Been a busy 24 hours in the NE and for the lads up the road, a very surprising one too. The Cisse signing has shocked them as much as it has the rest of the football fraternity in the UK and created much debate amongst fans of both clubs. However, in essence, it doesn't effect our position at all. We are rebuilding under a new manager and one barely 6 weeks into his reign. Mon will need the next 4 or 5 months to assess his squad and players and to source the recruits that HE wants at the club. Cisse maybe was or wasn't a target for Steve Bruce last August but it appears he wasn't for Mon. I'm pretty cool with that personally. I know nothing about this Cisse lad apart from the very good stats about him and he could become a superstar or a total flop in the EPL but whichever it is it doesn't change the way we should act or plan. One thing is for certain, I trust the man we have in charge to do the right thing given the time and support and when he finds the players he wants to improve us, he will act and I firmly believe Short will back him. I'm looking forward to the derby in 6 weeks time as much as I was 24 hours ago so nothing has changed at all there either.
I think it was more the fact that it looked at the time that they had stolen the march over us, We were mentioned, people that knew of him (me included) got a bit too excited, then them up the road, bought him, so it was a double whammy. Also everyone has been harping on that we need another striker, tbh we just need one that we have to start scoring, we have too many but 1 is on loan to another club, 1 is on loan to us, 1 is coming back from a long term injury, and 3 are just teenagers, who most think are not ready yet for the rigours of the PL. So it would have been great to get him, am I jealous Newcastle signed him, of course I am, but if he was never on the radar like has been reported, then all we can do is trust in MON, I still feel we have missed out though, but only time will tell,and we still have 2 weeks or so of this window.
110% this, I just dont get it TBH, how the glaring need for a striker, a need everyone has harped on about for 12 months, is suddenly forgotton about. I for sure dont get how saying we need a strike means we dont trust MON. My concern is deeper, admitit or not, we all know we need a goal scorer and we all know the risk of hoping Campbell and Wickham will be the answer. MON knows it so either we have something in the pipeline or we just dont have the cash. And assessing the squad, give me a break, what assessment is needed, has everyone forgotton the chances missed game after game because we dont have a finisher? So in answer to the question, calmed down yes, concerned still yes, in need of a striker yes.
Maybe MON is very wary of spending in a January market which as we all know always carries vastly inflated fees with no guarantee of success (Carroll). Maybe he'd rather wait till summer. Maybe he looks at these stats. Of all the clubs outside the top seven only we have a positive goal difference. We have scored three more than Liverpool (how much did they spend?) In fact only two teams outside the top six have scored more than we have and they have both conceded loads more than the lads. Sure we need a striker but I can't see any reason for panic buying.
Spot on Syd, yes our new manager who I am very much in favour of (I was a BoB from about the end of last Feb, cos SB seemed clueless after Bent left, or shell-shocked?) has produced a much needed mini-revival. However IMHO we still need 17 points for safety and we do not possess atm a potent strike force. Now yes I am happy with MoN and I do not understand this trust point. The point being we do not know how much Short has said he has in the budget and where MoN is in identifying who he wants in the 1st team squad. He seems to have reached decisions about the young'uns as they are being loaned out. As for a striker, we do need oneIMHO, Cisses we believe had been on SBs radar but that does not mean he was on MoNs and we have heard rumours that that is a fact, the Mags have probably been working on Cisse for several months, these things do not happen overnight. Who else MoN is considering no smoke signals have been seen. I think we should be OK this season without an experienced 'finisher' but I and I am sure many fans agree I would sleep better if one was brought in. MoN of course may be nervous about a first panic buy and he has not had months to work on a big name, so he may not buy. If he does not buy cos' he is not ready (not because there is no cash) that is his call and like SB he will live and die by the results. Not sure if 'trust' or 'blind faith' are relevant terms, I judged SB by team performance and results, MoN will be judged by the same criteria. MoNs target this season is survival and a result on Saturday is the next step in that, is Seb our leading scorer, I think he might be? If he is that is all the stats you need to indicate we need an around 15 goals a season finisher in the team.
We missed at Chelsea but put them away at Wigan. Maybe MON reckons he can get the goals he needs from the players he has got, cos he believes he can get them scoring consistently through proper coaching? As in the other thread: Getting a goal scorer in now would help us get a top ten spot, but I reckon we can survive without one. Under Bruce we needed a 20+ goals a season striker just to give me the confidence that we would stay up. for me that is the key difference, and why I will not be panicking if we dont bring anyone in.
“I am flattered by Sunderland’s interest.” “There were other clubs interested, but the moment Newcastle showed their full interest I was delighted to come – there was only one place for me.” “Now, I need to seize the opportunity and show everybody what I can do.” “The aim is to make the most of the opportunity that has been given to me.”
