Not Sure if this has already been posted but have to agree with the bloke! How Itâs Taking One American And A Handful Of Italians To Remind Us How To Be English By The_Cynic on Jun 26 2013, 11:13a 7 I fully expect this piece to go down as well as a Mick McCarthy Premier League side with some but I am going to carry on regardless. It is the English thing to do. We, as a nation, have always been trailblazers and been proud to die trying. I am thankful that an American, Ellis Short, and Paolo Di Canioâs band of Italians are now sweeping through Sunderland reminding us all of what we used to be and still should be like. I have read with despair some of the comments and reactions to the mass changes that are being attempted at SAFC. What has happened to these people? Has the part of their brain that handles excitement been totally turned off? Have the years and years of utter dross made them scared of and immune to trying something different? Letâs be honest, there was only one way that we were going if we carried on with same old method and players that we have done for the last few seasons. How can any fan that has watched Sunderland play over the last 3 campaigns be happy to continue along a similar path? Or how can they be so averse to changing it completely? It was rubbish. Absolute, 100% rubbish. OâNeill tried to inject a bit of quality last summer with Johnson and Fletcher but it was just not enough. With very few exceptions the rest of the playing squad are so bereft of any real quality that we should be suing them under the Trade Descriptions Act as they certainly are not what I class as footballers. Now things are getting turned on their heads we hear things like:- "Oh, but too many foreigners might not gel." "You canât make so many changes in one summer." "They donât have enough Premier League experience." According to whom? In football you get so many lines trotted out that just donât mean anything. The media, TV especially, is full of so called experts that I am amazed can even dress themselves let alone comment on what is going on in football. I would be dubious if Iain Dowie or Paul Merson told me that their farts stink. But, remarkably, people swallow everything they say. Remember, you can never win anything with kids. Gary Neville is probably the best pundit going at the minute and you will be hard pressed to find him peddling some of these one-liners that people are more than happy to wheel out. Coincidence? Nope. Foreigners might not gel? Well, our attempt at gelling British and Irish stalwarts has been a marvellous success. That Arsenal team, the âInvinciblesâ was packed to the rafters with those native to our little Island (thatâs sarcasm â it had 2)⦠The fact is that it does not make a blind bit of difference. Itâs down to the manager to gel the players regardless of them being born in Seaton Carew or Mogadishu. The point about not making too many changes in one summer is the one that really astounds me. Where is the proof? Where is the evidence? I accept that it is not ideal. It is not something that you should aim to be doing every summer. But, in our situation it is the bare minimum. If there was a straw poll the end of the season that asked our fans how many players that they would definitely keep and were without doubt good enough to be in our starting XI to take us forward then you would probably get back 4 or 5 recurring names. Mignolet, Johnson, Sessegnon and Fletcher would be on the majority of lists whilst Cattermole and OâShea might creep onto maybe half of the lists. Does that not tell people everything that they need to know about our team and squad? You cannot make too many changes at once? Open your eyes, take off the blinkers, we HAVE to make so many changes. Does Premier League experience really matter? Gardner had it. Larsson had it. Vaughan had it. Graham had it. Cuellar had it. They are all pretty much hopeless. Yes, the Premier League is faster than other leagues but if the player is good enough then they will adapt and adapt quickly. Itâs just a line often used that means nothing. Get your scouting, training and management right and there is no issue. Look at Swansea â Michu and De Guzman had a right mare trying to adapt, didn't they? So, when did so many of us become so wet? So un-English? We should be proud of and excited by what the club is doing. No longer limping along towards another relegation, we are ripping up the blueprint and trying to do something proactive. It may well go horribly tits up but thatâs the point. Captain Scott is famous for going to the Antarctic and dying on the way back rather than just sitting on the River Taff for a few years waiting to sink because of a continuous leak. We should be happy about whatever the end result is because we done it our way and by trying to better ourselves. Sod plodding along and being happy just to exist â thatâs not me, thatâs not the Sunderland I want and thatâs not English. If we are going to die then let it be by our own sword and in the knowledge that we had a right bloody good go at bettering ourselves. I'm not advocating that we do a Leeds or Portsmouth but we can do something to drastically change our fortunes and outlook. By being smart, by scouting correctly, by selling players at the right time (see Mignolet - he had no intention of signing a new deal so we got shot at his maximum value) then we can transform the team and the club. Embrace what Short, Di Canio and co are doing. Enjoy it, get excited by it, back them and be proud.
