please log in to view this image Is fan panic helping to create a Tabloid feeding frenzy? TWEET (2) SHARE PIN This could be an incredibly difficult and controversial article to write, but it's regards something I'm not seeing discussed much on the message boards and social media. It's about the way the club is being sold. How it's being sold by us. The fans. Not intentionally, not maliciously but through our concerns. Now I've often been mistaken as an eternal optimist by a few who misinterpret my sentiments so I want to make my stand point clear. I am concerned, I'm very concerned, we all know there's a multitude of deep rooted problems at the club. I'm just cagey about the way I disclose my feelings. Panic has never had a platform like it has right now. I have a love hate relationship with the media. There's the hardworking respectable journalists who's praises are rarely sung, the sort of reporters I respect and have inspired me to start writing about my club. The type who work for the fanzines for free or the fans and ex players who've moved into media and carry genuine respect for the club and us fans. Then there's the unethical journalists, whose only care is newspaper sales and website hits. The sensationalists. This is the area of the press who think all their Christmases have come at once. They feed off the scraps from the incredibly naive social networking domain and convert it into cold hard cash. Yesterday morning the back page of the Mirror made for devastating reading. About the worst advert a football club could receive when you consider we're entering the final two weeks of the transfer window with so much work still to do. But I can't help think we've brought it on ourselves. The Scenario. A poor pre-season combined with a couple of failed medicals followed by a period of eerie silence in regards to transfers as we head into the opening weekend of the Premier League season other than the loan signing of M'Vila. People feel uneasy, valid. With the job only half done on the transfer front,Leicester City make an example of us, the players still look leggy from a less ideal pre-season structure, the defense lack organisation and certain players don't seem interested. A minor wave of panic sweeps across the club fueled the next day by the sending off of M'Vila, a player where many have heard of his reputation even if they don't know of his footballing ability. We've signed a liability! Despite the fact Yann has only received 2 red cards and 25 yellow cards in 201 competitive appearances. The reasoning didn't matter, it's already adding fuel to the fire. A week and no signings later we're turned over at home to newly promoted Norwich City and it completely kicks off. Thread up on thread and Tweet upon Tweet of full blown panic. We're in a mess and everything is being magnified. It's a meltdown. Micheal Gray, a rightly concerned Sunderland legend, fan and journalist, the kind you can truly respect, see's this panic, it supports his concerns. He then gives an interview to Talksport where he naively made the mistake of speaking from the heart as a fan instead of an impartial professional. Now I can't stress enough that I agree with virtually every single word he said. It mirrors what many of us feel. My issue is the timing. The Sensationalists not only have thousands of concerned fans in panic, they now have a big name fan taking to the media in panic too. Everything they need to blow the story wide open. Sure enough yesterday morning The Mirror had us wake up to this; please log in to view this image If I was a footballer looking to further my career at a new club, these sort of headlines would not encourage me to make a move to that club. It's a disaster which I believe may have just made a very difficult job even harder for Lee Congerton. How does he sell this club now with this hanging over our head? Lee Congerton needs something to work with, like the lost headline which encapsulates everything we need to be sell the club to a new signing. The one pundit everybody claims hates us did us a big favour this weekend. Though now it counts for nothing. Paul Merson dismantled our performance like any honest pundit would. But he balanced it. As he went on to sing Duncan Watmore's praises from the roof tops, but not only that he sang our praises from the roof tops when he encapsulated the fans reaction as Duncan lit up the Stadium of light. A fan reaction which led to his father, Ian Watmore (former FA Chef executive) to take to twitter confirm that Duncan has no interest in leaving Sunderland thanks to the way the Black Cat faithful opened their hearts to his son. This is how you sell a football club to new signings. Sadly, in the midst of all the panic which has led to sensationalist articles destroying any remaining credibility the club did have, that great selling point is now worthless. Upstaged by fan/club turmoil. If only this world was ideal, if only the FA would apply some common sense and help it's clubs by closing the summer window before a ball is kicked. As it stands it only gives aid to the agents and media. But the reality is it's not ideal and the window doesn't close before a ball is kicked. The way social media works, never have fans had more of a direct influence on the image of their football club. We're even mixing in the same domain as the clubs, agents and even the players themselves. All I see is chaos on and off the pitch. I fear that The Mirror article yesterday morning was triggered off the back of a domino knock on effect from the social media and message board fan base reacting to the state of our club. I also fear we may have lost the chance of attracting the quality we need to avoid relegation even if we actually had this mythical '£50m war chest' in place. Image and timing are everything. Panic has never been a good thing but now it's got a platform. and despite our concerns being 100% valid I feel we've all been naive by not giving the club the chance to finish it's business before giving the Rags the scraps they need to sensationalise our plight. Until the FA see's sense and closes that window early, we should try our best to keep a cool calm head until that window slams shut. Then absolutely let rip.
That's a great piece Funky, summarising recent events really well. I think you're definitely right about recent postings on here. The degree of negativity, (I'm as guilty as the next of some negativity), has perhaps been accentuated by the degree of pre-season optimism from having kept Advocaat on board. Hopes were high, so the fall from grace has been steeper, and more loudly expressed. And yes, whilst Congerton's job has been made harder, no doubt about that whatsoever, I'm still a firm believer that money talks. We may struggle for example, to loan, say Remy, with Mourinho thinking, why the **** would he send him to us at this moment in time, but if it comes to buying foreign players I still think that'll be less of an issue. Yes, media is global these days and they'd still be able to find out what's going on over here, but reading about it and experiencing it are 2 different things. So fingers crossed on foreign buys! I think we could all do with toning down criticism on here, just a little, until September 2nd anyway! I'm also betting that Mickey G kept well away from his mobile yesterday!
