PETER Reid could not have expected his seven-year itch would be so difficult to scratch.

At a time when clubs are falling over themselves to sell their players, Reid's millions have been neither use nor ornament.

It means the first seven games of the season will be a defining period in the Sunderland manager's career.

Come through them unscathed, and Reid - about to embark upon his eighth full season on Wearside - can look forward to a season of steady improvement.

But if Sunderland crash and burn, as so many maudlin Mackems are forecasting, Reid's reputation would also be up in flames.

Aware that the anti-Reid brigade has grown in numbers and discontent at an alarming rate recently, Niall Quinn has begged for his side to be judged after six or eight games.

And it is the seventh Premiership match of the season that could ultimately decide the former England international's fate.

Three years after a St James' Park defeat to Sunderland spelled the end of Ruud Gullit's career on Tyneside, Reid knows the outcome of his club's first half-a-dozen games will be of little significance compared to the game at Newcastle.

A good result there would give him valuable breathing space, no matter how the Black Cats fare against Manchester United, Leeds United et al in August.

But a defeat at Newcastle, allied to a poor start to the season, would simply add even greater impetus to the Reid out campaign.

Having stood by his players through thick and thin, it is now time for them to repay that loyalty in his hour of need.

It is time for Kevin Phillips, after recovering from a long-standing groin problem, to lace up his shooting boots.

It is time for Julio Arca to reproduce the form that saw him linked with Manchester United and Juventus in his first season on Wearside.

It is time for Gavin McCann to show why he played in Sven-Goran Eriksson's first international as England coach.

But most of all, it is time for the entire Sunderland team to show the indefatigable spirit that lifted them to second place just over 18 months ago.

The core of that side - Phillips, Arca and McCann plus Thomas Sorensen, Jody Craddock and Niall Quinn - are still at the club.

Granted, Quinn's involvement this season will be limited, and Don Hutchison was a crucial member of the Sunderland class of 2000-01.

But Claudio Reyna was one of the Black Cats' top dogs following his arrival last December and he enters the new campaign buoyant after a dazzling World Cup campaign.

Just as players can develop a winning habit, so a pattern of defeats is difficult to shake off.

If Sunderland can get a couple of victories under their belt before the end of this month, Reid should ride out the storm.

But if the alarming slide cannot be arrested, Reid may reflect that seven isn't his lucky number.

Read more about Sunderland here.