His verdict for The Observer was succinct and spot-on. But that shabby second half at Turf Moor left Pete Sixsmith with plenty more to say …

Standing in the away end at Turf Moor at half time, I received a text from a Burnley supporting mate, sat in the Bob Lord Stand to the right of the Wearside hordes. “I’ll settle for a point,” was the message. Full of optimism, (and probably cockiness), I texted back “I won’t.” Hubris strikes!!

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Once again, Salut! Sunderland’s Pete Sixsmith was asked to sum up the match for The Observer. Why couldn’t he have had something cheerful to say? Abject, dismal, appalling – those are the words that spring to mind for many Sunderland fans when contemplating our second-half descent into unnecessary defeat at Burnley. Here is Pete’s more considered view …

The word for that is “disappointing”. It was a meek surrender. There was no fight. The defending was awful, it was a stupid penalty and the marking for the second goal was poor.

Owen Coyle out-thought Steve Bruce today – I though Chris Eagles was the difference when he came on, He ran at McCartney and gave us problems. Our sub, Jones, couldn’t get into the game. Bruce is still developing our team and he would have learnt some important things about the players today.

And Pete’s – surprisingly generous – ratings:
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