...... Sunderland isn't London. He's right and there's no point dressing it up. The worst parts of London are ten times worse than the worst parts of Sunderland but that's not the point. London has things that we don't, and will never, have ........... no point building the place up to be summat it's not. We should sell the place on it's passion for football and the honesty not the shops and wine bars. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/gus-poyet-admits-sunderland-lose-4092678?
without seeming to intrude, we have exactly the same problem.. especially for foreign players, london is deemed this 'palace of england' then again i suppose if you're getting wages of 20k a week onwards+ the luxuries of london sadly surpass our places.. but would REALLY rather play for west ham than sunderland or even hull? up north is way better.. londons a **** hole, i wouldn't live there if i was a millionaire
He's got that knack hasn't he Gus, for saying something the right way, not offending. He's a ****ing diamond. And, let's be frank, he's absolutely right. In some ways, it's not just London, we suffer by nature for being a club that isn't surrounded by various cities. You do wonder though, if people looked at the fantastic coast, the wonderful bits of countryside, spent some time learning about the fantastic people and hospitality, well, maybe it could sway them. Newcastle has Euro football and that boosted there profile, for all that those days have long since left them you still hear player, Ginola springs to mind, speaking of the passion and such of the club. There's so much here, it's not heaven, nor will it ever be, but the region has fantastic elements, people. We just need a bit more of the profile, a build on Wembley, and we can look ahead. Getting Rodwell, that happened as he's English, he's been here, he understands the size of the club. I'll bet at least a handful of foreign players who may have looked beyond us, and to a slightly lesser extent the Toon to sign for clubs further south, will get a real shock when they step out at the SOL or St James. As much as the region, players from overseas only think of the top clubs the televised abroad clubs, they come, and go to say West Ham, QPR, then they maybe come up here to these 2 huge but dormant clubs and probably think '****ing hell'. We can get round London with success. We can't move the football club. It's a right bastard. This is a club that despite many failings, there's ALWAYS some pride to be had.
pretty much this, classes hull as well really.. i mean are qpr and west ham decent clubs? they're two of the most ****ed up in the country but to young lads from abroad on ridiculous wages, all they see are the heavy lights of london.. when for a fact the north breathes football more than that metropolitan ****hole
I did mean to say, having seen your post, you could include Hull too, isolated but within reach of some great places, easily. I'm proud every time I go the game, yeah we don't sell out often, we do average 40k. That's incredible for a city of our size. The Mags too, yeah they mock us, but they really do respect us, even Leeds do to an extent. Funnily enough, clubs like ours get the most respect from some of the big lads, Chelsea, Arsenal, United. It's the clubs around us that seem to not get it, the clubs nobody gives a **** about, I always find that odd. If the likes of Villa, West Brom etc see us as nowt, then someone from Chile or Colombia sure as hell will too. We will get there though, I think we have taken huge, huge strides under Poyet, as well as behind the scenes. These players will see us on the rails, you lads have that boost of Europe if you can turn it around.
i'd honestly rate the heartbeat of english football in the north east, obviously hull city have always been in the echelons of english football, i went as a youngster to see us play mansfield/macclesfield, i just wanted to see some local football, i got hooked immediately, and now it's ingrained into me, i'd much rather have 22k crowds at city than have 50k crowds with half of them foreign tourists like at anfield/oldtrafford etc, sunderland and newcastle will always have loyal support, i love the place, if i was 'rich' id choose to live in this broad area, stunning countryside, the people are literally kind but yep.. teams like QPR and west ham, due to their location seem a bigger attraction.. when in reality.. look at how many players come and go there.. hopefully we stay in the top flight and this idea can be changed.. obviously your stadium is a lot bigger than ours.. one of the biggest in england.. if im correct, only man city and man utd, newcastle and arsenal have a bigger stadium than you folk?
Correct. In truth, we probably expanded a little too quick after a couple strong years under Reid. It was built at 41,000, it was full, always, under Reid, we got a full house for a reserve derby, we got 22k for a reserve game v Man United, and we expanded too soon. If we'd kicked on, would have been fine, but it was badly timed, and as such, the extra 7,000 seats are generally unfilled, the original capacity would still see house full signs some 12-15 times a season, it's incredible given the lack of success, and more so the economic limitations in the area. We may be far from past glories on the pitch, but we are trying, what we are, and always will be is a fantastically proud club, loyally backed, lived & breathed by many, many thousands. Nobody will ever take that away from us, it's our club, through ****, piss or sunshine, and you know what, there's maybe 15 clubs in the land, several outside the Premier League, that can even think about matching us on that score. I always, always include the Toon as well, why is our rivalry so great? Yeah, there's hundreds of years of local history, but would it have transferred to the pitch without mutual respect and feeling that the other side was significant? Would it ****.
fact is clubs our size and especially yours, in pretty much any other league in the world would be challenging for trophies and european spots every season.. take our two european opponents so far.. both get less than 10k average.. sometimes i wish we played in the scottish league...
