Sunderland 'Til I Die

“A lot of money to watch that shower of shite! No effort, no class, no fucking idea!” The absolute antithesis of all feel good ventures and the unofficial sequel to the quarter century old Premier Passions charting the Black Cats season. A socio-sports downbeat probe into the soul of a traditional football club on the decline from glory, going hand in hand with the decline in living standards and security of a once prosperous working class town. I would guess that at the beginning of the project the creators dreamed of a fairytale ending with a return to the Premier League and hope for a city where the only joy is football. Instead, they hit a golden documentary vein (that would last for a couple of seasons) in the form of a club whose owner has become disenchanted, disillusioned (yet loyal) fans venting their complexes due to, among other things, high unemployment, ubiquitous apathy, wage earners fed up with their fate and wanting get out of that hell as soon as possible and… And everything goes from worse to worse. The contrast of the opening episode, full of hope and plans, with the way everything crumbles under their hands, when it's clear to everyone what it's heading towards and no one is able to do anything about it despite their best efforts, is fascinating on the level of when you pass the clean-up of a nasty car accident – you know you shouldn’t look, but you can’t help it. The look behind the scenes of a (dys)functional professional club is of course the main focus, and if you have a soft spot for football (especially the traditional one from the Isles), this is a must. Of course, even if you don't care about sport, and "only" want to know why working class towns like this in Britain voted for Brexit (not directly addressed, but it answers the question better than anything else), there is no better choice. In any case, after watching it, I'd wager that the number of players worldwide who choose Sunderland AFC in Football Manager has increased – there is no greater football challenge in Europe at the moment. In the second series, the players' booth, the players themselves, the coaches, the preparation for the games, and to a large extent the games themselves are kicked to the back burner. It's entirely centred on one thing, the new owners, who themselves step by step are turning what was originally purely an investment from a sensible consideration into a passion, which isn't necessarily to the benefit of the cause. Of course they bring vision, enough finance to avoid bankruptcy, but not enough "to also make financial sense" and inconsistent crisis management (one practicing it, the other undermining it with passion) in an organization where nothing, but like nothing really works: the finances, the disillusioned fans, the facilities, the rickety player's cabin, the lack of confidence in the club, the jaded and annoying staff, all that is too much for a team with such a name and in such a situation, and the fact that they have to play nearly seventy games in their situation is, well, just nothing. This makes it more focused and even better than the previous series, especially thanks to the Donald-Methven duo. The only thing missing is a reflection on the feelings (and possible sale) of those last two or three players who don't belong in Sunderland and third division with their ability, name and price. | S1: 5/5 | S2: 5/5 | (27.05.2019) (vähemmän) (lisää)