Kevin Kilbane answers Sunderland 'over-performing' question with 'Peter Reid days' claim
Ex-Sunderland winger Kevin Kilbane has been speaking about his former club.
Former Sunderland winger Kevin Kilbane has responded to suggestions that the Black Cats are “over-performing” this season, arguing that the club’s form under Regis Le Bris reminds him of the “Peter Reid days” on Wearside.
Despite their status as a newly promoted side, and having been written off as relegation favourites by many pundits prior to a ball being kicked, Sunderland are shining since making their long-awaited return to the Premier League, and have never truly looked in danger of becoming embroiled in a battle for survival.
And for Kilbane, who was part of a Black Cats team who twice finished seventh in the top flight just after the turn of the millennium, there are parallels to be drawn between his old squad and Le Bris’ current cohort on Wearside.
What has Kevin Kilbane said about Sunderland’s form this season?
Speaking to BestBettingBonuses, when asked if Sunderland are over-performing this season, Kilbane replied: “Well, it’s the same as anything over-performing... I don’t think the fans expect that or think that. The supporters at Sunderland want a team that competes; they want a team that’s showing that they really want to play for the jersey.
“Over the last 10 years, or say 15 years since I finished - certainly when they were a Premier League club - you always felt going to Sunderland that it could go one way or another. If it doesn’t start well, then the crowd’s going to be on one or two players’ backs. And that negativity really transfers onto the pitch very, very quickly.
“I’ve not felt that really watching Sunderland this season. You watch them from afar, but the atmosphere really seems like it’s gone back to Peter Reid days. And I know it’s easy for me to say because I played in those times, but it really feels that way watching them.
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“Certainly, watching the Tyne-Wear Derby this season and seeing the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light, and what was created there and the buzz that was around the place, that was a bit of a throwback in my mind, the way that I saw it when I was watching it. And watching the team across the course of this season, I don’t necessarily see it as over-achieving.
“If you look at the business that they did, one of the signings of the season is absolutely Granit Xhaka, just for what he brought into the midfield and how he settled the team down. So maybe over-achieving if you look at it in terms of budgets that everyone, as I said, looks to nowadays... you look at it in that respect. But if Sunderland get momentum at home, they’re very difficult to stop when the atmosphere is with the team and momentum is with them.”
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