Well then Lads, it's boring now isn't it. Nothing much to play for 'til the end of the season, no more exciting matches to look forward to. Anyway. What I would do regarding next season and the impending exodus. This current team works so why not do everything possible to keep it together. That means keeping Jack (or Ches from Coronation street) and Seb. It means keeping Alonso and Borini. It makes perfect sense to me. These players are doing the business. Get Cattermole and Wickham on longer contracts and keep Vergini. We still have Giaccherini (?) and Fletcher (Nick from Coronation street) who are both top players with possibly Scocco and Bridcutt who both may come good. No doubt you'll all have your own thoughts but basically, don't change a winning team.
My wish is Altidore goes to the World Cup finds his scoring boots net a few- gets his confidence back - returns here next season wiser and all the better for it
Or adds a couple of million to his price tag! Sorry - I like his work outside the box but a striker who falls to bits inside the box is pointless. He did very well last night and, although that chance came at him quickly, a forward really should be scoring those. Hope The almight JC has a chat with Gus - I think his apprehension was around the premier league and survival - there are clubs within the PL who want him and he should be playing PL football - now we can offer him that we should offer him that on a good contract that is worthwhile. I agree he's replaceable but we have invested time into him so why not get a return on that
I read all the time that he's "****ing ****e" and all that, but I really don't see it. Yes, his miss yesterday was really bad, but his play otherwise was good, he played a lot better than CW, and helped move us up the pitch. If he can score 5-10 goals a season he would be very useful. I'd keep him tbh He's not gonna be able to be a main striker, but as long as we have someone (Wickham hopefully) banging in the goals then the need for him to score becomes less vital.
I am thinking about going the other way, don't get me wrong there isn't enough superlatives to describe what has happened over the past 3-4 weeks, but I have a feeling its just papering over the cracks of the crap we seen for the 7 months before that (give or take some performances). We do not need wholesale changes but we do need changes, Seb just seems to play well when he is in the shop window, pretty sure he done the same with Birmingham just before we got him, Fletcher is well... I will stop there, sell him for a Vodka and Red Bull for me. I just have a feeling (and i am usually optimistic) that if we keep the same team, without many changes we will struggle again next year, this is the time for Gus to show what a shower of **** we were to Ellis, not how great we have been the past month imo.
just found this article ... pretty much sums up the situation Relegated or not, will Sunderland keep Altidore? http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/...derland-americans-abroad-usmnt-2014-world-cup It seemed to me that last nights crowd was willing (or forgiving) towards Altidore - 'shouting encouragement' (even when his missed that great chance) as to say compared to a few weeks back there was a 'certain negativity' when he had the ball, I didn't hear any 'your ****' comments where I was sitting - as I said I really hope he makes it a I feel he has a lot to offer in the long term.
Westwood, Gardner, Cuellar and Fletcher will go imo . Possible Roberge as well. Ustari, Borini, Alonso must be kept if possible 2 year contract offer for Larsson, Bardsley. same wages as now. 3 year contract for JC - improved wages New contract Vergini, Another LB, RB, CB, CM and Striker
It sounds like every one in the squad the last 5 games will be here next season, everyone else is free to go or will be pushed http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport...eady-to-talk-to-out-of-contract-men-1-6603711 GUS Poyet will today sit down with Sunderland’s out-of-contract players for a string of discussions which will decide who stays and who goes. There are seven players out of contract – Seb Larsson, Phil Bardsley, Jack Colback, Keiren Westwood, Carlos Cuellar, Oscar Ustari and Craig Gardner – and Poyet has promised he will deal with them as quickly as possible so they can play for their futures. Five player are also coming to the end of loans – Marcos Alonso, Fabio Borini, Ki Sung-Yueng, Santiago Vergini and Ondrej Celustka. Having saved Sunderland’s Premier League skin last night with victory over West Bromwich Albion, the Black Cats’ boss admitted he was keen now to move on with everything that has been put to one side while the relegation battle was won. “I will sit down and talk to the players without contracts now,” he confirmed. “I will talk to them about the good and the bad news – that’s something I need to do first. “Beyond that, we will be able to plan the pre-season games and confirm what we are going to do, where we are going. “I will also be able to look at players too, because I haven’t looked at players for a long time – we could only focus on what we’ve had ahead of us these last few weeks. “Everything has been in the air and now we can plan. “But the mood around the training ground will be fantastic now. “These will be the three best days of my season – Thursday, Friday and Saturday – and Sunday I just want a sunny day and the chance to enjoy a game in the way you should enjoy it. “After that, I’m going to have an incredible week with my wife away on holiday.” Poyet wanted to pay tribute to his players for their miraculous escape. “They deserve credit for it and I was lucky to get a group of players in the last few weeks who understood what we were all about and things clicked,” he said. “I played the same team five times in a row and I was lucky to do that. “Those 11 players – with the support of the rest on the bench including not just the substitutes but the likes of Ustari, Ba and Scocco who didn’t get on in games but played their part – they have been great. “Now we feel we can play anyone really.” Next season, Poyet is hoping for better for Sunderland. “I wouldn’t want another seven months like this,” he said. ”I am a strong man, but I don’t want to die. “When you play with fire, you burn – so we don’t want that. “I want a season where we can relax.” It’s a worthy aspiration – but someone should tell him, this IS Sunderland we’re talking about!
