Certainly not the home fans, who cheered applauded, Mexican waved and conga-ed their way through the 90 minutes.

OK, so Arsenal may not have been at full strength, and they may not have even been at full throttle.

But we gave them a game and that in my opinion was all the Black Cats supporters wanted from their team yesterday.

Don't get me wrong, it would have been great if we had managed to get a point from the clash, and it would have been out of this world to have won it.

But we didn't and I don't think there will be too many people losing sleep over that fact.

Now that the football season is over, the silly season can begin.

And with boss Roy Keane making it clear that he wants to spend big this summer, you can bet your bottom dollar that we are going to be linked with every Tom, Dick and Javier during the close season.

Whoever, comes in over the summer will hopefully add a bit of quality to the squad, which has been evident in its absence at times.

Still, that's not to say I'm grumbling.

The current squad have done exactly what was asked of them and therefore deserve all the plaudits which come their way.

As do the manager, chairman and the consortium.

However, there's no doubt in my mind that Keane will be the first one to admit there is no room for sentiment in football.

And with that in mind, I expect that the Irishman will have no problem in wielding the axe.

There will no doubt be some surprise exits over the next couple of weeks, and there will be those that are no surprise at all.

But fans will be far more concerned with who is coming through the doors this summer, rather than heading out the exit.

It remains to be seen whether or not, by finally ridding ourselves of our yo-yo tag, we can now attract bigger stars.

Hopefully, that will be the case, because it could be the difference between us taking the next step along the road to improvement and avoiding a relegation scrap.

Just as importantly, if not more so, it could be the difference in keeping Keane at the helm.

The Irishman has insisted he has got a job to finish, and as long as he gets the backing of the board, I have no reason to doubt that.

But if he finds he can't attract big names to Wearside, his outlook may well change.

Like I say, that is hopefully something we won't have to worry about, and we can look forward to a successful summer.

Keep the faith.