid.

The problems at the back are now amplified and we have a hell of a lot of games coming up. Drop him and promote someone who has a brain.

With the names we have in the middle, we should be embarrassed at that showing.

We didn't win anywhere near enough first or second balls; we were out-fought and they simply wanted it more.

The lads knocking on the door from midweek including in the middle and out wide were given no chance to help either.

I'll be eternally grateful for what Régis Le Bris has done and he'll always be a special part of our history, but that wasn't good enough — 2-0 down at half time with a raft of talent on the bench, he changed zero at half time, and we were 3-0 down by the time he made any changes.

If he can't adjust quickly enough and can't give the multi-millions worth of talent we have a go or can't get the best out if them, maybe now's the time to move on.

He's the best manager we have had in decades but he has fallen into the same trap as Peter Reid, being unable to kick on after laying a great platform

Time to move on, as much as it pains me.

Sunderland occasionally threaten in attack

On the rare occasions they had opportunities, I thought Nilson Angulo and Brian Brobbey were fairly bright.

Enzo Le Fee's penalty kick was a good one.

I haven't been particularly on board with the "his legs are gone" discourse, but yeah…his legs are gone and it was so, so obvious.

If the ball is two steps away, he's going to get beaten to it, and it's going to lead to a break. The back four is a disaster for a plethora of reasons, but Xhaka isn't doing them any favors.

Le Fee wasn't much better in the first half.

It's unfortunately time to say goodbye to Le Bris.

What he accomplished in his first two seasons was incredible, but right now he's trying the same thing over and over again and hasn't accepted it's not going to work.

Yes, the centre backs are a disaster, but he's not doing anything to hide the deficiency. Yes, Nordi Mukiele isn't available to spring the attack from right back, so play an actual attacking winger there.

That first half was crying out for changes at half time, but there were none until the third goal. He's stubbornly refusing to try something else and the club can't continue stubbornly refusing to make changes that need to be made.

Sunderland's players let themselves down

An absolutely disgraceful performance that should see every single one of them look into the mirror and ask themselves if they really want to play for this club and if they really have the backbone to get us out of this mess.

For almost the entire season, these players have played with an arrogance and an attitude that is not befitting of the club. To have sat on Wednesday and watched their team mates put in a performance full of vigour and bravery, and to then turn up to a game of this magnitude and play as they did is nothing short of abhorrent.

Every single player is culpable and every single player should hang their heads in shame. Disgraceful.

He's completely out of ideas and the uncomfortable truth is that he has been for weeks.

Since the first game of the season, we've played a style that hasn't suited a single individual player.

Wednesday night was welcomed by fans and rightly so, a return to the swashbuckling style that endeared this side to the fans, the high press, high energy and dynamic football brought out the very best in what was Sunderlands second string — why this was abandoned for this tepid, slow and pathetically weak style is anyone's guess.

Every game this season, we've set up to allow the opposition to settle, to let them get comfortable and ultimately punish us for our tepidness, and for what? Players out of position, others shown more loyalty than they're worthy of, and ultimately too many players being fed to the wolves.

Le Bris has given us some wonderful times but as he stood without reaction on the touchline, I was overcome by the feeling this was a manager who was fully out of ideas and for that reason, it's time for both parties to move on.

It's all wrong and it's been all wrong almost all season.

It's widely accepted that the best version of Sunderland is aggressive, front-foot, and full of energy. On Wednesday, we saw that return, but it's evident that was only a brief blip.

Questions should rightly be asked as to why we've chosen to chase a style that negates our strengths. It's slow, ponderous, without direction and allows teams to get a head start against us almost every game.

I'm also of the belief that this feeds into why we are making so many mistakes defensively; the passive, low-intensity play is making it too difficult for defenders to get into the pace of the game and so are continuously caught out by the opposition.

So far, this passive, boring and predominantly sideways football has yielded no gain to a squad of players that can't possibly enjoy playing like this.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus now faces his toughest call as an owner. This football can't continue and its' becoming increasingly clear many fans are feeling the manager is now in above his head.

There are little signs of improvement forthcoming and this result confirmed beyond all doubt that not only are we in a relegation battle but that battle is an uphill one as we remain rooted to bottom of the table. The real risk for Dreyfus comes from the fact that if he doesn't pull the trigger soon and our fortunes don't change, when he does feel Le Bris is in an untenable position, it may well already be too late.

Questions also need asked about the large turnover of staff that has been a fixture of Le Bris' time at Sunderland and what impact that's had on a side that\s suffering from a real identity crisis, as well as the underwhelming summer in which Florent Ghisolfi was — on this evidence — incapable of providing any improvements to the squad.

Another weekend of more questions than answers and perhaps the fact we still haven't got answers to questions we've been asking for over a month tells its own story.