Spirited Bradford ensure flair is kept to minimum

Be worried Sven, be very, very worried.

The new manager of England, Sven-Goran Eriksson, came to Wearside for the first time yesterday and must have left questioning his mental faculties. The second best team in England, Sunderland, let themselves, the Premiership and Eriksson down badly.

The Swede must have looked at the five Englishmen on the Sunderland side, including Kevin Phillips, and wondered how he is going to build a winning national team. Watching Lazio lose every week would surely be preferable to this.

This dire, goalless draw once again meant the only people smiling after a Premiership weekend were from Manchester United. Sunderland, seeking a ninth win out of their past 11 matches, would have kept United's lead at the top to 11 points. Now it is 13. More importantly, Peter Reid's team would have opened a fourpoint gap over Arsenal had they won.

Bradford City deserve great credit for this. They are still five points adrift of Coventry City and visit Highbury in their next game, but they showed sufficient spirit, organisation and occasional creativity to give their supporters hope. They are far from relegated and look a totally different side to the one thumped 4-1 at home by Sunderland on St Stephen's Day.

Niall Quinn, who missed Sunderland's best two chances, said that the difference in Bradford between January and December was one of togetherness. "They were arguing then, today they were encouraging one another."

Quinn also praised Andy O'Brien's performance. "Hopefully he'll still be playing in the Premiership next season," Quinn said. Had Dean Windass not perpetrated an incredible miss in the 54th minute, that possibility would have been increased significantly.

Bradford were the last visiting team to win here, and throughout it was difficult to tell which side were staring at the First Division and which were meant to be dreaming of the Champions' League. The first half had been an arid affair, devoid of flair. Sunderland took the blame - "We didn't have enough craft," said Reid - but Bradford were largely responsible.

With O'Brien and Robert Molenaar successfully nullifying the Phillips-Quinn partnership, and with Bradford frequently having nine or 10 players in their final third of the pitch, Sunderland's lack of width or central guile led to a depressing stalemate. By the 20th minute all the energy in the stadium at the start had dissipated, replaced by a reserve team match silence. It was embarrassing.

Not until the 25th minute, when Don Hutchison beat Stuart McCall with a neat flick on the right touchline and slipped in a delicate cross to Quinn at the near post, was there any genuine excitement. But Quinn, having evaded O'Brien, placed an unmarked header from six yards well wide.

At least we had seen an attack. Two minutes later Hutchison was again the lone spark as he split the Bradford backline with another deft touch. This time goalkeeper Gary Walsh was called into action and he blocked well from Alex Rae.

After the interval things improved - marginally. In terms of goalmouth action the first 10 minutes of the second half contained twice as much as the whole of the first. In the 47th minute, Walsh saved from Quinn following a Darren Williams pass; five minutes later Walsh again foiled Quinn, this time a header from a Michael Gray centre.

And it was just over 60 seconds later that Windass had his moment. Receiving a Robbie Blake pass at the far post, Windass had an open goal in front of him. He hit the side-netting. "I think he was reading the headlines before he put it in," said his manager, Jim Jefferies. Windass recovered to supply Blake with a brilliant pass two minutes later, and when Blake jinked inside the Sunderland defence and unleashed his shot it was destined for the top corner. Unfortunately for Blake, Thomas Sorensen managed to get a fingertip to the shot and deflected it onto the crossbar.

Sunderland "huffed and puffed", in Reid's words, after that. But did no more than that. "I've never said we're the greatest side in this league, we're not the finished article," was his downbeat analysis. "But I know what we are, a hard side."

With United and Liverpool the next Premiership visitors to the Stadium of Light, Sunderland need to get in touch with their more subtle inner self.

SUNDERLAND: Sorensen, Williams, Thome, Craddock, Gray, Hutchison, Rae, McCann, Schwarz (Kilbane 73), Quinn (Dichio 74), Phillips. Subs Not Used: Ingham, McCartney, Thirlwell.

BRADFORD: Walsh, Atherton, Molenaar, O'Brien, Lawrence, Windass, McCall, Jacobs, Jess, Blake (Beagrie 66), Saunders (Ward 59). Subs Not Used: Sharpe, Davison, Hopkin. Booked: Walsh.

Referee: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).