Just how impressed were you with how Lee Johnson’s Mackems performed?

Andrew Smithson says...

I’ve got to admit that I can’t get enough of watching us at the moment; everywhere you look on the pitch we’ve got players turning out good performances and contributing to a style of football that is so exciting to watch.

It seemed in the second half that we were going to cause a threat every time we got the ball, and with the games coming thick and fast it was a bonus to have things sewn up so early.

I’m also chuffed for the defensive unit that we got a clean sheet because they’ve got stuck in these last two games, and Hoffmann has been top class.

Credit also has to go to Lee Johnson for the position we have got ourselves into - there is a consistency to his actions and a clear vision that he is sticking to. You don’t get the sense he is making selections or decisions as a knee-jerk reaction, it seems instead that everything is being properly planned, thought out, and communicated.

It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a buzz about the club and I cannot wait for the games right now.

Hopefully, there’ll be a big crowd in on Saturday now and we can keep the momentum up.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Phil West says...

It was a return to winning ways, with a superbly controlled performance and four goals scored, with none conceded. Since the fiasco of Portsmouth, we’ve won four games in succession, and the team has demonstrated its ability to respond to defeat. Against Crewe, we were professional and we played some superb football, after a less-than-blistering start. Once we found our rhythm and began to play with confidence, we really looked impressive.

Lee Johnson also deserves immense credit. He could’ve panicked after the Fratton Park loss, but he held his nerve, and has been duly rewarded. He believes in his players and they clearly believe in him, and it’s paying dividends.

Also, there were some immensely impressive individual performances from Thorben Hoffmann, Alex Pritchard, Ross Stewart, and Dan Neil. All four played crucial roles in our victory, and the sight of Leon Dajaku returning, and scoring a superb goal, was a massive positive as well.

We have weathered a recent injury crisis very well, and hopefully, as our squad begins to regain its full strength, we can continue to set the pace at which we have started the league campaign.

Another huge bonus is that we’re spreading the goals around the team, and are not solely reliant on one player to carry the burden. This makes us a much more potent attacking threat, and it means that opposing teams are finding it more difficult to keep us quiet. This is continuing a trend that previous Sunderland promotion-winning teams have followed: ensuring that you possess goal threats in a variety of different positions, and that you can attack teams in different ways.

That might be the difference for us this season, and the signs are promising!

Our mindset at the moment looks to be that of a team that are focused on a goal, and are going to do whatever it takes to achieve it. There is a team spirit and a sense of total unity about this group of players, and you can tell that they have a very strong bond. Too often, in seasons gone by, we haven’t looked like a cohesive unit, but that has changed this season, and it’s one of the foundations upon which a promotion campaign can be built.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Malc Dugdale says...

Ross Stewart is back scoring goals, and could well have had a match ball and more. His interplay and presence up top were way too much for Crewe, and it’s great to have the big man back on the score sheet.

He was man of the match for me, though Dan Neil and The Hoff were very good too.

Even the players who have had questionable performances in the past are buying into the playing style and ethos. Aiden O’Brien worked his socks off and should have had at least one if not two. Pritchard really stepped up and showed some great touches, including a nutmeg to assist the assister for our second, which was a cracking team goal. Hume was in amongst it. Dajaku and that finish. Wow.

The strength in depth and the confidence of the squad is just brewing more and more positives. I cannot remember the last time I felt like this about the lads.

It’s at least 15 years probably more.

Long may it continue.

And all of that a couple of games since a 4-0 away beating.

It doesn’t compute, but who gives a toss?

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Tom Albrighton says...

We’re f**king mint, and we’re gannin up.