I would agree with you if I didn't think/know that he same thing will happen again next season. We have been saying this since the Premier League days, some even said relegation would be a good thing as we could start again. We have progressively replaced/downgraded the playing staff for the last 6 years as they were the cheap option, and then wonder why we are where we are. You have to speculate to accumulate, simple as.
Mmmm... Talks some sense but the instruction to not play through the middle and only wide is a bit worrying. I would argue our best players are through the middle. We have Neil, Pritchard, Embleton etc who can all look after the ball and pick a pass. Even Clarke and Roberts will cut inside. Barring McGeady I cant think of any natural wingers, in my opinion anyway. Then crosses need to be high quality as barring Stewart we dont have any natural headers of the ball. We also dont have a lot of pace from full back to help with the width. If it were me I would be setting this squad up to mix it up. We need to get wide at times, but a lot of the time we should be relying on technical ability on the ball to play through the lines and pull defenders out of position. Like others Pritchard out wide work and wastes one of the best players in the league. Obviously he knows more than me mind.
Aye your probably right. We're all summising at whats wrong. The fact is though, something isn't right. And it can't just be the manager. We've not even had a new manager bounce FFS . It's all well and good bringing good young players in to build a squad but the problem is how long they stick around if championship clubs come sniffing around them. ? The model might work in the championship or above but does it work down here ? Do Wigan or Rotherham use it ? Or all the other teams promoted while we stagnate.? It's just so fooking frustrating how we've nosedived atm
Tell you what. Had MK Dons not been so focused on taking time wasting to new and embarrassing levels they could have won that game 3 or 4. They were streets ahead of us yet retained a complete small-club mentality with the utterly embarrassing time wasting from minute 1
I wouldn’t worry about losing any player in this squad as they are all replaceable at a club like SAFC in league one because we don’t look like a coherent team currently. I would really worry if Speakman is still deciding who replaces them- that’s the bigger issue.
Don't think that 'tune' is going to sound very nice, what with so many of the instruments out of tune If Neil performs a miracle and takes us up via the playoffs we are going to need one hell of a rebuild over the summer. Question is, having been promoted a) would Speakman keep his job and if he did would he be able to to get us the players we need? Which then leads us into b) are our finances going to be hampered by still having the chuckle brothers aboard? Finally there is c) why the fcuk does SAFC always make it so hard for us fans?! I'm going to crack open a few beers and try and forget about football until the next game. I'm done with trying to get us a win so am going to avoid the prediction vote like the plague, you lot will just have to accept that I hope Sunderland will win each game.
Agree mate that’s the hardest problem for a manager to address how to be solid but still create chances Only reason I’m quite hope-full tonight is I think he’s started to address the midfield issues we looked a harder team to play against. Very much like alerdyce did. Next step Get us on the front foot Problem I see is lack of personnel
Without remembering his exact words, Speakman said deadline day was not a distraction from looking for a manager. In other words "they have no say here anyway, it's down to me" . Not that he's finding bad players mind, because in fairness he isn't. But if he was listening to a man who knew more about putting a team out, there would be more balance in the approach, and more balance in the squad. He has too much clout and doesn't have the experience or knowledge to know how to use it.
Agreed. Better team in that period between 1-1 and 1-2. But it's not enough and I'd think we would be bottom or near it of the form league for the last nine games. That's a long time, 20% of a season. It will take some turning.
The thing with Speakman is to me he is in the wrong job. His recruitment is hideously unbalanced but good quality. He has previously been head of youth and player development and you can see why. He should be doing that, he's good at it and knows how to do it. His current role is very difficult and beyond him I'd say.
