‘Not sure why…’: Former Sunderland man hits out at fan criticism of under fire Black Cats star after Plymouth draw

At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland was held to a 2-2 draw with Plymouth Argyle, as Regis Le Bris’ team lost to a late equalizer. Although the Black Cats’ performance against the Championship team that has been playing the worst in recent weeks didn’t merit or warrant all three points, they came very close to winning until Portsmouth scored a second goal in the closing seconds. Following the defensive blunder that allowed Plymouth Argyle to score so late in the game, many Sunderland supporters have been debating who should be held accountable for the second goal in particular. Anthony Patterson is one player who has accepted the most of the blame, but a former Sunderland goalkeeping coach disputes that notion.

David Preece, a former Sunderland goalie coach, defends Anthony Patterson’s judgment.

The Black Cats’ defense made a number of clumsy mistakes in the second Plymouth Argyle goal, including Luke O’Nein’s failed headed clearing, the incapacity of three players to run towards Darko Gyabi to stop his headed ball, and Patterson’s attempted save.

According to former Sunderland goalie coach David Preece, the opportunity came about as a result of a string of mistakes made by Le Bris’ team. “I’m not sure why anyone would pin this on him [Patterson] tbh,” Preece wrote on X following the second Plymouth goal. has no time to influence either ball. Luke receives the first ball directly, and it was the right move to stay for the second since he wouldn’t make it.

As defensive errors go unnoticed, Anthony Patterson has been made into a scapegoat.

With the occasional slip-up in judgment, Patterson has been a reliable goalie for Le Bris’ team for the vast part of the 2024–25 campaign. Although goals like the second Plymouth Argyle finish over the weekend were frequently attributed to Patterson, the defense finally had to answer the questions because they were much too poor at clearing their lines when it counted. Instead of Patterson being held accountable for being the last player to block the shot, the Sunderland defense must bear responsibility for such a goal.

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