Phil Smith: How Alex Neil and his Sunderland side made Wearside believe again ahead of their toughest test at Wembley

All of this felt a long way off and it wasn’t all that long ago.
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The anxious wait for the full-time whistle, the outpouring of relief, of pride, of emotion.

The scramble to collate customer numbers, the forensic analysis of timetables, the reunions mapped out. A week of pacing, of waiting, of longing, of worrying, of hoping, of dreaming.

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When Connor Wickham (of course, it would be Connor Wickham) put MK Dons ahead at the Stadium of Light in February the overwhelming sense was not a club if not quite out than most certainly down.

Sunderland boss Alex NeilSunderland boss Alex Neil
Sunderland boss Alex Neil

No, it didn’t feel like this would be the time.

Damaging old traits looked to have set in once again, a team struggling for tempo in attack and shipping soft goals at the other end.

Promises of a fresh start on and off the pitch were beginning to look a little empty.

There was acrimony, there was concern, there was drift.

Patrick Roberts scores against Sheffield WednesdayPatrick Roberts scores against Sheffield Wednesday
Patrick Roberts scores against Sheffield Wednesday

The return of one club legend falling somewhat flat, the return of another not even getting off the ground.

On the road to Wigan, though, something changed.

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Sunderland reset, went back to basics, defended their box and scrapped as if everything depended on a clean sheet. Alex Neil had not just a win but a foothold.

Something began to build and slowly but surely, every late goal that marked the climb back to the top six brought belief.

Whether Sunderland played with fluidity or whether at times they laboured, they went ‘til the end. O’Nien and Clarke against Fleetwood, Neil and Roberts against Crewe. Broadhead against Gillingham and against Shrewsbury, Embleton against Oxford in what was perhaps the most impressive of the lot.

Neil had inherited a lopsided squad, with some talented youngsters burning out and some impressive January acquisitions still well off the pace. At times it was a tough watch but the soft underbelly undermining a season was eradicated step by step, game by game. This was a team rewriting its own narrative and they were doing so in the image of their new head coach.

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Neil had no time for talk of history, of the future, of the bigger picture. No time for talk of pretty much anything whatsoever, in fact, other than the next game.

It was bracing and ultimately, it was hugely effective.

Even before that moment at Sheffield Wednesday, Clarke’s run to the byline and Roberts’ surge across goal, a weary support felt like they had something to buy into again.

So in spite of everything, all those Wembley failures and play-off heartaches of yesteryear, they have put it all on the line again.

To travel if not quite in expectation then once again in hope, that maybe this will be the time after all.

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For a club of this size, at this level, a crossroads moment is only ever just around the corner and this is another.

Success would bring the possibility of stability and continuity, on the pitch especially.

There are a raft of players whose future is uncertain, whether it be because of expiring contracts, loans drawing to an end or because eye-catching campaigns have put clubs currently higher up the chain on red alert. Promotion, and Championship football next season, would make potentially difficult conversations altogether more straightforward.

The same applies in the dugout, too.

There is something building here, no doubt. Neil’s roar into the Sheffield night when Roberts struck told you of a bond building between head coach and club, and it's a feeling very reciprocated. Behind an old-school and sometimes spiky demeanour lies a highly modern operator who shares a belief in being at the cutting edge of data and analytics, and who has intimated a willingness to work within a more continental recruitment structure.

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The ease with which he has taken on the burden of expectation and earned the respect of the fanbase has also not gone unnoticed at a club where in recent years communication has not always been straightforward.

Both parties are keen to kick on to the next level and here lies a golden opportunity.

Fall short and the inquest will inevitably, quite rightly, be extensive. The ownership issues still far from resolved, the gaps that were never quite addressed in the transfer window and those long days lost before Neil’s arrival.

What the Scot and his team have achieved for now is to make any talk of that doomsday scenario seem premature.

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Not because of an overconfidence, for there is none of that. Four years at his level is humbling and no one is under any illusions about the threats Wycombe pose, the problems they can cause you no matter who you are or what your reputation is.

But because over fifteen games there has been a resilience about this group, a balance perfectly struck between acknowledging the opposition’s strengths and not being cowed by them.

They have played with an understanding, too, that none of this counts for a great deal unless they can clear the final and toughest hurdle. In doing so, they have made a city believe they might just be able to do it.

Neil bristled when in the aftermath of that win over Sheffield Wednesday, Sky Sports asked him whether the weight of play-off history would hang heavy on the club.

‘Not one bit,’ Neil said.

These fans will believe in us, in our preparation and our determination, he said.

Within days they had shifted in excess of 40,000 tickets. Maybe, just maybe, this is the time.