I was thrilled to learn that David Snowdon was releasing a new book this year, over the moon to then get my hands on a copy on its release day and, having been able to finish reading it this week, am now pleased to confirm that it was worth the anticipation – the only problem being that due to other distractions, it took me much longer to get through than I would have hoped.
This in itself is quite fitting – every time I picked it up I learnt something new and would have preferred to rattle through the pages a lot quicker had I been able – yet it was somewhat ironic that it took me the best part of two months to get through, because it was the similarly drawn out managerial chases that took place at Sunderland that underpin this fascinating delve into the second half of the 1970s, and highlight some of the reasons why the club struggled to make progress during the era.
There had been two reasons why I was pleased about the prospect of ‘A Fistful of Doldrums’; the author’s previous Sunderland title ‘Give Us Tomorrow Now’ was an amazing read, whilst the latest release focuses on an period of SAFC history that whilst before my time, has long intrigued me.
What should have been a period of growth in the aftermath of an amazing FA Cup triumph and an eventual return to the first division three years later ended up becoming a hard luck and hard of thinking tale with the nucleus of a strong squad unable to be built upon, but I never grasped exactly why.
Soccer - League Division One - Sunderland - Roker Park Photo by PA Images via Getty Images
The ’View from the North East Hotbed 1977-1979’ does start by setting the scene ahead of the Silver Jubilee year, when Jimmy Adamson took over at Sunderland and attempted to make his mark. An increasing number of stories from elsewhere; Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and more, do give context, but Roker remains the primary focus as the new man in charge begins to suggest that he could get things right, only to gamble on a fateful day at Everton and react to that with a series of peculiar decisions and quotes.
Adamson is a fascinating strand of the book – a local (ish) lad with a great reputation as a coach, he could also be very aloof, and that trait meant players and fans alike were unable to build much of a rapport – even less so following some of his ill-advised outbursts.
At points begging supporters to come to games but at others bemoaning the pressure the home crowds could put on the team; he ends up spending more and more of his time on the road looking to make a transfer breakthrough when he may have arguably been better served back on the training ground and working out why his side were regularly throwing away precious leads in matches.
A paradoxical figure whose eventual departure is hardly mourned and yet plunges the club into another bout of uncertainty, Adamson had shared many similarities with his predecessor Bob Stokoe despite them being very different personalities.
Bob Stokoe Leaves Blackpool For Sunderland 1972 Photo by Eastwood/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
Their assistants also, namely Dave Merrington and Ian McFarlane, both gained increasing influence before being required to step into caretaker’s roles, and they too were at opposite ends of the scale in terms of character – Merrington being a devout Christian whereas McFarlane failed to endear himself.
Assistant managers would often be a lot more public facing than they are in today’s football, with Merrington regularly stepping up and overseeing games when Adamson was off on scouting missions.
Once in full, albeit temporary, charge, he was forever candid about the state of limbo he found himself in as the Sunderland board dawdled over appointing a replacement, with a string of names appearing and then drifting out of the frame again.
Things then reached an almost farcical level when even the caretaker had to step away – tonsilitis forcing Merrington into respite and meaning coach Ken Knighton took over team affairs for the December 1978 trouncing of Bristol Rovers.
Wins such as that had bought the directors some time as they worked down the supposed ‘short list’, yet each rejection added a level of embarrassment and in some cases left fans wondering if their club had simply been used to help managers get themselves improved terms from their current employers.
Ken Knighton Sunderland Manager 1979 Photo by Danny Brannigan/Hulton Archive
A former terrace favourite and coach at Roker, Billy Elliott would eventually be installed as a stop gap, but as he was only ever given the post on an ‘interim’ basis the air of uncertainty remained – allowed to recruit players he scoured the market, many of his targets were put off by the absence of any long-term certainty.
A striker had been needed for some time and with deadline day looming Knighton was again asked to oversee the side, guiding The Lads to a March win at Stoke City whilst Elliott took in a fixture between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City.
Discussions with City’s Brian Kidd followed, and a move for QPR’s Peter Eastoe was thought to have reached an advanced stage, yet no transfers materialised, and Elliott had to stick with what he had. That however did not necessarily spell the end – since coming in he had tightened up some of the frailties seen under Adamson and made promotion a more realistic possibility.
Only three league games were lost under Elliott, but those defeats were costly – home advantage counting for nothing, particularly in the penultimate game of 1978-79 against Cardiff City. That led to more end of season heartache as results elsewhere curtailed Sunderland’s prospects, giving way to more boardroom flailing as the head honchos considered their next steps, surprised seemingly that they were back to square one so quickly and that things had not somehow managed to sort themselves out.
Soccer - FA Barclaycard Premiership - Derby County v Sunderland Photo by Steve Mitchell/EMPICS via Getty Images
Incredulous supporters watched on as Elliott was eventually told he would not be retained and, tired of the ham-fisted manager chases, settled their sights on Knighton who had at least shown glimpses during his own temporary stints and crucially, was already in Sunderland.
You wonder if the seasons that followed could make for Snowdon’s next tome and bridge the gap between the excellent breakdown of the Alan Durban era that fills Give Us Tomorrow and now this meticulously researched 1970s odyssey.
A Fistful of Doldrums, complete with first hand insights from Gary Rowell, gives us the context behind a period that promised much and delivered little, gave rise to hopes of an ambitious appointment of somebody like Brian Clough or Bobby Robson, and, interspersed with cultural and political references, provides the wider backdrop to this muddling period of SAFC lore.
It is a must read for those of us that want to better understand how it panned out in the way it did – whether they lived through it themselves or not.
You can buy the book here A Fistful of Doldrums | Pitch Publishing
To hear a fascinating in-depth conversation about the book between Roker Report’s Chris Wynn and author David Snowdon please click the link here.
Chelsea v Sunderland Photo by Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images