Haven’t seen them roll Over at all. Stoke was an anomaly as just about every time they got the ball in our box they scored. If they’d beat us by 1 nobody would’ve said it was lucky on our part
Have faith mate. Rome wasn’t built in a day it’s going to take a few years and people need to be patient but we will be stronger for it To many failed years of trying for a quick fix. Will be ups and downs but we are heading in the right direction
I agree, and I think the off-field team we have are doing a great job, I'm sure Speakman will have our summer targets pretty well lined up this time. My only fear is that other club chairmen will be sniffing around Speakman and his 'project', and a big enough offer would take him away from here before his job is done, so it's quite important to get some success here soon. Promotion has got to be the only aim next season, we've done so well this season that we know it's within our grasp, just need to make sure the squad is in place, fit and focused , preferably early in the summer.
Think we need to look at the medical team personally, we can’t be just unlucky all the time! the amount of injuries we get is very worrying.
Overall, so far, Speakman (the recruitment and football team that doesn't include TM) is doing very well. We have some fantastic players that are a literal joy to watch. That said, there are some massive caveats that go alongside that judgment. That is assuming that we address the clear shortcomings that we are all assuming are purely strategic or circumstantial based on the current campaign. If we are in the same situation this time next year, he'll be public enemy no.1. I'm not being negative, quite the opposite, if he's sticking to the gameplan in the face of adversity and it pays off...he gets all the credit. I will be delighted if that turns out to be true and comes off, football needs that approach more now than ever. It's brave. But being realistic, in my lifetime mid-table championship Sunderland teams have a high turn over of managerial staff, so I'm not putting all my eggs in the Speakman basket just yet. I've genuinely got my fingers crossed though!
We've got a lot of young players who are playing more minutes than they've ever played before and at a much higher intensity. Injuries are to be expected. Then there's the bad luck. I'm not sure Evans, Embleton, Stewart or Benette can be blamed on anyone at the club.
Only got to watch the game today. Thought we were immense. Absolutely brilliant defensive performance across the park, and carried enough threat to keep them in two minds. Gooch was my MOM, thought he was absolutely brilliant. These games, similar at Norwich, will get the young lads learning 3 times as quickly as when we have 65% possession. Learning how to play without the ball is always the hardest thing a player has to do. As young lads being coached 80% is on the ball stuff. Mowbray was spot on about Ekwah playing u23s and sitting in one place on the pitch. Ekwah has a great future I think mind. This level of football is light years ahead of u23s stuff in terms of intensity. Massive credit to Mowbray and the coaches. Watching them over the last few games you can see the work they have done on the coaching ground. Big response to the Stoke game. The lads are in much better positions to stop passes being on and it is quality to see. That is coaching and nothing else that is giving them that awareness. We are in good hands.
I was reading this one, quite complimentary about us...gave us a lot of credit. https://www.uptheclarets.com/messag...&t=68639&sid=52636d631827b4fea0b71fddd3be6792
It's telling that certain players have been retained against the wishes of many supporters, Gooch, O'Nien, etc, while others have left with some supporters shaking their heads, such as Hume, Power, Maguire, Wyke, that Jordan Jones fella, etc ... ... you'd hope we can all learn to give players like Michut, Ba, Ekwah, etc, time to adapt, learn and be coached into the likes of Ballard. I don't get into these 'he's shyte/he's brilliant' debates any more and would rather sit back and trust the club for a change. It's been a long time coming.
Exactly, not many signings hit the ground running, you’ve got to be patient as we have seen in the past
Some players you can tell hide in the pitch - Rodwell springs to mind. But these players never seem to hide. Like I said before the match, whenever we seem to have our backs against the wall for whatever reason, these players always put a shift in and it makes a refreshing change.
The winners, in bold, would put us eighth and four points behind Millwall in sixth ... ... just saying Millwall v Luton Rotherham v West Brom Blackburn v Norwich Blackpool v Cardiff QPR v Preston Reading v Birmingham Sheffield v Wigan Stoke v Bristol City Swansea v Coventry Watford v Huddersfield Sunderland v Hull City Middlesbrough v Burnley Blackburn 62 Millwall 61 Norwich 58 Sunderland 57 Coventry 57 WBA 56 Preston 56 Watford 55 Stoke 52
Fair point but I don’t believe any other team has suffered as many injuries as ours! Sometimes Little nicks have people missing for months.
7 games left, all very much winnable imo. Hull H Cardiff A Birmingham H Huddersfield H West Brom A Watford H Preston A Still in with a shout I reckon.
If Reading, seven points off relegation, are worried ... ... no reason we shouldn't be hopeful seven points off sixth. Whatever the case these lads deserve the chance to finish as high as possible, they've earned it. I disagree with the idea we should chuck our own kids in for fun ... ... if we can't finish sixth lets finish seventh.
Millwall's PPG so far this season suggests they'll finish on 72 points. We'd need to win 6 out of our last 7 to match that. Of course Millwall could falter, but with 5 other teams between us and the playoffs (and one with a game in hand), I'd say it'll take at least 72. We need to win the lot and that's probably beyond us this season. The next 4 are all very winnable though and that would make it interesting.
