ONCE upon a time, the ultimate humiliation for a footballer was for his moment of misfortune to be immortalised on a VHS compilation of Football Gaffes and Bloopers.

Farcical own-goals, glaring misses, goalkeeping howlers, epic penalty fails … you name it, they were all there, and released on video just in time for Christmas.

These days you can have festive fun all year round, with YouTube, social media, and memes, turning calamity into comedy gold in a matter of minutes if not seconds.

And so it was last week at the Stadium of Light, as Leeds keeper Illan Meslier completely misread Alan Browne’s tame, if slightly deflected, ball into the box and could only watch in horror as it bounced past his waiting arms and into the net.

There were only a few seconds of added time remaining but it was enough for Meslier’s mistake to go viral.

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As Sky Sports salivated over the Super Slo-Mo, the bewildered Meslier stared down at the turf.

Was he looking for a rogue blade of grass to blame? Or was he merely hoping the ground would open up and swallow him whole?

He shook his head in despair and the TV cameras cut to Sunderland’s 1973 FA Cup-winning keeper Jimmy Montgomery celebrating in the stand, the juxtaposition between those two images stark.

Monty’s double save against Leeds in the Wembley final, first parrying Trevor Cherry’s header and then recovering to somehow divert Peter Lorimer’s follow-up onto the crossbar,  is a part of FA Cup folklore and is still regularly replayed to this day.

Meslier’s error cost Leeds a couple of points but, over the course of a 46-game season, is unlikely to be anywhere near as consequential as Monty’s moment in a 90-minute cup final.

Nevertheless, with the Sky cameras there to capture it in all its 4K glory, it will live on and on.

And just as Monty is still feted for that save today, Meslier’s blunder will still be raising a laugh on Wearside in 51 years’ time.


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INTERNATIONAL breaks provide an opportunity to pause and reflect on a team’s progress, and with the Championship currently on hold it is once again time to take stock.

The September break saw Sunderland sitting pretty at the top of the table with a 100 percent record after four games and enjoying the club’s best start to a season for 99 years.

Now, a month down the line, nine games is a better sample size and we know a little more about new boss Regis Le Bris and what he is trying to do.

First the bad news: Sunderland’s 100 percent record is no more.

The previously super-tight defence has slackened off somewhat, with one goal conceded in the first four games giving way to seven leaked in the subsequent five matches.

There have been a couple of self-inflicted wounds with clumsy penalties conceded by Dan Ballard (at Plymouth) and Dan Neil (at Watford), while injuries to Ballard and Eliezer Mayenda have not helped.

But the bad news is far outweighed by the good.

Sunderland are still top of the table (albeit on goal difference), they have scored more goals (18) than any other side in the Championship, and remain unbeaten at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland beat promotion candidates Burnley in the first block of four games, while in the second block of matches they have beaten Middlesbrough, drawn against Leeds, but lost at an in-form Watford side.

Forward Wilson Isidor has impressed and scored a couple of goals since coming into the starting line-up, centre-back Chris Mepham has stepped into the gap left by Ballard and looked assured, while Romaine Mundle has been a revelation on the left wing since Jack Clarke moved on towards the end of the transfer window.

Nineteen points from nine games is an excellent return.

Sunderland have set a high standard - their challenge now is to maintain it until the next staging post, which comes in six games’ time at the November international break.