****ing hell mate, I'd never wish for that! Haha. True enough though, look at the average size of crowds Europe wide, and most of the Premier League would be in the top 40.
theres a team in la liga now, that get about 3k crowds.. we an unfortunate of the tv money the premier league gains.. where it's pretty much just a season of survival every season.. even newcastle bar the odd one or two.. won't reach much higher
As has been said, Gus more or less nailed it. Despite our area being a real heart of football spot it's money and celebrity that drives the game now. There'll not be many wags wanting to jump out to our area when London or machester are calling The only way we'll become 'fashionable' is by kicking on in the league and qualifying for Europe and getting our profile higher, alaways thought that the time to buy was when were flying under Reid, 2nd or so in both seasons around Jan window time, it was then that we'd have had a chance of attracting bigger fish
I don't know mate. There are possibilities, Spurs have done it, Everton have gone close, it can be bridged. You need 2 sides, we have the billionaire owner but not the income and demand, but if the steady work was to lead us to a certain level, maybe then he goes gunning for it. Yeah, massive long shot, but I will never accept that the way things are is forever, look at Liverpool, so long without a title, how unthinkable it was for United to not be a CL club, Everton nearly down twice knocking on the door. You have to believe something is possible, if you don't, then it isn't.
randomly found my pic from Sol back in feb, might aswell post it please log in to view this image dunno, spurs managed it what once? everton once? how can sunderland or hull even take over those two clubs?
Steady progress, intelligent recruitment, marketing clubs overseas. Biggest key is patience, it's realistically 5 years to catch Everton, the universally accepted 'best of the rest'. A cup win, rather than a cup final can really put you on the map, but there's a massive carrot, a hugely significant change to European football this season that not nearly enough have considered. The winners of the Europa league are now handed a golden ticket to the Champions League. Now, think logically of this, you lads are in that tournament, doesn't matter how you got there, as an English club you get a favourable draw for the groups, assuming you turn it around (I think you will..). You do then have a tough task juggling all the fixtures, but let's think back what, 3 years, Fulham in the final? Any English club will be competitive against any side in that tournament, even a CL drop out, they will be tough, but never unassailable. So, let's say you get that bit of luck, a kind draw, you win the Europa. Back to the rankings system, and again, English sides are seeded, worst case scenario is the team finishing 4th in Spain, or Germany. Again, you could expect to be competitive. Yes, it's far from easy, but I tell you what, it's far from impossible too, and any one of us can get a cup run, maybe even lose the final to a top 4-6 club, and have a genuine shot at CL football in 2 years time. The rest, well, self explanatory.
i get what you mean, but honestly i don't think we would beat the altetico madrids or the chelseas to name the last couple of winners.. fulham did incredibly well.. but lost to such a superior side atletico.. who then went and won la liga and were 20 seconds from winning the champions league.. with this champions league slot for the finalist.. it's even tougher.. see i personally couldn't forgive bruce if we go out to lokeren.. he made 9 changes for the first leg and we lost (albeit to a ridiculous mistake by our keeper.. ) but still.. this is a once in a life time opportunity.. we get to the group stage.. could face inter milan.. or lyon.. or other huge clubs....
Nothing is impossible mate, it is fact that any team in the Europa this season has a shot at CL football, and many of them never will via the league.
Lyon just proved Gonads point last week, losing to a little known Romanian side. Why not Hullovski City?
I lived in London for 3 years and loved it, I will probably settle there when I've finished working abroad, having already decided to not move back to the north east as it does not offer me enough. It's personal choice but if I was a millionaire footballer I would choose London over Sunderland if I were not a safc supporter. We just need to find the right characters, like Rodwell who wants to play regular and likes our possession style football. Career wise you would choose us over West ham as I think we have a plan and could go places, but the rest of the London teams can offer the same but more money.
Roy Keane said something along similar lines a few years ago when he'd be trying to attract players and they'd ask what the shoppings and nightlife was like for their wags. Unglamorous sums up the eastern England, from Northumberland to Clacton, and when you're young lads with hot birds, on crazy money, you're gonna want and need to show them a good time outside of working hours. The standard of life for affluent families around Newcastle, Durham, North Yorkshire etc is as good if not better than anywhere else in the country. That's why we should be looking to attract more established mature players with young families. Why they'd want to bring kids up in London is beyond me!
