In the third of five first-team warm-up friendlies of the 1992/93 season, The Lads suffered what was viewed at the time as an embarrassing defeat at Brunton Park.
There are still many fans who view a defeat, or even a draw, against lower-league opposition in pre-season games as a hugely negative outcome (look at the joy that some of our fans took in the visitors' draw at Gateshead last week). However, I think such games were scrutinised even more heavily as recently as five or six years ago.
So, coming off an excellent FA Cup run and final against Liverpool in May, it was seen as quite a scalp for Carlisle United. As it turned out, all it really heralded was a rather abysmal season for the Black Cats, who only avoided relegation to the Third Division thanks to results elsewhere.
As quite often was the case for Sunderland, there was either no, or perhaps just one, home fixture in the build-up to the new season. This came the following week, in a match against Tottenham Hotspur to celebrate Sunderland being granted city status.
As I hope most even-minded fans now accept, pre-season games are almost entirely about fitness and don't often provide much of an indication of the season's direction. Nevertheless, it is in ****** ody's interest for coaches and players to be doubting themselves before the opening games, when the real battle begins.
#draw
There are still many fans who view a defeat, or even a draw, against lower-league opposition in pre-season games as a hugely negative outcome (look at the joy that some of our fans took in the visitors' draw at Gateshead last week). However, I think such games were scrutinised even more heavily as recently as five or six years ago.
So, coming off an excellent FA Cup run and final against Liverpool in May, it was seen as quite a scalp for Carlisle United. As it turned out, all it really heralded was a rather abysmal season for the Black Cats, who only avoided relegation to the Third Division thanks to results elsewhere.
As quite often was the case for Sunderland, there was either no, or perhaps just one, home fixture in the build-up to the new season. This came the following week, in a match against Tottenham Hotspur to celebrate Sunderland being granted city status.
As I hope most even-minded fans now accept, pre-season games are almost entirely about fitness and don't often provide much of an indication of the season's direction. Nevertheless, it is in ****** ody's interest for coaches and players to be doubting themselves before the opening games, when the real battle begins.
#draw
1 month ago