This is Social network too. So many people are reading and not posting, and carrying the shared panic onto other sites. I do Twitter, post on here and Read the RTG boards, it's all social media and everybody is doing the same. Since Twitter fans now mold our own clubs image more than ever. Money does talk I agree, but to make player walk into a club surrounded in so much turmoil we're really going to have to 'make it work their while', I just don't see Short as a person who's going to over pay on wages because this. I don't think we can bag a marque signing now. Free wages for loans if the best I can see, maybe a cheap deal for a youngster like this forward we're linked with. We jumped the gun with the 'crisis' in my opinion. With out all the panic it would have just been a bad start and Chelsea would be getting the headlines. Yep, Mickey will have learnt his biggest lesson so far in his new career. Being right isn't the be all, words have consequences and timing is everything.
I fully understand where you're coming from on this one Funky, but you are not going to be able to silence the masses, who do not think about the timing or the consequences of the opinions they quote. You are absolutely right that it's not helping the image and saleability of our club to prospective new recruits. We've always found it hard to recruit quality and probably always will until we can change the image of our club and make ourselves an attractive proposition to next level players.
Bottom line after 2 games and 2 heavy defeats against teams that probably be fighting for survival this season , you must say Sunderland seemed to be the worst prepared team going into the new season, and I doubt the media are to blame for that
Great read that mate and probably echoes most of our thoughts, it does for me anyway. It's going to be a tense, but very interesting last two weeks of the window, rumours will be rife and until SAFC make a decent money signing then most on here wil continue to believe the club has no money. Personally i don't believe this, i think it's more a case that we're struggling to attract the players we want. Great article anyway mate.
If think we've got money, I don't think we have wage room and I think we look a train wreck to any potential signing.
Not trying to silence the masses fella, I was trying to get across how interactively we as fans effect the image of our own club these day, I'm trying to draw attention to how the power of social media is underestimated, especially by those who aren't savvy with it yet. Nowt to with silencing people fella, just raising awareness to the reality. I can't make people look at themselves and force them to choose words carefully, people need to do that for themselves. But being a fan is changing and the Media are exploiting any nativity they come across, they knew we were having a meltdown, that wasn't enough, Micky Gary give them the big name to connect the lot, twist it and throw it back in our faces. that's the reality. All this wouldn't matter if the FA closed the ****ing transfer window before first game.
If the club had 3 pts and sitting in mid table I doubt it would be making any back pages , so the clubs the so poor preformance for the new season brings attention from the media,
Are you an idiot. I AM NOT BLAMING THE MEDIA!!! What's wrong with you? can't you read? If Micky Gray hadn't panicked to Talksport talking like a fan instead of the Professional Journalist he's supposed to be, their wouldn't be a story at all, we'd just be what we are, the latest team have a bad start to the season. Looking a Chelsea I think it's safe to say it's their start which would be under the spotlight. My point is the sensationalist story was a gift naively presented to them on a plate. That's undeniable and my point entirely. We don't need this when we need at least two major signings in the next two weeks. There's no blame on the media here, the media will do what they do, it's a fact of life. I'm not blaming the media, I'm not blaming the media, I'm not blaming the media, I'm not blaming the media, I'm not blaming the media. Is that anywhere near close to sinking in yet?
This pisses me right off mate. Why oh why are we always recruiting right up till the final hour of each window? why the **** can't we get our players in before the season starts? It's like a sprinter giving the rest of the field a 10 yard head start FFS.
As soon as that season starts, selling clubs know the longer they hold off the more likely they are to get top price(provided the player is in demand), same for agents. It's why QPR will get their price for Austin. Nobody can get all their players in before the season starts, not just us. And it's because of the closing date. Any club with hot property knows they'll get a better price after the season starts so why would they even contemplating selling before? Unless they need to generate cash themselves there's no need for anybody to sell their assets before the start of the season. Of course if you move the window closing date till the start of the season you get similar problems but at least everybody has their business done before kick off. It would mean problems like we're having now wouldn't effect the window. 9 Prem clubs have added to their squads since Kick off, there's plenty of business still to be done, we're giving nobody a head start, we're all in the same boat.
I understand what you are saying Funk about the time left in the window, however Leicester have got another through the door today, but the silence on the transfer front from our club is absolutely DEAFENING..Why do we conduct our business on a cloak and dagger front, the fans need some reassurance and the club's media unit are Sat on their hands, why isn't someone from the club answering Micky Grays article?. I and I suppose many other fans don't understand how are club is ran internally.
Sort of agree to a point however, clubs like Chelsea, Man Utd etc are not that desperate for new blood, we are and always are due to our recruitment strategy being ****e. Traditionally we are always doing business right up to the last day, it's just not acceptable mate. Last year Gus demanded he get his targets in before the season starts, it didn't happen, it hasn't happened this season either, why ffs?
Stoke, Southampton, Swansea, Everton, Watford, Westbrom, Tottenham, Villa and Leicester have all continued to strengthen since the start of the season, we no different from the rest of the league other than we're a publicised mess, so probably makes it harder. All this getting business done before the season starts a is pipe dream imo, I think the amount of business done by everybody between the start of the season and deadline will prove all clubs are in the same boat. I've always maintained if it was that easy to have all signings in for kick off then every club would have them sign up in time. Rarely works that way.
Ha! We've gone from passing everyone to over strict. I wouldn't put it past us to have another failed medical this window.
There should be some way a player can insure themselves to compensate the buying club if he turns out to be a liability, we have bought far too many "sicknotes" , but we are not the only club by any means.
