Skipper labels Cats a shambles

WHEN Kenwyne Jones spoke of a target of 42 points to guarantee safety, it appeared complacency was something the Sunderland players could never be accused of.

However, at 5pm on Saturday, complacency appeared the only excuse for Sunderland’s worst performance of the season against the only side seemingly guaranteed to be playing championship football next season.

No fight, precious little spirit, and commitment to the cause left on Wearside.

It was 11 individuals playing against a team that had all the attributes the Black Cats were lacking.

Sunderland deserved nothing and if Jones’ target is to be met then they need to pick up two wins and a draw from home games against Everton and Chelsea, and trips to Portsmouth and Bolton.

Highly unlikely especially as on current form with only Newcastle and Hull boasting worse records over the last six games.

If that continues then Roy Keane could be returning to the Stadium of Light sooner than anyone at the club would like - in his new guise as Ipswich Town boss next season.

Skipper Phil Bardsley was offering no excuses.

“It was a shambles really from start to finish,” said Bardsley. “We weren’t at the races and we weren’t good enough and we got punished.

“It’s difficult to point fingers when we were that bad.

You look all over the pitch and we’ve all got to hold up our hands and say today we weren’t good enough.

“If we are to survive in this league we’ve got to be better than that.

“We can’t afford to have passengers but if we look all over the pitch today we were second to everything and we have to take it on the chin.

“It’s up to each and every one of us to roll up our sleeves and have a real go next week.

“We’re all big enough and strong enough to take it. We know we should have been miles better.”

They had a great chance to open the scoring before West Brom went ahead - spurned by Carlos Edwards - and one piece of skill from Kieran Richardson produced the only real save Scott Carson had to make all afternoon.

Andy Reid’s cross from the left on the half hour mark was flapped at by Carson but Edwards could only direct his header from ten yards over the bar. Shortly after, Carson tipped Richardson’s 30-yard swerving effort round the post.

Five minutes before halftime a routine corner was flicked on by Marc-Antoine Fortune for the unmarked Jonas Olsson to sweep home.

Unmarked then became a bit of theme in the second half.

First Chris Brunt ran into the box unchallenged to get on the end of Fortune’s cross and slide the ball past Marton Fulop. Substitute Juan Carlos Menseguez then realised the edge of the area was a no-go zone for Sunderland players and when Brunt had mesmerised Danny Collins he picked out the Argentinian.

A touch took him to the right of the area and he made it three.

The embarrassment was summed up after the break when Djibril Cisse re-directed Teemu Tainio’s goalbound effort over the bar from eight yards.

“We didn’t perform - we didn’t take the game to them,”

said Sbragia. “The front two were poor. When they (Cisse and Jones) play well and work well as a pair we’re on song but today we were well short.

We were firing on blanks.

“We’ve got to get it back on track and ensure that by the time of the Everton game we’re much more committed.

“We need to get it back to how we played against Hull - a bit more determination, a bit more belief and to play as a team, not as individuals.

There was some really bad performances from us.

“We’ll be a lot more committed for the Everton game, that’s for sure.”

Fortunately for Sbragia, Sunderland couldn’t be any less committed and his skipper hopes the Hawthorns was an aberration.

“Hopefully that’s the last one (poor performance) of the season - it’s going to be long week,” said Bardsley.

“We don’t play now till Sunday and it’s up to us to put the preparation in and work hard and out right the things we didn’t do today.

“It’s difficult to take and for myself, wearing the captain’s armband, to know we weren’t good enough. It was one of those things but it should never be one of those things.”