Half-Term Report: Sunderland

They were not exactly whooping it up on Wearside a couple of weeks ago when Sunderland announced a "major signing" from Europe. It might be something of a coup to have tempted Kees Zwamborn away from his job as director of youth operations at Ajax to become the new director of the academy, but the only future the club's disaffected fans are concerned with is the one they can see looming in the Nationwide League. After two seasons flirting with European qualification, Sunderland beat the drop only on the final day last term and they have got appreciably worse since then. Restoring the Stadium of Light to its former fortress status remains their best hope of salvation – together with some goals from Kevin Phillips. The 2-1 win against Liverpool could not have come at a better time, but Sunderland's home record in 2002 still makes depressing reading.