Cool. As a “traditionalist” , I’ve been anti “anything not black” for shorts, but I’d be very happy with that strip setup next season. Looked very good
OK who in your opinion plays in his place. you cant make a statement like that without having a solution.
https://www.a-love-supreme.com/single-post/mowbray-v-hull Tony Mowbray remained optimistic about his young Sunderland side, despite learning some 'harsh lessons' against Hull. However, Dan Ballard has suffered a disappointing injury setback... GOOD AND BAD "What does 4-4 tell you? I think there was lots of good stuff. As coaches, there was also a lot wrong. We scored some good goals. We reacted really well after a really poor opening 20 minutes. I felt good about the team at the end. Conceding the last kick doesn't leave you feeling good but it leaves me full of confidence that they can react like they did after the first 20 or 30 minutes when they cut us open pretty easily." CLEAN SHEET / CONCEDING FOUR "It's the Championship. We go to Burnley, the best team in the league, and don't give them a sniff of building out from the back. And then play against Hull who find the answers. I felt it was a slow start from a few of the players. We had words at half-time to liven up and we were much better in the second half when we took the initiative." HARSH LESSONS "We are learning on the coalface, we're learning as we go along. That's a harsh lesson, it's a harsh lesson for Pierre not to tackle, the last kick of the game, don't make a tackle, stand up and let them beat you. If they do that and score, good luck to them, but just stand up and make the guy do something rather than you hang a lazy leg out. I think he'll learn and hopefully he'll take that into the rest of his career." JACK CLARKE IMPACT "I had a big shout at him at half-time, to be honest, I thought he was really poor for 20 minutes but his reaction was amazing. We can't sit here and question Jack Clarke's talent, he has double-figure goals now from the left wing and I think probably double-figure assists as well. He's a great player and yet he has to understand - and in my mind he is still a young boy - that we need 90 minutes, not a brilliant 60 minutes. Yet, notoriously, wide attackers are a bit flighty, generally." CONSISTENCY "I want Jack to be the best player every game, score goals, create goals, and be too good for the Championship. He has to embrace that and want to do it, and not be happy if he is getting shouted at. I've said to him (Clarke) that I'll always love him. I'll shout at him, I'll get annoyed, but the next morning I'll make you a cup of tea and put my arm around you, it's fine - life's good. RESPONSE "We're trying to win football matches and everybody needs to find top performances every game, but sometimes players find it hard to perform at a level and that's the challenge for them. There'll be a few I speak tomorrow that I had a go at half time and it'll be fine, I just see it as driving them and pushing them right to their limits. I got a great response from them tonight. We were much, much better second half." BALLARD NEWS "I think Ballard is going to be out for two or three weeks, which takes him just about to the end of the season which is a huge blow to us. He trained for a few days and we had had a chat and he was going to start on Monday. Is it a recurrence? He felt it again, basically, at the end of training - he did train, and he was fine. It was very innocuous, he was just knocking a ball and he overstretched and felt his hamstring. The scan showed up a slight tear and he's going to be out for two or three weeks." CIRKIN "We have defensive issues at the moment, Dennis Cirkin is there on the bench and he'll probably play on Monday. He trained for a few days. We had a chat that he was going to start on Monday - we were trying to protect him."
I literally said anyone. We finish most games with anyone else up front not Gelhardt. He plays pretty much false 9. Amad , Clarke or Roberts can all do that too.
I would still start Joffy introducing one or two of the U21 strikers up front as and when, keeping everyone involved while maintaining our shape and form is important. A lot of the reports on our form and ratings on the defensive side are low and do not take into account the Hull attack which was tasty Tufan in particular. They made our lapses in defence costly , but all the margins were fine and not the catastrophe some critics are making out.
If Stewart is away (and I reckon he could be since he hasn't signed a new contract that's been in the table for months) it makes you wonder what type of stronger we should be looking at. Do we go after a Darren Bent type, to put the ball in the net with the box or a Rooney type(?) Basically someone who has minimal input in the build up, that is hold the ball and lay it off to the likes of Clarke and Roberts then stays in the middle of the pitch to get on the end of crosses and balls into the box. Or since we need more than 1 striker we buy both types
I have a lot of sympathy for Gelhart. Clearly a talented player but circumstances have dictated that we can't play to his strengths. On that basis, I think he deserves a lot of credit for his attitude alone. I'd take him on loan again next season, if that was an option, as one of at least 2 additional strikers. You need someone who can play as a 10 even if it's not your default formation. When we've struggled, in my opinion, it's because we dont have the options to completely change things up. Everyone knows what we'll be doing, it's just a case of whether they can stop us.
I didn't particularly rate Simms mind. His goal output was acceptable but he wasn't a patch on Stewart. Thought he was pretty lazy and had a shocking first touch. He looked decent with Stewart next to him to do the hold up and donkey work but he wasn't the answer as a lone striker got bullied very easily for a big man and as I said earlier had a shocking touch. He may have been slightly better than Gelhardt for us but don't think he was the answer.
But now you're just being realistic. I quite prefer my little dream world where we win the next 6 games
Would we have anything to fear with the teams coming down? Everton look likely, absolute loser mentality all over that squad and likely have to flog high earners, Southampton don’t have much about them and will lose ward prowse etc Leicester very much the same, forest just a load of players hoyed together and hoped for the best, Bournemouth probably the most likely to go straight back up if they come down
It's been great and you've only got to look at the wobble Sheff Wed are on now to see what a good position we are in. But I really wish we'd gambled 'the model' a bit more for a couple more players in January. Seems like a massive missed opportunity. We are headed in the right direction, but there are no guarantees at all for next season.
You might be right, maybe we can match these teams next year depending on who leaves etc. They key thing is to hope that there are not 'three Burnleys' preventing us from nabbing a spot next season. If there are only one or two then the rest of the league can be competitive for the remaining places.
