Coleman deserves credit for Sunderland rallying cry

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Sunderland manager Chris Coleman told the fans to get behind the team and they did.

Sunderland managed to pull off a remarkable comeback at the weekend to earn a draw against Bristol City and, in the aftermath of that, not enough people are talking about the work of manager Chris Coleman in the days leading up to the game.

Coleman has always been something of a straight shooter throughout the course of his career, and in that sense, he is in an elite group alongside the likes of Mick McCarthy and other managers who tend to speak their mind.

Right now, however, it is a different ball game, because Coleman knows that this is an even bigger challenge than he has ever seen before. Not only has he taken charge of a big English club in the form of Sunderland, but he has also been tasked with keeping the club in the Championship while also distracting fans from the negatives going on off the pitch.

Earlier in the week, the former Wales boss pleaded with fans to forget about protests, forget about Ellis Short, and forget about all exterior problems. He wanted to see fans get behind their team, and at 3-0 down away to a promotion contender, they did just that.

The Black Cats managed to piece together one of their best performances of the season, and we are starting to believe that there is something in the waters at the Stadium of Light. Just when they look dead and buried they seem to pluck a result out of thin air, and a defiant Coleman is the leading force behind that.

The confidence he gained from guiding Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 is evident, because he knows the pressure is off for the most part. Pundits and fans alike are expecting Sunderland to drop into the third tier, but Coleman is not interested in panicking over that. Instead he just wants to redirect fan focus on to what matters – getting behind the team.

It is an old-school view that is not often utilised when teams are struggling in the league, because most supporters tend to accept the inevitable. Thankfully, in Coleman, Sunderland have got a manager who will keep it simple and remind them that there is only one end goal here: survival.