âIt would have been great to win because it would have put us eighth in the league, at least temporarily. But Iâm not sure that we are an eighth-in-the-table team. We are where we are.â It seems like comments like these have became more frequently voiced over the last month or so and with Short saying he wants to see us push on and wants to see us pushing for the top 6 then it seems to me that MoN is looking to really stamp his authority on SAFC and as soon as he can not drag it out over a few transfer windows. We have seen quite a few squad overhauls since Keano came to the club and maybe another one could be on the cards this summer. If this is the case then it certainly has to be the last and IMO with a manager as good as MoN it will be the last. Bruce made a huge deal about bringing 10players in and needing them all to gel but for me that wasn't the main reason, the reason was his tactics were absolutely rubbish. MoN you can just tell from listening to him that he is an intelligent man and if he decides to revamp the squad then there will be no excuses, he will have faith in his players and his coaches that the team gel from game one of the new season.
But where will the money from an overhaul come from? MoN is correct we are not a top 8 side.....at the moment. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqgjyo_sunderland-v-bolton-wanderers_sport?start=57#from=embed for anyone who wants to see yesterdays highlites.
Martin is the most experienced, knowledgeable and confident manager we have had in 40 years who is capable of making us a real force in the top flight. It hasn't taken him long to suss out we are a poor outfit, with no top class players in key departments, that has massively overachieved since he came here in December. I don't think its a case of stamping his authority but more of a case of telling Ellis in simple terms that his previous 2 managers have not invested that wisely and if real progress is to be made, more than mere tinkering is required. I don't think Ellis Short would have invested time and effort in bringing a manager like MoN here just to tread water. The summer should be an exciting and frustrating time for all concerned.
Well.tin hat time, MON is the best manager we have had for a long time but come on. MON came in and comment after comment on how we had a good team just a crap manager, now we are seeing what a good manager can do. Things go wrong and reality sets in and its a bad team with a good manager. Yesterday I saw a bad formation, why did we start with O'Shea at RB, why not Bardsley, we had Colback or Bridge who can play LB, what, Bridge not good enough, who brought him in. Why did we start with Catts and Colback in midfield, they cant play together? Why do we have a striker problem, why did we not bring one in in January? Why at 2-2 did we bring Bridge on for Kilgallon and not Vaughan or Ji? Am I have a go at MON, yes I am because they are questions I would like answered, does that mean I'm against MON, no it does not.
I am starting to wonder if its more psychological with the whole club never mind just the players, of looking over our shoulder, getting there or nearly there (safe) then taking our foot off the gas, its just happened too many times for it to be Bruces fault (100% at fault anyway). 2010-11 37 points Feb 1st, end of season 47 points 10 points from 14 games. 2011-12 lots of draws, cant score, performances not great from when we got to 40 points really minus the Man City game. We know the team can do it, and i dont really think it was over achieved, they had a good run for quite a few games, just seems we hit that safety net and relax, instead of keep pushing with the killer instinct and get as high up the table as possible.
Steve can you work out the stats for the number of games Bruce had, (say 12 or how many it was) and then tell us how many we have claimed in the last 12 or corresponding number. ta
WE thought we had a good team and squad but after watching them for a full year we are more able to say we haven't Syd. I agree about O Shea but I think it is more about MoN not trusting Bridge to start as much as anything. We did try to acquire a striker in January but MoN only had a few weeks to get someone and the main one he wanted showed us yesterday why he wanted him. Kevin Davies was excellent and everything we need and don't have. At 2-2 the reason why Ji or Vaughan didn't come on is because Vaughan wouldn't have changed anything and Ji would have made us at least 50% worse than we already were. He is ****e Syd. Martin has had to operate with some very average players to stop us being relegated this season. He has done this with ease. Job done. Now he has to get 3 or 4 far, far better players in and make us a much better attacking team for next year. We are not a top 8 team this season but may well still finish top 8. That's down to O'Neill's ability to get blood from a stone not that we have a genuine top 8 team or squad.
thats an interesting point Brucie had 11 from 14 (inc. cup games) MoN has 16 from 14 (inc. cup games)
I have to agree with this. After Brucie brought in his players I was pretty optimistic with our chances of kicking on this season but that soon evaporated into thin air with the defeat to Newcastle, the departure of our main striker and the the horrendous run that that led to the sacking of Brucie. For me we have a squad full of average players bar 3 or 4players. I think the only positive is I can see quite a few teams especially promoted teams coming in for our players this summer and maybe not bringing in a huge amount from transfer fee's it will certainly bring down the wage bill. Every player in our squad bar Mignolet, Brown, O'Shea, Colback, Larsson, McClean and Sessegnon for me are not definates to be in our squad next season, that does not mean that everyone else is up for sale and we are getting rid of 20 and 20 coming in it means that apart from those players every player has there price and if a club comes sniffing providing they are ready to pay what we want then they can go. I can see this being a very busy summer for the club and I have no idea how MoN will go about his business, he seemed to stick with premier league based players when at Villa but he was given a fair bit of money at Villa and I imagine those players wer on decent wages. With us it could be different especially with the fair play rules coming in as well as our wage bill being quite high. The gaffer has already said he has been abroad watching players, maybe MoN will go down the route Newcastle have as you get just as good players for better value for money and you also bring them in on lower wages
I think the players are good enough for top 8, but the drop off in form once we were safe from harm points to a serious problem with mentality of some. MON will address this, some will be moved on, but for the first time in years, there are at least 10-12 that I absolutely want to remain, and a handful more that i'm happy to see stay. MON has a smashing starting point, we need 5, IMO, and 4 will go first 11. This is no big deal, and easily manageable if we shift out some of the wasters.
I think it's fair to say mon has made mistakes. Some the same as Bruce. Like u say O'shea at RB. Not giving certain players a chance. However his positives at this stage far out weigh the negatives. Keeping in mind he hasn't had a chance to sign anyone as yet. I think he has been excellent thus far.
I agree. I'd say we have the strongest starting point going into a close season since promotion under Reid, when we were already good enough for a top half finish. In simple terms, a 12-15 a season striker this year, and our season wouldn't be over, we'd be in the mix at least for 6th. I'm getting an increasing liking for Villa's Lichaj, if they drop, he is really impressing me. Looks like Sigurdsson is a non-starter (Manchester United looking, game over...), so we need to find a centre-midfielder with guile. 2 strikers, and a centre back. Not a massive overhaul at all.
Yep, I think we're very close to being very good. We're already very hard to beat, unless your Everton, so a bit of creativity and we may be on a real upward spurt.
Watching Sochaux v Bordeaux Poolie, very impressive is Khalid Boudabouz. Marvin Martin looks like he's fell off, sadly.
I think we all know our squad lacks strikers, too many times yesterday in front of their goal, players unlike what a natural striker would do they looked for another touch. The lack of strikers is not down to MoN although I take Syd's point he could have tried harder in Jan. What was down to MoN is O'Shea at RB and not taking Catts off when he was having a "mare". Although when Campbell had to come on, all we had was Elmo! 2 strikers and a winger is required IMHO that I think will take all our funds.
To use a bit of a cliche I think MON may strengthen the spine of the team - centre back, centre midfield and a goalscorer. I know we have a few centre backs but am not sure Killgallon, Turner, Bramble or even Brown are the answer. We need more creativity in central midfield and it's blatantly obvious we need a goalscorer. The other part of the "spine" is interesting and I think the choice of Gordon yesterday shows MON is looking at that too - who is the best keeper, and who to discard as I can't see us keeping Gordon, Mig and Westwood for next season.
