Talking Points: A Bad Night As Forest Crush Sunderland 0-5

The Lads are unrecognisable in the worst possible way

Remember those scenes in *Space Jam,* in which five elite NBA players lose their talent as a group of alien invaders attempts to execute a plan to conquer humanity via the medium of basketball? I couldn’t help but be reminded of that as I watched eleven Sunderland players blunder their way to easily the worst defeat of the Régis Le Bris era. Simply put, this was *not* the same team that’s acquitted itself so well during 2025/2026, racking up several eye-catching victories at home and away and doing their level best to give the fans — of whom there were very few left at the final whistle, justifiably or not — hope that the good times are here to stay. Robin Roefs was on edge all evening; the defensive unit misfired badly, we created next to nothing from out wide and the midfield was about as watertight as the hull of a weather-beaten Spanish galleon. The net result was a catalogue of errors and poor decisions on which the visitors gleefully pounded and left Le Bris and his players looking thoroughly embarrassed. This was not a night to remember fondly and it’s difficult to highlight one Sunderland player aside from the industrious Chris Rigg and perhaps Wilson Isidor that emerged from this debacle with any credit. Nowhere near good enough on any level. Le Bris will take the flak but for me, he was let down by his men last night.

Habib Diarra’s struggles continue

It felt like an act of mercy when the Senegal international exited the fray in the second half, and it feels like a safe bet that he may find himself out of the starting eleven for the upcoming matches. Perhaps eager to make amends for his missed opportunity against Aston Villa, Diarra’s evening was Sunderland’s incarnate: a real struggle with a lot of frustration on display and a yellow card gained for his brandishing of an imaginary card following a flashpoint. Wrong gesture, wrong time, regardless of how much you want to show how much you care — and he was scarcely more effective on the ball, either. I like Diarra. I don’t think he’s a lost cause, but it’s not been a good week for the midfielder and I suspect Le Bris may make the decision to withdraw him from the firing line in the wake of two challenging games. For his long-term development, that may be the smart move.

And on that non-memorable bombshell…

I’ve written many editions of *Talking Points* during my time at *Roker Report* and I genuinely believed that the days of composing truly soul-destroying analyses of defeats were becoming fewer and farther between, but despite Sunderland’s ineptitude, you have to give immense credit to Forest for the way in which they went about their business and essentially ended any lingering relegation fears in the process. Whether we hyped this game up too much (something of which I was guilty, calling for a “Coventry City playoffs vibe” earlier in the week) and the players weren’t able to channel that, or were perhaps still carrying baggage from Sunday’s heartbreaking defeat to Aston Villa is very much open for discussion, Nonetheless, the outcome was tough to swallow and with four games left, the Lads need to somehow park this loss, remain focused on becoming the first Sunderland team since 2001 to rack up fifty points at this level, and hit back very strongly next time out. This felt like an absolute one-off and a true aberration. Let’s hope that turns out to be accurate.