Good article mate, have to agree, would rather go down trying than drop out with a whimper, think we,ll make a few waves this year Where are you in Oz I,m in Perth
Hey mate, i could relate to the article myself, although the bloke seems abit blunt/harsh i think this is the only way we can establish SAFC into a sustainable pl team.I live on the gold coast but currently in Brisbane for work. I'll be heading over to perth late november for my best mates wedding! heard nothing but good things about perth! Heaps of Pussy and plenty of waves! That'll do me
Di Canio's overhaul These are strange times for Sunderland supporters. No longer are they waking up to discover which Manchester United cast-off will be making his way to the Stadium of Light. Instead it's a Cape Verde international from Switzerland and an American arrival from the Eredivisie; Swedish youngsters and Serie A title winners. Of course, the now customary Tom Huddlestone rumours persist but it wouldn't be summer without them. Yes, Paolo Di Canio's arrival has injected more than a frisson of excitement at a club he claimed was "dead" when he turned up. New signing Cabral was on message in his opening address to fans earlier this month. "The coach is outstanding," he said. "First he was a big player, now a great coach. He gives everything for the team. I like the coach. He is passionate and always wanting the team to do better." Di Canio has been busy trying to do just that. With Emanuele Giaccherini and Gino Peruzzi - senior internationals for Italy and Argentina respectively - also reportedly on the verge of completing moves to the club, the transformation appears extraordinary. And yet, while even the more pessimistic fans are allowing themselves to be impressed by this exotic list of names, former player and chairman Niall Quinn is urging caution. "He's got his own thoughts and ideas," Quinn told Sky Sports. "He's got a whole lot of people in and around him who are bringing a whole different way of life to the club. As somebody who spent so much time at the club as a player and a chairman, I really hope that it works out for him. But he's got a lot of players with very little experience of the Premier League and I think it might prove tough for him. He's already come out and criticised some of the players that he has now and you might see more players moving on... It's going to be a difficult year." With a vested interest in the legacy of the previous regimes, Quinn's views might be dismissed by some, but others are speaking out too. Outgoing defender Titus Bramble was scathing in his assessment of Di Canio. "He's a young manager trying to stamp his mark on things, but he's making some big mistakes," Bramble told the Telegraph. "He's targeted the easy players, the ones who are leaving anyway, trying to show he's the boss." He added: "There are a lot of strong characters in that Sunderland dressing room and he is upsetting them. It isn't just those who are leaving." Of course, the implied assumption in Bramble's words is that to upset the senior figures in the Sunderland dressing room is something to be avoided, but that becomes less of an issue if a complete overhaul is planned. And if the accusations of ill-discipline and poor fitness are true then shaking things up with overpaid footballers always plays well in a blue-collar city. Moreover, even if one agrees with Quinn that Di Canio's policy represents a risky one, it is worth noting that the safety-first policy of his predecessors was not looking very safe. No team in the Premier League had fewer shots or created fewer chances than Sunderland last season as they finished just one spot above the drop zone. As Seb Larsson put it: "We get a bit tentative and a bit nervous and we end up not creating anything at all." As such, it's more than an appetite for change on Wearside, it's a necessity. The anticipated signing of Giaccherini could prove pivotal in this regard. James McClean endured a difficult second season on the left flank and the Italian offers a more subtle threat than the traditional winger. Indeed, despite enduring a bit-part role at Juventus last season, the 28-year-old created a chance more regularly than any other Bianconeri player - including the great Andrea Pirlo. Creativity at Juventus - Serie A 2012/13 Player Minutes per key pass Emanuele Giaccherini 29 Andrea Pirlo 30 Mirko Vucinic 39 Sebastian Giovinco 41 Arturo Vidal 41 Cabral could also prove a significant acquisition. The 24-year-old signing from Basel made more tackles than any other player in last season's Europa League and would appear to be someone unlikely to be fazed by the transition to the Premier League. Jozy Altidore also has the physical presence to thrive and after netting 23 league goals in Holland last season is a much-improved player from the teenager who first arrived at Hull City for a loan spell back in 2009. "Everything is so detailed. He's one of the best I've played for in that respect." Titus BrambleQuotes of the week Given the depth of these changes, Di Canio is likely to be judged on his work in the transfer market. However, he is also widely regarded as a tactically strong coach and the real challenge might be to forge this disparate group into a cohesive team. In this regard, Sunderland fans might be buoyed by praise from an unlikely source. That man Bramble. "He's a good coach on the training pitch," admitted the centre-back. "Everything is so detailed. He's one of the best I've played for in that respect." When even your critics are offering grudging praise, perhaps there is more cause for optimism than Di Canio's critics would have us believe.
