BREAKING: In Sunderland, another one leaves the Championship Circus.

SHAKE IT OFF

The first two series of Sunderland ‘Til I Die were epic. Car-crash documentary television at its finest, full of real-life characters with self-awareness levels so low they would put Alan Partridge or Richard Keys to shame [EDM continues]. But as every footy-doc fan now knows, it’s never as good when the team is winning. Try watching five minutes of the ultra-drab Amazon All Or Nothing Manchester City documentary without dozing off and you’ll see the difference. Sunderland ‘Til I Die’s genius was in its frightening lack of PR airbrushing, allowing the audience the popcorn-eating pleasure of sitting back and watching things go calamitously wrong, like Dad’s Army for real. “We needed a series three to see Sunderland winning,” declared the show’s producer Gabe Turner upon the release of this latest batch of episodes, which chart the club’s successful 2021-22 season in League One. Really? Well … perhaps Sunderland fans needed that pay-off after the endless taunts from rivals up and down the country as a result of the first two series.

However, football goes quickly, particularly in the Championship circus, so even Sunderland’s 2022 peak seems like a long time ago. Who is Alex Neil? Three months after earning promotion, he left the Stadium of Light, drawn by Stoke City’s brilliant lights (how did it go, by the way?)since then the Black Cats have tripped over two more permanent managers: Michael Beale, who left after 12 games to go through those red and white revolving doors marked Do One, and Tony Mowbray, whose firing in December of last year is becoming more difficult to calculate.

Beale’s handling of full-back Trai Hume, who had offered his boss a handshake after being substituted in the loss at Mowbray’s Birmingham, appeared to be the last straw for some. After that, Beale channeled his inner Arsène Wenger and insisted that he “didn’t see” Hume, even though Hume was a fully grown guy, six feet tall, and standing a yard away from him in a red-and-white outfit. Someone please call Specsavers. 48 hours later, Beale was gone because it didn’t wash with Wearsiders.

The unspoken problem with the Championship is there are simply too many clubs expecting success. At least 20 begin the season with aims of reaching the playoffs or better and most end up disappointed. When parachute payments expire, as they have for Cardiff, Swansea, Huddersfield and Stoke – all languishing in the lower reaches – those dreams of a Premier League return turn into flights of fancy. But with 19 of the current second-tier clubs having tasted the top flight’s riches at one stage or another, fans craving a return to the big time is totally understandable, but also unsustainable. So here we are in February. Leicester, Leeds and Southampton – with their big budgets and Premier League-ready squads – are only a minor Ipswich slowdown from an unstoppable charge straight back to the top tier. And there Sunderland are, 10th in the table, having just given it to Mike Dodds ‘til the end of the season.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Bryan Graham at 7.30pm GMT for updates on Manchester City 4-1 Brentford, while Scott Murray and Rob Smyth will be on Big Cup duty for Inter 2-1 Atlético and PSV 2-2 Dortmund, respectively.

ANDREAS BREHME (1960-2024)

The football world has paid tribute to World Cup winner Andreas Brehme, who has died at the age of 63. The former West Germany defender scored the winning penalty in the Italia 90 final to bring a third world title back to his homeland. The gifted left-back was perhaps best-known for his spell at Inter, where he won the Serie A title and Uefa Cup in his four seasons there. Inter players will wear black armbands against Atlético in honour of the German, who was a set piece specialist in his time at San Siro. “A magnificent player, a great Inter fan. Ciao Andy, forever [a] legend,” said the club in a statement. Another former club, Kaiserslautern, who he also managed, added: “He wore the Red Devils’ shirt for a total of 10 years and became German champion and German Cup winner with FCK. In 1990 he fired the German national team to the World Cup title with his penalty and became a football legend.” RIP, Andreas.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“How could I be a flop when I only played 12 matches and not all of them from the start? And not in my position, either? Oh well, that’s the football world, you know” – PSV’s Luuk de Jong laughs off suggestions in British tabloids that he’s right up there among the worst Premier League strikers after his struggles at Newcastle a decade ago. Read the full interview with him here.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS