When you lose a game of the magnitude of Sunderland's 7-2 defeat at Chelsea at the weekend, the first thing you have to accept is that it's going to be painful.
I was depressed about it all weekend.
But you have to come to terms with it and mov
e on.
You can't ignore it and you can't deny it, you just get on with it.
Supporters have to put up with the mickey-taking from rival fans, while the players, the manager and the club have to accept there will be plenty of flak flying around.
But the important thing after everyone's had their say and everything's been said and done – because believe me the players and the coaching staff will be holding their own inquest too – is that everyone moves on and we put the negativity behind us.
Anyone who has had a career in football, anyone who has had any length of time in the game has had a result like that.
I have. Charlie Hurley has. Jimmy Montgomery has. And Steve Bruce has said that even he has as a player at Manchester United.
It's horrible for a player. Absolutely horrible.
And I felt for Sunderland's players at Stamford Bridge. They will have looked at the clock midway through the first-half, 3-0 down against the league leaders, and must have known it was going to the longest of afternoons.
Nothing you can do about it though. It's history now. Gone.
You have to accept there's going to be a period of pain after a result like that but it's vital you don't dwell too long on it.
Sunderland should put it behind them after today at the latest. Move on to the Portsmouth game, because it's all about how you bounce back and if you dwell on a defeat like that, a negativity can creep into the club which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
