According to a poll in the echo, Bridcutt was the favourite. Sunderland fans want to see transfer flop Liam Bridcutt shown the exit door at the Stadium of Light above anyone else this summer. The 26-year-old polled the most votes cast by more than 1,300 Sunderland supporters in our end-of-season SAFC survey. When asked who should the Black Cats offload before the new Premier League season kicks off, Bridcutt was way ahead of the chasing pack with more than 40 per cent of the vote. His nearest rivals were Inter Milan loanee Ricky Alvarez – who the club want to send back to Italy – and striker Steven Fletcher, who has been linked with a switch to Celtic. Both polled around 20% of the votes cast by fans disappointed with their efforts last campaign. Fans, though, could not agree over which area of the squad they want to see strengthening the most – although they did agree that the goalkeeping department is the strongest at the club. Four out of 10 fans see improving the defence as a key priority, with 24% insisting the midfield is the area that Dick Advocaat, Lee Congerton and Ellis Short should be focusing their recruitment on. Sunderland struggled for goals all of last season, netting just 31 goals in the Premier League on their way to a disappointing 16th-placed finish. And more than a third of fans believe bolstering their attacking options is the way forward. There was no great surprise when it comes to what Sunderland supporters voted their highlight of the season. The derby wins over fierce rivals Newcastle United polled an overwhelming 57% of votes cast, with the survival display against Arsenal at the Emirates second, with around a quarter of votes. The arrival of Advocaat – who steered the club to safety in his nine-game spell in charge – was third. Sadly, there were a few more lowlights to choose from. And the votes were spread across a range of options including the style of football under Gus Poyet (19%), the FA Cup defeat to Bradford City (13%) and the 8-0 hammering at Southampton (22%). No surprise (given the amount of fans who streamed out of the stadium) that the “biggest lowlight” of the season were the embarrassing home defeats to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Bit harsh on Bridcutt, who's basically Catts' number 2 and young enough to improve, although he's hardly set the place alight. JOS is still biggest want out, as he's slower than the average carthorse.
I'm still lost as to why Graham gets as much support on this board, The lad is slow and couldn't score in a brothel.
Agreed. I think thats a little harsh on Bridcutt. And yeh, JoS would be my first choice as well. Then Fletch, then Whickham. The problem is you could argue that all area's desperately need an influx of new blood.
Its the big earners who don't contribute that I want out - then we can bring others in Fletcher heads the list, followed by Graham, Whickham, Rodwell, and O'Shea
Closest to the Modern Day CF we've got, I know it doesn't say much about us but he can hold play up better than any other forward we've got and hold up play is more important than goals in a league which is evolving towards getting goals from everywhere.
It's not harsh on Bridcutt, the lad simply isn't close to being good enough. No fault of his and good luck to him, but he is so far from the required standard it's untrue. Shocking buy by a clearly barking manager.
Fans may have voted that way but why do the Echo feel the need to have this as a headline? I can't see what purpose it serves for a local paper that's supposed to support the team. Fans may want rid but what's he done to deserve a headline about it? I could understand it if it was a player who showed the club and the fans no respect by not putting any effort in, lazy in matches and in training yet raking in huge wages or for someone who showed contempt for the club in other ways. Bridcut though was just overhyped by Gus and hasn't lived up to expectations that he set. It might be a difficult one to take for the young lad and if he does end up staying, that headline has done him no favours whatsoever.
It all depends on who we can get in. No doubt those itk are working on exits too - our squad is paper thin so no one out until incomers lined up imo
Just hope someone wants the players we don't. Can't see a list of teams knocking on the door asking how much bridcut, o`Shea, Fletcher etc are.
Bridcutt could definitely go. Hes a good Championship level player. I think he could get snapped up over the summer.
I'm really opposed to polls like this. The management should be choosing who they want out, not a handful people with too much time on their hands. It won't make the lad feel great if Advocaat decides to play him at Leicester.
People aren't choosing though Smug, it's just giving opinions. I'd like to ship out Bridcutt, Buckley, Fletcher, Wickham and O'shea and Roberge. Not going to happen though even though I could be more brutal and add more to the list. Best I can hope for is Bridcutt, Buckley, Fletcher and Roberge.
I just don't like these unpopularity competitions, in the local press, that players can read . Me talking to you, in the pub, is giving an opinion ......... this is something slightly unpleasant imo.
I took part in the Survey, I have to say I thought it would get one article getting a brief overview of the results. Turns out they're doing an article per question which is daft as it really was a poor survey. Asking questions like where do we need to strengthen when it's blatant we need to in every area.
Look the next installment. You're right about them having too much time on their hands. http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport...erland-s-2015-16-season-say-readers-1-7329780