Newcastle 0-3 Sunderland: 5 Lessons Learned From One Sided Derby

3. Sunderland Will Have No Trouble Surviving

Ok, it might be stating the obvious, but on this form there's not a Black Cat's chance in hell that Sunderland will go down. Now unbeaten in nine, fluent in attack and defensively solid, Gus Poyet's men seem to have hit a rich vein of form at just the right time, and are now unbeaten in nine games. It's all a far cry from the early days of this season €“ under Paolo Di Canio's madcap stewardship, Sunderland looked a team bereft of ideas, invention and hope. They cracked easily, and couldn't find the net for love nor money. Yet with the Italian gone €“ shortly followed out by his head scout Roberto Di Fanti €“ the Black Cats seemed to have come to the realisation that they weren't precisely short of quality before the ill-advised summer spending spree. Adam Johnson was endlessly inventive and the coup de grace honours went to Academy graduate Jack Colback, who seems to be playing his best football under Poyet. It just seems as if mentality was the problem, not personnel. And with the Uruguayan inspiring Colback and his teammates to better things, the Wearsiders will surely re-establish their place in the mid-table pack before season end.