Summer window

Even if Burnley come in with a decent offer would Clarke even fancy it? They will probably struggle & he will have to do more defending than attacking. I'd be more worried if it was the like of Brentford bidding.

 

Cairney starts and captains Fulham tonight

 

Swan Song.

 

Going to Swansea?

 

I doubt Burnley keep bidding without knowing from the agent he will go to be honest.

 

There is a romance in football club names on Scotland. Maybe the Gaeilic influence? I have no idea to be honest. Heart of Midlothian - tremendous name. I used to stand on the fulwell when the Rangers Celtic went up shouting Hearts at the top of my voice, without any reason for it and lads looking at me and wanting what I had been drinking.

There was a time when Scottish football was really interesting. Used to get the Sunday Post to read about it, but only after I read Oor Wullie like.

 

Cairney’s captaining Fulham v Chelsea tonight. Just gone off injured after 18 minutes.

 

Cairney off injured after 20 minutes with what looks like a hamstring injury

 

That is exactly what he should have done this time last year, sign the first deal that sets you up. His agent should have told him that. It is rule no 1 for a professional footballer.

Ross has rolled the dice here by not signing it. He sat on that offer for seven or eight months, ( assuming it was there in July of last pre season), so when he got his bad injury, the club obviously took that into account and offered some sort of conditional revised offer.

I'm not sure we'll see the best of him back now. By late September he will have played just over a dozen games in over a year.

It's up to him, but if TM gets a sense of him not being committed, he might be reluctant to play him just so he can prove his fitness to other clubs.

Daft unnecessary mess.

 

Bloody hell, and that's just with him being linked to us on here.

Sack the doctors!

 

It’s pointless even talking about Cairney.

He isn’t coming here and never was.

 

Hold on, are you saying we should offer a massive contract to a player with an injury which noone knows how well he will recover from..? AND that we should then guarantee to double it if he scores a relatively low number of goals?!? £40k p/w in the Championship is insanity, a lot of Prem players aren't on anywhere near that.

 

"Sunderland sign Patrick Thistle"

 

Has he been training with us?

 

No I am saying we should incentivise his contract because if he scores 20 goals and has signed a contract he will invariably be worth more and be under contract so if he is on a 4 year contract has scored 20 plus goals he will be worth somewhere in the region of 25 million if we sold him. But if he has 20 plus goals we may well be closer to prem. At this moment his sale value is not good because of injury and I don't know how much his contract offer is for so I guessed like almost everybody else on here. If he does not score required goal he will only be paid contact agreed fee but still be under contract and should still command a decent transfer fee unless he is totally crocked which would mean that we may lose out a bit but probably a gamble worth taking

 

Also 20 goals a season is not relatively low

 

BSA came with a bug and very expensive science and medical team. That was prem days. We’ve been league 1 for a few years

 

Why would he agree to that. Get paid well only if you play well or get paid well every week somewhere else

 

My life long second team mate had a lot of family in Mary Hill and spent a lot of time up there working in the early 80s Only team in Glasgow
If you want to go to heaven when you die. You should wear a thistle hat and thistle tie. You should wear a thistle Bonnet with f**k the old firm on it if you want to go to heaven when you die

Mind you was up there to see them play Celtic for the first time in ages couple of years ago and they have the scariest bloody mascot

 

Is this the jinx of Sunderland striking? Or proof that players get injured everywhere?

If I am honest, and speaking as a coach, I would be reviewing things with physios and sports science here. I have no doubt our club is doing it to be honest. Hamstrings in training always trigger reviews, because it is generally avoidable. It was suggested on here coaches are responsible for warming up which really isnt the whole story at all. I am in with an u18 group tomorrow at cat2 level. Warm up starts with some individual stretching and group stretching. Led by the fitness lads. Then they come to me when they are ready for ball warm ups. When they land at my door they are ready for intensity work, or should be. That said I have a couple of lads who I know do not commit to the stretching, even at elite level. Players need to take responsibility for their wellbeing, before coaches can help. Unfortunately they seem to have bodies that get away with it so I cant hammer things home.

Off topic, watched an u15 pre season game this morning. There is a lad I want in my academy setup but need to convince the club. 30 mins in he is through on goal and his calf goes. Nobody near him and he had been playing at high intensity for 30 mins. Sometime precautions are all in place and things happen. This was on a 4g and I am convinced they induce injuries, but zero proof. As a coach, and an old one, I think they are a challenge.