Match Day Thread Sunderland AFC v Saudi State FC - FA Cup 3rd Round – Saturday 6th January 2024 - KO 12:45

He's only been in post for a couple of weeks and he's already made minor changes which have resulted in improvements.

 

The whole of the last few days on and off the pitch has been a bit mental. We were never going to win this one so the best we could hope for is to learn from it and boy is there plenty.
Off the pitch a lot for KLD to go through and sort out. It was found, fixed and now needs never to be repeated. Too much said on this already.
On the pitch lots of limitations this time exposed by an upper PL team. If that’s the standard we are aiming for there’s no excuse saying that if we get promoted those issues won’t be the same. We need an option to bypass the high press, a strong CDM with some experience etc. Let’s see what hopefully January and then the summer bring.
The key is how you respond to the setbacks and f ups. Learn, improve, and try not to repeat the same ones. Onwards and upwards.

 

We have picked up nearly the same amount of points in 4 games under Beale than we did in Mowbrays last 9 games. That is quite a clear improvement.

 

Bob, I've seen what people 'hope for' dressed up in all kinds of ways.

Whether it's called 'flexibility' or 'ambition' or 'pushing on' it really means 'pumping in loads of money'.

That's what I believe.

Football supporters of every club will go along with absolutely anything if they're seeing big name managers, big money signings and big promises. It's only when they realise that the owners, like at Everton, are mortgaging the club to death or selling off the only real assets they have, like Charlton and Derby, that supporters wonder if what they hoped for was realistic.

The cold hard facts are that we have an owner who is totally fixated on doing things his way because he was the one who invested. He'll succeed or fail in his own way. In my opinion it's absolutely pointless to 'invest' in a half hearted way, as Murray did, or just fling in millions as Short did. We've seen it tried all kinds of ways and it hasn't worked but some want to try it all again.

Many of us are happy with the general direction, of the club, and want to see us try a different way. Some of our football, for a recent L1 team, has been great to watch. We need improvements, on and off the pitch, but Rome wasn't built in a day and that was on a green field site, not the ruins Donald left.

We're a sustainable club with a canny support and gradually improving the squad and our prospects imo ...

... that may not be what some want but that's just too bad, you can't please all of the people all of the time.

 

As fans we either accept cumulative growth or make ourselves miserable at least twice a month. Not saying the off field stuff doesn’t need sorting, I mean on it. There was no system or squad we could pick right now could compete with them on a good day and they had a good day. Anyone on here thinking otherwise is a fantasist even if tweaks might have made it a lesser score. It’s a **** reality for competitive people to be against a club which I do think in recent times are scum- that’s not saying I don’t know some good people who are their fans but they are largely good people who have accepted something very wrong for money. Football whores. It’s hard to swallow but Howe is playing fantasy football and we are in real life but I’d rather have real life than no morals.

 

True yeah need to be able to mix it up even if it's as simple as pump it forward to a big lad. Can be both effective and the kind of get out of jail card we could have used yesterday.

 

Clarke might have been a help in that respect, we should have started with those two up front and stiffened our back line and central mid field,

Yes but tthats not my selection thats not my selection, go back and read it, as I am as sick of repeating myself, as I am of people pointing the finger at players I rate and prefering formations that I dont in favour of mantras known only too themselves. Newcastle did not out-play us today by the way we beat ourselves, and the fault in my eyes lay off the field not on it. I am looking forward to see how the 3 coaches do next time even they cant keep playing the same cards , ad infinitum. Change is going to come, it has to, one way or another .

.

 

Mate Stewart would have struggled yesterday. If I take off my red and white tinted glasses they had 4 strong athletes at the back 4 in midfield, pace and guile both wings and good skill and movement up top. They are a good side. Horrible people, cheating, rolling about, arrogant, entitled ****ers all of them. Not good people but definitely good players. They have a strong side it’s just embarrassing for the fans what morality they’ve accepted to have them.

 

If you don’t think Newcastle outplayed us you must have been pissed

 

You said the same formation as the Leeds game and that’s what I posted so would that have won or not ?

 

Anyone who wasn't has my sympathy

 

Ok mate.

 

I wasn’t sadly. It felt like a long game.

 

I had to drive when I got off the train home from Edinburgh to Fife

 

I know my EH birth postcode doesn't entitle me to have an opinion, but there ARE others who don't share your view.

 

To paraphrase Brendan Rodgers "it's great for the people of Not606 to be able to see my posts. They must have been wondering who this Flash Gordon character was and now they have seen and can appreciate it. I am wonderful."

 

Never ever said that. They are your words not mine. You don't share my view. Fine. No worries.

 

You implied that people born outside of Sunderland didn't understand the rivalry. You even had a twitter poll on it FFS. Don't pretend you didn't.
You know I share a lot of your views, but I don't share this baked-in cynicism towards the club.

 

A/ we were not gutless, leaderless maybe
B/ we are not hiding at all just different opinions , most valid
C/ Clarke was poor I agree but had little support
D/ Jobe should not have played from the start imo., and like many others should not always be an automatic starter
E/ Still by far our best option in mid-field