After last nights dire performance are we being unfair? I think not. The players have set us a standard and I think we should now expect that standard, I'm sure MON does, however, we also need a large dose of realism. The secret of keeping our sanity while still being a Sunderland fan, never an easy ask, is to try and get the balance right, IMHO. We are still a long way from being a Man U or a Man C, we neither have the first team quality or depth of squad but we have come a long way in a short time, what we lack in quality we have mad up for in hard work, commitment and effort, and a bit of top quality finishing and luck. It's unrealistic to have the quality goals every game or even the high tempo in your face effort but that does not mean we should not expect it. It's also very unfair, IMO, to watch a team play bad but single out a player because we have decided we don't like or want him, Bendtner was last night's target and Richardson is a regular scape goat. Is Bendtner the answer to our scoring problems, probably not, was he that much worse than Campbell, I would say a great deal better, but of course we cant be critical of Campbell but Bendtner is fair game, does not seem fair to me. All that said we need realism and we need to accept that we have come a long, long way in a very short time, MON is good but even he cant keep on performing miracles every week. The team let us and themselves down last night, Saturday will see some changes and I'm sure a far better performance and 3 points, that will take us to that 40 point mark, should put us back on track for that top 10 finish and set us up for a cracking Tuesday night. Do that and last Tuesday night will not even be a distant memory. Remember last nights let down was our norm not long ago.
Syd they wonât need to be told how far short that performance came up short. The disappointing thing is that collectively these young men who are paid quite handsomely not only let themselves down but showed a lack of emotion in doing so from what I could see on screen. Iâm sure weâll see a far more complete performance in the next couple of games.
Watched Mon's after match interview and saw a man visibly very calm on the surface but you could see the anger seething through beneath. I think the players will know how he feels alright and we need to see a massive improvement on Saturday.
Too much analysing and blame allocating going on. The whole team were off, my small concern is that in the absence of Cattermole there is no arse kicker.
This. I think Cattermole is out heartbeat, our Captain, and he will be straight in the team sheet against Everton.
Sorry, I thought it was of the reasons the forum is here, to analyse, consider, debate, discuss and comment.
I have a theory on the subject but it'll piss most of you off. Actually, I've pissed everyone off anyway so there's no point holding it back. Looking at Newcastle, I think the quality in players like Coloccini, Tiote, Cabaye, Ba, Krul and so on is very evident for one key reason: Because even when we play badly, we still manage to grind out a fair few results. That's what teams like Man Utd do (although 10x better than us obviously). Even on a bad day they can grind out a win. The same goes for us. Just look at our win against Norwich. We didn't play very well, at all, but even our below-par play is good enough due to the base level of ability. Sunderland have been doing very well, but every time I've watched them they've gave it 100%, with great, solid and organised performances. Now that obviously sounds mint, but these performances have been key to the number of points hauled, and whenever the team has had an off day, you've been soundly beaten. The bad point about this is that EVERY team has off days, and the base level of talent in your side will dictate whether you can still grind out results on those off days, or whether you will fall. Now this point only makes sense if I think Newcastle have better players in the XI, which I do, but you all know that anyway so it shouldn't come as a surprise. I'm sure you all think you have a better side, and as we'll never convince each other, there's no point arguing about it. Each to their own. It's just something interesting I noticed, that's all. I have yet to see you guys put in a below-par performance and still grind out a result. Almost like your team needs to be putting in 100% A* performances to win. If it does eventually happen then perhaps my theory will be blown apart.
It's probably best you just don't read it then, although bias aside I think it makes a reasonable point which I'd happily invite anyone to counter. Maybe I'm wrong.
The thing is I'm interested in Sunderland, our game last night and the future,time and place thing so I wont bother reading it but I'm sure it will be a fair unbiased vie on Newcastle
Okay, I'll say it without the Newcastle comparison. I only did that because it's what made me notice the entire point in the first place. SOME TEAMS manage to grind out results even on off-days, because they have a base level of quality which is good enough even when they aren't playing well. Sunderland only seem to win when they're giving 100% A* organised performances, and during every off-day so far, you've been comfortably beaten. The key point is that every single team has off-days, and the sides with enough base talent can still grind out results during those bad days.
Chappaz. I that why your out of the cup? Is that why you have won one in five (including three home games) in the league? Aye you boys are great at grinding out results...Over Norwich.
Newcastle 1 - 0 Norwich Newcastle 1 - 1 Sunderland Newcastle 2 - 2 Wolves Newcastle 2 - 1 Aston Villa Believe me, we haven't played very well in any of those games. They weren't a mark on the Man Utd game, for example, where we played with organisation and flow. You guys have been very organised and gave 110% in every game since MoN took over apart from two: Blackburn 2 - 0 Sunderland West Brom 4 - 0 Sunderland I simply haven't seen you guys show that you can still grind out results on your off days or even your average days, YET, of course. I may be entirely wrong.
Please when replying to Chappedarse, can everyone stop using the reply with quote.... Now i am free to choose who's threads or posts i read, i have him on ignore.... It's good,
They do like to mention the Man U game don't they. Interesting to note though, apart from beating Man U guess who the highest placed club is that Newcastle have taken three points from home or away this season? Sunderland....9th. And since the Man U game the only teams they have won against are Blackburn, QPR and Norwich. In the same period they have lost to Brighton drawn with Wolves at home and been hammered by both the Spuds and Fulham. Seems they don't grind out **** all to me.
Apart from wins against Blackburn, QPR and Norwich, in which we played poorly but still ground out the results? We had bad days against Blackburn, QPR and Norwich. We won those games. You guys had bad days against West Brom and Blackburn. You got comfortably beat in both. See the difference? I've just never seen you guys still pull a result out of the bag when you're having an off or sluggish day (which every team has now and again). It requires those 100% A* performances otherwise things fall apart a bit. It's a bit like what some people said about us at the start of the season, really. According to some, we had to be giving 100% intensity to win so many games, but we would be unable to keep that up, where teams with better squads could still keep picking up results even during off-periods due to the level of talent in the squad. Of course, my theory will be flawed if you guys manage to pull off a result even during one of your poor days, but until then, it may have some merit.
