This is a really good article and thanks for posting. The errors and bad decisions are obvious to all excpet those managing the club.
Jeremy Wilson’s piece in The Telegraph has just gone up, suggesting both Semmens and Selles will depart after the Liverpool game.
Yup. Owners who plough a not insignificant amount of money in and make catastrophic decisions are worse than skint owners who keep you in the Pl.
Semmens did a fantastic job working under the constraints of Gao imo. But it has seemed as though there’s been conflict of ideas and application between what was left of the old regime and the new, so unsurprising and probably for the best if the new start going into next season is on all levels at the club.
I think once our relegation was confirmed that statement was ready to go - it was probably written three weeks or longer ago. For me it is the same as the players' statements made after every defeat, I understand why it is made, it says what I more or less expected it to say but it means nothing, literally nothing. Anyone of us on here could have written something along those lines given the circumstances. Let us see what they actually do.
People think staff leaving is a bad reflection on SR, but maybe it’s because SR expect more from them than our previous owners. The company I work for recently took over a new area with an existing team, and there were a lot of people in there doing next to nothing and taking the previous owners for a ride. The club was on a downward spiral long before SR took over and wholesale changes isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Any owner who is willing to pump money in is alright with me. If the investment continues to be there then there is always the chance that it works out. No investment and it becomes completely reliant on having very good people working behind the scenes to achieve whatever goals we have
Hmm…Semmens less of an issue than Ankersen for me, by miles. As I said above (and I take Lincoln/Ian’s points on board - and they may well be right), but I think SR are inexperienced owners rather than bad owners. But they have to get it right now, and I think Ankersen is a bad, bad influence at the top. But let’s see.
For me, as a boy who happily stood in the Dell family terrace watching MLT, Moran Wallace etc This relegation has had no impact on me, football has changed for the worst and will continue to be directed by billionaires and I'm done. I'm not cross just resigned to maybe catching SFC here and there. sad but true
It feels like there should have been a les reed style hairdryer moment with the team and coaching staff (remember the receipt for the bottle of wine). But it never happened. Or maybe it did and there was no response.
As a long suffering Sunderland fan in peace,I can see similarities between our clubs (Not just the red and white). Absent owners, failure to invest in the first team, bizarre management appointments, players clearly not caring, a "17th will do" vibe comimg from the place. All around empty feeling around the club. You's will feel very pissed off and deflated tonight, but believe me, once you're out of the Premier leauge and play a few games in the Championship, you'll realise that sometimes it's best not to be fodder and just how sterile the Premier league is. Don't get me wrong after 2 seasons in the championship and 4 in leauge one, I wouldn't turn my nose up at the chance to go back up, but sometimes a clear out is needed. I've seen some of our best football played this season and believe me I've watched some ****e in the Stadium of Light over the years. Good luck next season.
