Morning guys and girls. Just a thread about opinions on the new boardroom shakeup which has happened this week. I know loads of people have done threads about Quinny and Short but I have left it a couple of days to let the emotion of losing Quinn as chairman die down and to have a bit of a think about this. I believe that Ellis Short has the best interests of the club at heart - Quinn was a fantastic chairman (the best in the PL IMO) and this includes his backing of Bruce. Quinn backed his manager as he is a football man - a lot of "non-football" personnel would have sacked Bruce when the excrement hit the cooling device!! With Quinn - I believe he knows the importance of giving a manager time and this is why he has allowed Bruce to stay as manager. Ellis Short, however, was not a football man prior to purchasing our club so he took a risk and asked Niall to take the reigns whilst he learnt more about the football side (as his business knowedge is already pretty good!!) Now with Ellis taking over, maybe Bruce will get that "kick up the arse" that he has needed for a while to think "**** I may have to do something different here" - He may develop that elusive "Plan B" which people keep telling him about whilst he stares blankly at them without understanding. All in all, I can't see Ellis sacking Bruce, as Quinny has said something "Apocalyptic" has to happen for Bruce to get the sack - (Define "Apocalyptic" please). Can't be a bad thing for the club - just hope he is still willing to spend money to improve the side. I will back Bruce and remain in the Bruce In camp until the owner/chairman tell Bruce to leave - but I will always support Sunderland AFC
If Short allows us to drift into the Championship as we are doing right now...then is isn't the businessman I thought he was. My definition of Apocalyptic in footballing terms is........Getting relegated from the Premier League. That's whats happening now.
Once Bruce realises that playing one up front just doesn't work for us, then what goes on with the board should be irrelevant...
flanders - I have watched at least 6 teams worse than us this season - so we won't get relegated on current form so I have to disagree with you there mate. Are we in the 3 worst? Not likely - only Sunderland fans think we'll get relegated - I don't - although I think a disastrous seasson is finishing anywhere near that bottom 6 berth. Watching matches this season at my local I have hard people say "They're going down" about 7 or 8 different teams - and it's the same people that say this about those 7 or 8 different teams (one of which was us against Norwich) - One game does not define a season - I saw enough in the West Brom game to think we were good enough and enough in the Stoke, Liverpool, Newcastle and Swansea games to think we are good enough (but neede a striker in certain games) - that's 5 out of 7 games that I thought we played SOME decent stuff in As RAW said, 1 up front is useless and pointless in games against the likes of West Brom, and those in the bottom half (and the poorer teams that are currently punching above their weight - all about opinions) - 0 up front is, IMO, apocalyptic (see Bighton vs SAFC for confirmation of this definition) Hopefully Bruce will see this and stop being the stubborn bastard he has been and will look at things that we are saying as constructive - not sure if it will... There are only 3 relegation places and, from what I've seen, Blacburn and Bolton are destined for 2 of them - although Bolton play us soon so will turn their season around!!! BTW - even my Dad said "They're going down because they can't score" about Norwich and Swansea, then he also said, a few weeks later "They're going down" about WBA and Bolton - and he's said the same about us - so 5 clubs are getting relegated accorsing to my Dad and 7 or 8 according to the lads in my local - strange how us Sunderland fans look at things with a "Glass constantly half empty" perspective isn't it
True - we can live in hope though eh? syd - we need a smiley for <stubborn> with a picture of Bruces head on it!!
Marcus...All I look at his hard facts. If you look at our points total in this calender year and take the average we would get less than 28 points this season. Take this season results alone..at the rate we are going we will get 32 points. which ever way we look at it, we headed for the drop...unless things dramatically change. I think the first part of those changes started the other day. I just cannot see Bruce lasting another 4 weeks. The finanical cost to the club would be crippling. When Bruce arrived, I actually thought he was the man for the job..I gave him the benefit of the doubt even after 2 massive capitualtions over the last 2 season. But this season has shown me how limited a manager he really is.
?? Think the system seems fine, and if it means more exposure for the club etc, that's good.. Can't see ES turning into an Abramovich, unless he is planning to pump 100's of £millions into the club.
