What Would A Successful End To Sunderland’s Season Look Like?

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - MARCH 22: Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe watches as Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris celebrates on the final whistle during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Sunderland at St James' Park on March 22, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images) | Sunderland AFC via Getty Images John Wilson says… It certainly isn’t “mission complete” because if we lost all of our remaining fixtures, I’d be quite disappointed at having let the season fizzle out. If we’ve assembled a group of players that are hungry and wanting to show their commitment and energy and passion — which I generally think we have — we need to keep pushing to see where we can get to come May and the game against Chelsea.

I do feel the pressure is off now and as disappointing as a poor finish would be, it’ll still have been a fantastic season and one we’ll remember for many years, but the question is: how much further does this group of players want to go? In hindsight, there’s a danger that too much was made of the forty-point target. So let’s forget that and set a top ten finish target or even a seventh-place finish.

It’s very possible. The media assume that the ‘Visitors’ are now going to push on and claim a European spot, but we’re ahead of them so we should be doing the same. Whether we’re ready for European midweek football is another discussion, but we should be aiming to finish as highly as possible.

Europe is still realistic, given the ups and downs of football, but a top ten finish (ahead of the ‘Visitors’) would be very satisfying indeed. Malc Dugdale says… I say we keep going one game at a time, and see where this amazing season takes us. The case scenario is that we win a few and lose a few, and finish in mid-table or slightly below that.