FTM - Another well-reasoned analysis. Particularly pleased about him being regarded as a tactically strong coach. We've only had a Plan A for the last 2 or 3 seasons and I like a brave manager who'll make changes mid-game if his game-plan isnt working, like Mourinho. Sometime it works, sometimes it doesnt but at least he ******* tries!!
We haven't simply lost our excitement or our desire, nor our hopes and dreams. They have been browbeaten out of us over 40 years. Its all very well saying we should just accept this new change and embrace it but I've seen more false dawns and promises of jam tomorrow to fill me up to my ears. I don't know how old the writer of this article is but I'd guess under 30. Anyone over 30 will have spent lots of time hoping and dreaming and being let down EVERY time. They will have seen a 3rd division campaigns, a host of ****e players and too many relegations to think about and too many managers promising new beginnings and new horizons. Sceptical? Of course I am and with bloody good reason but that doesn't mean I want PDC to fail it just means I want to see some real actions before I get all erect and horny this time. PDC talks a great fight and tbf he has delivered a minor miracle in managing to keep us up and of course that memorable derby victory on enemy turf will last forever in the hearts and minds. However, I am not going to just get all starry eyed and mushy over a couple of wins and a derby delight. I want to see how he performs under a full season not 8 games in which he would never be blamed for losing. The spotlight is on him for different reasons now and its going to be exciting seeing how it all turns out. So, in answer to the article what has happened is we have become harder and more demanding for our money and not before time. Paolo, I salute you and celebrate you attempt to change us because what has been served up before you came was unbearable but forgive me if I wait just a little longer before proclaiming you the coming of the saviour of SAFC. For that, I want to see some hard evidence, starting against Fulham on the 17th August and then and only then will I allow myself to dream once more.
As it stands at this point in time, if you had the power to make decisions what would you be doing differently? Do you believe that people within the club are doing everything possible to rebuild and improve all of our structures simultaneously in order to hasten our development as swiftly as possible? If not, where are they going wrong and what would you be doing over and above what is occuring? If you could do something different today, something that would allow yourself to start dreaming today as opposed to dreaming in two months time, what would you be doing?
You have completely misread my post mate? I am more than happy to see the changes PDC is making and I will be delighted and ****ing off like some already are on here if it all turns out to be right on the night. What I am saying is that I want to see real hard evidence in the first 10 games before I get my pecker out and start to tug. If you think that makes me a non believer then I cant change that opinion but I am not about to accept another false prophet until I see a proper miracle. Lets see how the first 10 games go then we will see if we actually have some dreaming to do then.
Thats ok mate. I cannot see anything else over and above what the club are doing to improve every aspect of who we are, that I could do any better myself and from that standpoint, I'm all in.
Whether it works or not no one can accuse them of not trying something different and for that I applaud and thank them. I hope and pray that the changes they have made and are still making tbf work out and the signs are good. Roll on the end of October and we should have a real feel fro how the season will pan out?
