Match Day Thread Sunderland AFC v Bournemouth FC - Saturday 29th November 2025 - KO 15:00

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Your Prediction:


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    68
  • Poll closed .
Hard disagree. I'd like to see him loaned out, he looked good at centre back but isn't a left back and has played most of his games there for us, I think he can still improve a lot. He will end up a proper battering ram type centre back I think, not dissimilar to Ballard but left-footed.
Time on his side but I’d be massively shocked if Leo Hjelde played Premier League football regularly

I wouldn’t mind him featuring some time soon anyway, I’d make some money on him being booked…
 
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Régis Le Bris has provided an update on the availability of Romaine Mundle, Dennis Cirkin, Leo Hjelde and Habib Diarra.

Le Bris has plenty of options to choose from ahead of this weekend’s Premier League game against Bournemouth with no fresh injury concerns but admitted that his long-term absentees are still building their way towards matchday selection.
Mundle and Hjelde played their first minutes for Sunderland Under-21s last week whilst Dennis Cirkin completed his first 90 minutes.
On the trio, Le Bris said: “We’ve got him (Mundle) some minutes and that has been successful but we have the squad available so we don’t need to rush him.
“For Dennis and Leo, they still need time to build their fitness level but they are not too far.”
Regarding Diarra, Le Bris admitted that he is making positive strides on his comeback trail from an injury that has ruled him out since September.
With the Senegalese midfielder set to represent his country at next month’s 2025 AFCON tournament, Le Bris admits they will approach his comeback with caution through constant dialogue with his national team.
“Habib is making good progress at the minute,” Le Bris stressed. “He is pain-free but he still needs time to feel right within himself.
“We try to manage the output for the club and the national team so it’s a balance. We can manage that through conversation so that is ongoing.”

That all sounds sensible to me, thanks to our good start to the season we can rightly err on the side of caution, and look beyond the next game. A win tomorrow wont go amiss , but getting to 20 points before Xmas has to be the first aim. Then looking forward to the prospect of safety the next.
 
Time on his side but I’d be massively shocked if Leo Hjelde played Premier League football regularly

I wouldn’t mind him featuring some time soon anyway, I’d make some money on him being booked…

His main problem is Ballard, they're essentially the same type of player but Ballard is obviously much further along (4 years older as well), If you remember Ballard in his first season here he was not great in possession, but he has become an absolute lynchpin for us and has been great at starting attacks and retaining possession. Hjelde could absolutely become that player.
 
Grandson is one of the mascots this week he is really looking forward to it . Still remember his first game , been a season ticket holder ever since , been to Wembley twice won twice .Hopefully the lucky charm holds for the game .
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Hope he enjoys the experience marra, I’m sure he will lap it up.
 
I like watching Bournemouth.

Iraola is the real deal, they play fast, they try to win every game, they have players that can damage you.

A back 5 and letting them come at us would be criminal in this one as they concede, I’d definitely like to see Brobbey start and put himself about and hold the ball. I’d love Mayenda to get a game here I think it’s a good one for him.

Talbi left, Mayenda right and Enzo, Noah and Xhaka I think is a real balance and threat.

I will say harsh on Traore who despite some folk not being overly complimentary has been decent and Grady’s his bollocks off, I just think Mayenda is a headache and Bournemouth wound deal with it, anything that pushes the outstanding Semenyo back is positive for us.

I love Trai, absolutely live the lad but I do think our best back 4 is Rei-Omar-Dan-Nordi so if I was picking the side that’s my 11

Brobbey
Talbi-Enzo-Mayenda
Capitano-Noah
Rei-Omar-Dan-Nordi
Rooooooooefs

I just personally think that’s a cracking side with balance, threat and work rate.

To put that team up, and not have the likes of Trai, Diarra, Traore, Adingra and the excellent Geeertruida really does watermark how far we’ve come.

3-2 the lads by the way. Layers for days. Ha’waaaaaay
 
Sell, not good enough for this level.
Well, I'd say he is unproven at this level rather than not good enough, but aye he seems one likely for the exit door along with Roberts, Neil, Browne, Alese and Cirkin
No shame in it, could do a steady job for a mid table Championship side.
 
Well, I'd say he is unproven at this level rather than not good enough, but aye he seems one likely for the exit door along with Roberts, Neil, Browne, Alese and Cirkin
No shame in it, could do a steady job for a mid table Championship side.
Hjelde looked assured and very good on his debut v Boro. Really chucked in last minute and did well. Not hit the heights since then but hasn't had any type of run in central defence. Not many could have seen Mayenda developing like he has, so all bets are off on what a lot of these lads can achieve. Central defence may be a position where players can take longer to mature as well.
 
Hjelde looked assured and very good on his debut v Boro. Really chucked in last minute and did well. Not hit the heights since then but hasn't had any type of run in central defence. Not many could have seen Mayenda developing like he has, so all bets are off on what a lot of these lads can achieve. Central defence may be a position where players can take longer to mature as well.

There's a huge amount of time, effort and money expended on scouting, appraising and signing players not to mention all the background checks, personality appraisals, medicals etc. That's why they're not just bombed out quickly when they've only played a handfull of games, especially without a run in the team.

We have AFCON, FA Cup, injuries, suspensions, etc to consider so there's no desperate rush to write players off ...

... I don't know why it bothers people, so much, when they're not paying the wages tbh.
 
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There's a huge amount of time, effort and money expended on scouting, appraising and signing players not to mention all the background checks, personality appraisals, medicals etc. That's why they're not just bombed out quickly when they've only played a handfull of games, often without a run in the team.

We have AFCON, FA Cup, injuries, suspensions, etc to consider so there's no desperate rush to write players off ...

... I don't know why it bothers people, so much, when they're not paying the wages tbh.
That early exit from the League Cup has definitely hindered our ability to play and assess our fringe players,at first I thought it was a bit of a help to avoid injuries and fixture congestion but with the benefit of our great start to the season we could of done with a longer run
 
That early exit from the League Cup has definitely hindered our ability to play and assess our fringe players,at first I thought it was a bit of a help to avoid injuries and fixture congestion but with the benefit of our great start to the season we could of done with a longer run
Aye I said that at the time. Massively disappointing.
 
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