Flanders - I'm not saying I disgree about Bruce - but even with Bruce at the helm I think we'll survive - but Survival is not enough - see how we look after the end of October which should see us 6 points better off after the next 3 games (my expectations) as I expect nothing at Arsenal (anything is a bonus) and 2 wins from Villa and Bolton... No idea!! If we lose as drably against Arsenal as we have against Norwich then I would expect Short to do the correct thing and make his Chairmanship of bruce a "Short" thing (sorry about the pun!!)
We won't get relegated, but the fact that we are even contemplating it is a bad thing. We should be aiming for 8th or 7th this season, and on paper we have the team to do it, although maybe 1 or 2 quality additions might be required. We aren't far off, but I guess close isn't enough. I think Ellis becoming chairman is positive though as it signals his intent. If he left we would be stuffed. Maybe he will increase his investment further too and add some hard nosed business acumen into the running of the club.
A Sunderland delegation including Steve Bruce and former chairman Niall Quinn will travel to South Korea in a bid to promote the club's brand. Quinn was confirmed as the club's head of international development on Monday night and will accompany Black Cats manager Bruce on a three day tour that includes a reception at the British Embassy in Seoul, rubbing shoulders with some of the country's elite sports and business figures. There is also an invitation to see South Korea's World Cup qualifier against the United Arab Emirates in which Sunderland striker Ji Dong-won could feature. In a statement Quinn said: "Whilst we will also be steeped in the tradition of our North East roots, for our club to grow, develop and compete with the big teams we need to raise our profile globally. "Our trip to Korea is very much about building links from both a football and community perspective, and we are honoured to have been invited." Amongst the travelling party will be Sunderland's international marketing director Mike Farnan who said: "There's a huge interest in and passion for Premier League football across Asia, and there's a great opportunity for Sunderland to be part of this." .
It all opinions, but I think the team so far this season has shown its potential a few times. Bruce is obviously trying to get us to play possessive passing footie and the team is taking time to adapt. Now we have seen some pretty awful stuff (Norwich) and the fantastic (Stoke) with the other games containing a mix of the good and the ugly. To me, I have seen enough of the good stuff to convince me that Bruce can (not will, but can) get it right. I firmly believe that we are better than Bolton (who have been dire every game, all game), Wigan and Blackburn, and I cannot see us getting relegated this season. I think our form will steadily improve until January, buy a few players and then go for a strong finish in the 2nd half of the season. If, by Dec 10th, we still have too much of the ugly in our performances (and the results that match) then I can see Short taking action - but I believe will will have seen an improvement by then.
Like it... At the end of a week that saw Carlos Tevez step miles over the proverbial line by refusing to cross the very real one at the side of the pitch, an announcement was issued from a mid table, somewhat unglamorous but well supported side that threw into sharp relief the antics of the despicable Argentine. Niall Quinn was to step down as chairman at Sunderland AFC. There was not a more loved chairman in world football. Sunderland fans love the man and have done almost since the day he arrived in the late 90’s from Manchester City as a player. And in a refreshing change from the normal player fan relationship, Quinn loved them back. In a quote now universally known in Sunderland the Irishman said, “I learned my trade at Arsenal, became a footballer at Manchester City, but Sunderland got under my skin. I love Sunderland.” In his days as a player, he struck up a fantastic partnership with Kevin Phillips which saw the Mackems propel themselves to consecutive seventh place finishes at the start of the century, the highest the club has finished since the Second World War. But it is not for this simple reason that he is loved. Quinn held his testimonial game at the Stadium of Light and donated all the proceeds to children’s charities in the north east and in Ireland. And in 2006, with Sunderland once again a second tier club, he led the Drumaville consortium in their takeover and installed Roy Keane as manager. From bottom of the Championship in 2006 to a top half finish last season, Quinn has been the constant driving force at Sunderland. There are many stories about Quinn that help to explain his popularity but the best for me is the occasion that he paid for around 100 Sunderland fans to get home from Bristol Airport after their flight was cancelled after a victory away at Cardiff. Rather than see them have to wait until the morning to get home, Quinn stumped up £8,000 for 16 taxis for the group back to the north east, in a moment of generosity that will long be remembered by Sunderland fans. In his time at Sunderland he has sold the club to Texan billionaire Ellis Short who will now take over as chairman, surely a sign that things are moving in the right direction at a club that not too long ago was the typical yo-yo side with little or no stability. The fact that he has achieved this with a constant smile and a real bond with the fans is a credit to his infectious personality. Not many people in football can claim to have no enemies, but Niall Quinn is certainly one of them.
