When Premier League safety becomes boring

LAST weekend’s victory against Stoke was good news for Sunderland as a football club, but pretty terrible news for its fans.

We now need only a couple of wins to guarantee survival and with the likes of Wigan, Hull, West Brom, Bolton and Portsmouth all to play, there’s plenty of opportunities to pick up those crucial points.

Unfortunately that means we’re likely to see a very dull end to the season with drab matches where we grind out results.

If we’d had a cup run to divert our attention then I’d not be so down, but the 13 almost meaningless games we now face is going to be a test of recession-hit wallets regardless of the welcome price cuts for next season’s tickets.

It raises the cliche-ridden argument of just how important the FA Cup is after we made six changes to the side last Wednesday for our replay against Blackburn Reserves.

Ricky Sbragia claimed he didn’t want to tire a squad still fighting to stay in the Premier League.

Not only did the players end up with an extra game after drawing at the first attempt, they also endured extra time, meaning that because we didn’t want to tire anyone out we actually played 120 minutes more than was necessary. That’s madness, pure and simple.

If we’d beaten Blackburn we’d be playing Coventry at home in the Cup this weekend.

Assuming we managed to negotiate that tie successfully, we’d have been in the quarter-finals, just one win from a day out at Wembley in the semis, two victories from an FA Cup Final and three from adding a new set of heroes to the history of our football club.

For the sake of a handful of extra games, how many players would have objected to a chilly trip to Ewood Park if it meant finishing their careers with an FA Cup winners’ medal?

The really annoying thing is that we didn’t even give it a go.

If Ricky had put out a strong side we’d have been able to take the exit without a problem.

As it stands, he’s decided that the FA Cup isn’t a competition that our football club wants to win. Worse than that, we’ve been charged for the privilege of watching the whole sorry saga.

It doesn’t matter how much Niall Quinn slashes season ticket prices by when we’re having money stolen from us by attending matches that the club’s hierarchy have already decided they’d rather we lose.

Fifteen pounds for the Stadium of Light’s initial bore draw? Check. The same again for the replay in Lancashire? Check. Forty pounds in petrol money, a pint and a pie whilst there? Check. It’s no wonder football fans feel ripped off.

We’ve not won a major piece of silverware since 1973 and Portsmouth fans will testify that the FA Cup isn’t an impossible dream.

Far from it. It’d bring a new generation of Sunderland fans into the fold far more than cheap tickets kids would, as well as a shot at the UEFA Cup and the money that brings with it.

You have to wonder just how much thought goes into fielding a reserve team when the riches of the cup are so blatant.

I can just about accept that Sunderland won’t ever win the Premier League, certainly not in my lifetime.

I’d go as far as to say it’s unlikely I’ll ever watch a Champions’ League tie at the Stadium of Light.

But for those in charge to rule that I won’t witness a day in the sun at Wembley borders on criminal. And the wrath I’m feeling now won’t quell any time soon as our season peters out into a damp squib.

I don’t want us to be dragged into the relegation zone just to spice things up, but it’s a bit of a Mickey-take that clubs are happy to charge whatever they like for ticket prices to pay for players’ extortionate wages and then complain that they’re over-worked when you try and get them to play a couple of extra cup games per season.