Sunderland interim manager Mike Dodds described their 5-1 defeat as ‘awful’ and agreed Blackburn Rovers were deserving victors.
Rovers thrashed the Black Cats in front of their own fans, scoring four goals in a stunning 26-minute span. Rovers had the game wrapped up at the hour mark, with to Sam Szmodics’ opening goal.
After starting well, Sunderland fell apart after losing the first goal and showed little signs of recovering. Rovers tore them apart, and the scoreline didn’t help them.
Dodds didn’t hold back in his post-game analysis, acknowledging that some heated words were exchanged at the final whistle.
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He agreed Rovers were deserving victors, and the outcome could have been lot worse for his side.
“It’s a bad result and an even worse performance,” Dodds went on to say.
“It’s simply inappropriate, and I’m not saying it lightly. That is probably the greatest word I can think of. It’s a game we have to play to show this young group that one week you think you’ve cracked it, then 48 hours later you’re absolutely humbled. I’m quite angry. This is an absolutely poor performance.
“We can use game turnarounds as an excuse, but there is none. We felt sorry for ourselves, there was a lot I didn’t like both in and out of possession, Blackburn were deserving victors, and I don’t like admitting that on our home turf.
“As head coach, I have to accept responsibility for it; when they return for training, there will be some painful conversations, but they must be done if we are to go forward.
“The players haven’t had much of an opportunity to communicate in there, but they’re well aware of my thoughts: if they want to play for this football club, they’ll need to provide a better performance than that. If they don’t, they won’t participate.
