I was in Halkidiki last year. The hotel was fantastic but walking into the old village was a sad sight to see. Closed shops and businesses, overgrown public gardens and untidy and littered streets. Agree mate, sad to see.
Why? I saw the full match btw. It was good to see where the players were at tbh, I knew it would be tough, it need to be tough to get what they needed out of the game, the result was irreverent, we went 442 second half with a team that will never start the season in a million years, we had centre midfielders at full back because of the hold up with visa's, I think you're making a storm in a tea cup. Certainly not considering all the factors(jet lag, returning players, players who aren't here yet, stage of preseason, opponents stage in their season) No way we disgraced ourselves imo, it was a typical early preseason match. Not a match to hold any expectations.
Why should that conditioning be achieved behind closed doors? - Because it's not fit to sell to the paying customer. Or is anything SAFC decide to dish out good enough for the guy on the terraces these days? It was good to see where the players were at? - Good for whom? Good for the Californian who paid at the door expecting to see Wow! A Premier League Team? D'you think it was so "good to see" for him? I think we ripped the Californian customer off, and you can gloss over it any way you like.
You think we ripped the Californian customer off? Well if we're speaking on their behalf of others I think they'll be very happy, Scramento put in a great performance and got the win, of the back of two heavy defeats and with their new gaffer in charge for his first game, surely they're over the moon with that. Here we go, fan tweets straight from Sacramento Republics Twitter, it goes on and on. https://twitter.com/SacRepublicFC/with_replies If performance at this stage matters to you then fair play to you, But I'm with Dick on this 100% A win would have been nice, but hardly the priority at's all about minutes under the belt for me. The traveling Sunderland fans will know what a friendly at this stage means, as will the Republic fans, their tweets suggest so. So I disagre with you on this, It's a none issue to me. Ashamed and disgusted are strong words that don't apply here for me. Toronto is where I want to see a performance. Yes you're aloud an opinion, so am I and we're both airing them, just in case you play that card again.
I don't read into friendlies, although we lost 1-0, it is Dick picking as many players as possible. Leicester away is the big one, and by then we should be flying.
We were struggling for players thanks to the visa's Monty. Only Pickford didn't get a run out I think.
All right? - Sure, but thanks for asking mate. I'm having a good laugh at this. Has nobody else picked up on the irony yet? I complain about a multi-million pound company short changing the working man of a day's wages at the ticket office with a performance that wouldn't have graced the local over-60s keep fit class ... and South Tyneside is berating me for it! Hold on to your hat, Blunham - they'll be voting Conservative and buying shares in Lloyds Bank next.
Get where you're coming from but tickets were only £17 for travelling fans and I assume for the home fans as well - about the same as a 3rd round FA cup tie so I think that probably reflects the level of expected performance and is hardly a day's pay for (m)any that turned up. Hopefully the minutes under the belt are another step up toward being ready to go when we are at Leicester.
Think the real irony is nobody has berated you at all. I disagreed with you. Sorry it upsets you. I like chatting to you fella, but every time we disagree I get **** like I'm 'Berating you' or this arse defensive comments like this mid discussion Why do you think I attempted to draw attention to it just being opinions? So you wouldn't get upset like last time we disagreed, it's a forum, people debate, it's not a personal attack, if you can't take the heat. I don't live or come from South Tyneside either. Nowhere near in fact. Don't why I even bother. Can't even discuss a ****ing match on a match thread because it might hurt someone's feelings. Not fit for purpose, not worth the effort. I'm done.
I paid $60 (each) for my tickets. There were 4 of us. Could have payed half the amount and still had a good seat. We were talking to Paul Buckle (Sac Mgr) outside the Visitors dressing room and he was a remarkably friendly man. He was laughing about the fact that the Visitors (Sun) demanded the Home dressing room and received it. He also said they weren't ready to start on time, and to expect a delay. He was right, the match started 30 minutes late. When the Sac players came out to the pitch Buckle stayed behind at the entrance and talked with us for about 20 minutes. Like I said, a true gentleman. When the Sun players came out, there were a bunch of us hoping to get a picture or a quick word, but they were strictly business. Fine with me, by that time I just wanted to see the game. Costel did take a pic with me tho, and I have to say, it made me quite happy. The Sun supporters were great. All of them in good spirits and excited about new signings and the beginning of the season. Some made the trip from England, but most were expats who traveled from all over the U.S. to see the game. The game was a disappointment, obviously. There were grumblings about effort (particularly concerning Defoe), but on the whole the craic was good. Enjoyed myself immensely, but would have even if they lost 5-0. As for the players, I can't add anything that everyone doesn't already know. Buckley and Bridcutt should be moved on, more quality is needed up front, and the midfield needs improvement. Oh yeah, Jones is really a fast ****er.
Hold my hand up to that, mate. 'Day's wages' was a figure of speech. Actually, the $15 each paid by Outlaw (#74) are very good.
"Why do you think I attempted to draw attention to it just being opinions?" - I think that because the quote from me that you give is a day or two earlier. As for getting upset, I'm rather enjoying it. As for your imagined "arse defensive comments" if you'd care to look back at the post I said "berated" in (#70 to Blunham) you'll find that I was laughing my head off at the apparent "irony" of hearing multi-million pound companies defended on a South Tyneside forum. I think maybe we're talking past each other at the moment. Forget it mate, chill-out time needed, eh?
