Sputtering to the finish

I was hoping to see a clash of brother vs brother.
I was hoping to see Martin O'Neill punish his former club.
I was hoping to see us score a goal (that wasn't wrongly disallowed)
All that I was hoping for wasn't to be.

If you've ever been in a car that is running out of fuel then you know what Sunderland's finish to the season looks like. The car slowly loses power and comes to a stop. Every now and then it might catch a whiff of the gasoline fumes and speed up, but that is momentary and short lived. So it is with Sunderland right now.
Sunderland failed to capitalize on a number of scoring opportunities today and had to settle for a goal less draw with an Aston Villa side who are equally as unimpressive to watch right now. The magic of Martin O'Neill seems to have worn off a bit, and that's not to say he's not the right man for the job, but it seems like he is unable to capture that same magic we had for his first 3.5 months in charge.
Here are my initial match reactions...

• It was good to have John O'Shea back. While he did a good job at RB, I believe he's more valuable in the middle of the pitch. We seemed most vulnerable to long through balls going directly at our CB's.
• Sessegnon was creative and clever today. He just seemed to lack the right touch with his final pass or the touch to set up a shot at goal.
• McClean put in a great effort, sent some great crosses in, and worked the left side of the pitch well. He is a marked man by the opposition now but I thought he played well all day.
• Jack Colback is a fine footballer. No matter where he is on the pitch, not matter if he's defending or attacking, he rarely puts a foot in wrongly. 
• It was unfortunate our goal wasn't allowed, Bendtner timed his run well and the delivery was superb. We deserved the game winner there.
• Larsson has been great for us all year, but he's not been his best the last few matches. He may be tired or it may be that he's not fitting in to the O'Neill mold of a winger. I wonder what his future with the club looks like.

We still have a few matches to secure a top 10 finish. It will be a tough road in but we can't give up on the lads just yet.  Hopefully we'll see a rejuvenated squad come out for the last few matches.
Ha'way the lads!