The events of Saturday will, in all likelihood, tell us more about the optimism, or lack of, that takes up residency across the support than offer up any insight into how the fast approaching Championship season will transpire.
The pre-season double-header, South Shields and Gateshead, seems to have found favour with a section of the Sunderland fanbase who anticipate a day in the sun, a double-bill Mackem matinee. But whatever side you fall on - the eternal optimist, or those who have followed Sunderland long enough to justify pessimism as pragmatism - I would pay little attention to the outcomes from Saturday.
The coastal trip was certainly more joyous, a five-goal salvo without response may provide some hope but it should be tempered. Likewise, the 'A184 derby' should not be viewed drastically, or as a precursor to what lies ahead in several weeks time.
Pre-season games are beyond the foresight of even the most prophetic football aficionados. While both sides will publicly limit motives to fitness and ideas of shape, there is frequently a local contingent in the underdog who either harbour ambitions of playing at a higher level or those who cling to the idea they could have mixed it in such prestigious company on a competitive and consistent basis.
As a result, the conviction in performance, individually and collectively, can be difficult to detect as the household names go through the motions and the less well known go through, well, quite often, the household names.
In the ranks of both sides, South Shields and Gateshead, are graduates of a thriving non-league scene, a competitive environment where trips to Wembley on a semi-regular basis seem a more realistic proposition than for their esteemed visitors from either side of the Wear or Tyne, even if a Vase and Trophy do not hold the same value as their Cup equivalent.
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So, no need to allow the results, good or bad, to help formulate opinion of what is to come. Our pre-season culture tends to provide a cross section of challenges, the neighbourly 'friendlies' before sunnier climes and a step up to overseas opponents, or a more familiar competitor who happens to be in close proximity as they work towards full fitness.
This is all far removed from how certain clubs and countries approach similar 90 minute contests elsewhere.
In Germany, for example, you would be forgiven for thinking there has been an erosion of confidence for the stalwarts of the Bundesliga during the close season. It is not uncommon for the great and the good of German football to line up opposition who are amateur in every sense of the word.
As you scroll through the endless results available from pre-season fixtures and scorelines that don't stray too far from what you expect once the season is under way, you are struck by the volume of goals that a Dortmund or Monchengladbach have accumulated.
In short, while Dan Neil may be the recipient of some overzealous challenge from a former schoolboy adversary now adorned in the colours of a Vase winner, Bayern Munich are putting 27 past the proverbial pub team against the scenic backdrop of the Bavarian Alps.
Who knows, perhaps the mismatch has its benefits. Regardless, all such results tend to fade from memory. A win in South Wales, not South Shields, is what matters.
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