Wise Men Say: Apathy, confusion, worry and anger are everywhere at Sunderland as crisis deepens

A winnable Boxing Day game against a side on a similarly poor run.

‘This could be the turning point’, ‘win this and we’ll kick on’, ‘don’t give up yet, there’s so much football still to play’. We know the script.

Sunderland are often in the midst of a bad run at this time of year.

The difference is, this time it’s a League One fixture against a side docked 12 points, and who had to field their actual youth team for the first part of the season.

Trying to convince your mates to drag themselves to town on Boxing Day is a lot easier when the going is, to put it mildly, a little less tough.

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Now I don’t wish to be accused of delusions of grandeur. I am fully aware we are in League One and the above is no slight on Bolton.

A fantastic and historic club who’ve had more than their fair share of rubbish both on the pitch and in the directors box in recent times. Nor is it an attack on the league itself, the rest of which I’m sure care little what we Sunderland fans think of them anyway (most of the time, at least).

My issues lie a lot closer to home (or Black Cat House, anyway).

Apathy is one of the most dangerous emotions in football and it seems to be rife at Sunderland at the moment.

Recent weeks have thrown up more questions than answers – alongside apathy, confusion, worry and anger are everywhere. This is not negative. It’s realistic.

Who honestly feels good about Sunderland right now?

More than a victory against Bolton (not instead of, Phil, we do need that as well) this club needs some honesty.

We need to know where we stand and what’s happening behind the scenes.

Clearly things haven’t gone to plan and we need to know what’s going to be done about it.

Christmas is a time for miracles, but it’s also a time for togetherness. Right now, I’m not sure many have felt less close to the club we all love than we do right now.