A week is a long time in football.
Having put Plymouth Argyle to the sword with a dominant second-half performance, Michael Beale's side had taken seven points from their last three games, moving to within a point of the play-off picture - the pressure eased.
Seven days on and two rounds of fixtures later, that cautious optimism has evaporated and pressure is firmly back on the Sunderland head coach, at least by a token glance on social media.
Not always the best gauge of feeling overall, but a response at that.
Back-to-back defeats to Championship strugglers Huddersfield Town and now Birmingham City, has seen the Black Cats fall off the play-off pace, four points adrift with 13 games to go.
The likelihood of finishing in that coveted top-six fading with each passing away game.
Sunderland have won just once on the road since September - a credible 1-0 win over play-off rivals Hull City - the first of Beale's tenure.
Despite signs of encouragement in terms of appearing harder to beat, they're yet to back that up with points on the board on their travels.
It's an issue that predates Beale, with Sunderland picking up just 17 points on the road out of a possible 51 available to them. The current head coach has been in charge for six of those games, with one win, two draws and three defeats - five points from 18 available.
"We have to find a way of getting results away from home," Beale said following the defeat to Birmingham City. "Our away form is nowhere near good enough."
An honest assessment, but an obvious one at that.
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As the full-time whistle blew at St. Andrew's, former Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray had got one over his former club, saluting the travelling red and white army as he made his way off the pitch.
Whether you think it was the right, or wrong decision to part ways with the 60-year-old, he's a manager that exudes class regardless of the manner of his departure from the Stadium of Light. A handshake and words with Beale at the full-time whistle a classy gesture to his successor.
"I just wished him all the best, I know the club very well and I know what it must be like at this moment having lost two games this week," Mowbray said after the final whistle. "They have to stay strong and believe in the quality of the footballers they've got, they have to keep going.
"I want to win every game for Birmingham City but I want Sunderland to do well, I had an amazing 15 months there - it was a brilliant place for me to work. I was just saying to Michael to enjoy it, every job in football is an adventure and you have to enjoy it.
"I don't want to get too philosophical but life is a journey, eh, so don't' make it a burden. I understand it, there's nothing worse as a coach than losing a football match, it ruins your weekend, your stomach is twisted and you don't sleep because you think about all the decisions.
"You have to have confidence and belief. I didn't go into that that much detail with Michael but I was just saying to keep going, you've got a good team and players. But of course I'm happy for ourselves and especially our fans today."
Mowbray is right in the sense he knows how Beale will feel in this moment after back-to-back defeats, as pressure begins to ramp up again, but he also knows the pitfalls of this Sunderland squad.
When they're in full flow, they're brilliant to watch. At their worst, they're a tough watch.
Consistency has been the main issue impacting the current crop of players, again, something that predates Beale as head coach, but it's something he must find an answer to.
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"I think we're going to have to pick the bones off it," Beale told We Are Sunderland in the aftermath of the defeat at St. Andrew's. "No two games are the same. But these two games were similar in the home crowd was up. For moments in the game, when our tails are up, we look a really good team. We have to take our chances when they come. I thought John Ruddy makes a fantastic save in the first-half, it was quite a big moment in the game.
"Second-half, I think our own backward momentum in possession didn't help us at times. Could we play down the sides? Could we play forward a little bit more? Could our forwards hold the ball to allow the team to get up the pitch. Ultimately, we've switched off again on a quick free-kick and it's an isolated moment. It's disappointing because Patto hasn't had to make many big saves today. We've conceded two away from home and been beat again."
There's some truth in Beale's statement. Sunderland were good in the first 45 minutes at St. Andrew's. They could, and probably should have been at least two goals to the good at the break.
Mason Burstow missing a sitter with the score still locked at 0-0. Romaine Mundle also forcing a good save from John Ruddy after Jack Clarke had opened the scoring, Jobe Bellingham opting to go himself rather than put it on a plate for Clarke just minutes before Birmingham's winner. Big moments in the game in which they were unable to capitalise on.
The Black Cats created chances, but have lacked the conviction this season - barring Clarke - to put those away. That's a problem Mowbray knows all too well and even predates his time at the club.
Alex Neil struggled to get the most out of his forward line when he first arrived at the club, inheriting that situation from Lee Johnson and Phil Parkinson before that. The less said about some of the football during the final few months of the latter's reign, the better.
Scoring goals was an underlying issue for Johnson, despite winning the Papa John's Trophy during his tenure at the club, dominating possession but failing to score and coming up short in the play-offs.
Back then, he had Aiden McGeady to bail him out of trouble, along with Charlie Wyke. Neil had Ross Stewart, while Mowbray had a combination of the Scot and Amad Diallo. Beale has Clarke.
There's consistencies in star players stepping up to the plate for Sunderland, but struggling to convert chances has also been prevalent throughout. It wouldn't be football if they were able to convert every opportunity on goal, as Beale spoke about in his press conference the other week, even the very best managers in the world are working on improving chance conversion.
That's not to diminish blame on the current head coach, but what is clear, is that they need a distinct improvement if they're to finish in the top-six. Putting together a performance that lasts more than just 45 minutes would be a good place to start.
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"We're going to have to improve," Beale said. "We've got some big away games. I think what we can deal with right now, is pick the bones out of this one and make sure that we get a positive performance and result next week at home to Swansea.
"Without improving our away form, you'd have to say it's going to be difficult. What I will say, is there's a hell of a lot of football to play, at some stage we're going to have to go on a run.
"We've been used to that in the last couple of seasons, making a late surge for it. We're certainly not giving up on anything with the games we've got to go. Our away form all season has been a concern."
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