Sunderland: Mike Dodds discusses what comes next following Blackburn’s crushing

As Mike Dodds gets ready for the inquest into yesterday’s humiliating loss to Blackburn, he spent last night considering how to handle his Sunderland teammates.

After the game, the interim head coach gave his players harsh criticism in the Stadium of Light dressing room. However, he stated that he now needs to choose whether to address his team as a whole or as individuals as he begins to extract the most important lessons from the 5-1 thumping of Rovers.

Dodds’ message, whatever it is, will be very clear: respect neither the opposition nor the Championship. After Friday’s thrilling victory against Cardiff, he believed his team lost focus and became comfortable against Blackburn. After the loss, Dodds acknowledges that he must take a “long hard look at himself” as well.

“You’re playing for Sunderland Football Club, a lot of the words that I’ve used since I’ve taken over the team are you’ve got to be respectful,” he stated.

“You have to show respect for the opposition, the league, and this incredible football team.”

“I believe that when young athletes are given chances and do well, they occasionally become a little too excited. I use that word occasionally to gently level them. For some of our less seasoned players, today has demonstrated that you will get booted between the legs if you don’t exhibit a certain amount of respect. This has happened to myself and other players in the changing room.”

“I’m really angry with them,” he continued. I would not say that I have experienced the same level of aggravation as I am right now, but as a coach, I must remember that the team should represent the coach. I have certainly led the squad for six or seven games now this season. If that’s a reflection of who I am, I need to examine myself in depth.

“I don’t believe it to be. Even if I know in my heart that it’s not, it’s still a really humble experience to be standing at the side of the pitch after making progress and then having a performance on Friday where you have the foundations to build upon and end up with something completely different.

“But it’s about the football team and the players, not about me. I’ll watch the game again over the course of the following 48 hours and decide whether or not this is a conversation best left to one person’s opinion or if it should be handled as a group.

“After that, we must pick ourselves up and prepare for Saturday. We need to go above and beyond what we accomplished there.”