Think to yourselves - there is a positive from every situation

When hard times come, it's hard to see how things are going to improve. When Newcastle were relegated, we were all down in the dumps. 1 year later, having cleared out all the dead wood, we came back stronger and have continued to grow from strength to strength. Every NUFC fan will now tell you that relegation is one of the best things that happened to us, it has given us the team spirit that sees us sitting where we are now. Take as recently as the end of last season. It felt almost like relegation when we let slip the chance of a top 8 finish and allowed you lot to claim the top dogs in the north east tag again. The taste in the mouth was extremely sour. However, that failure has led us to strive for improvement, to make up for that horror show at the end of last season. At the same time, scraping a top 10 seems to have made Bruce complacent and happy with what he has achieved, negatively affecting your results this season. These 2 recent events seemed horrible at the time, but looking back we can see that in the long run they have worked out well for the club. The times currently being endured by Sunderland may have a similar outcome, even if it's hard to see it now.

Just a thought, sometimes when you think things are at their worst, that is just the signal of some great times ahead, that's how it's worked out for our boys.

 

We owe a massive amount of that to Hughton though in fairness. Had we failed to get promoted we'd have lost a lot more players and be in a similar position to Boro.

Chin up though mackems

 

Agree with this. Really enjoyed our Championship season although I don't ever wanna go back!

 

Oops didn't mean for this to go on the NUFC board, never mind. Yeah I admit that Hughton played a key role, however my point is the times when we have felt lowest, looking back we are delighted those times happened. I'm convinced that if we finished above Sunderland last year, they would be above us now. But we have been forced to step up our game, and Bruce has rested on his laurels, and we have been able to seize the initiative.

 

Agree, relegation was the best thing to happen to us in years and after all the **** that preceded it, it was nice to have a whole year winning games every week.

 

I enjoy watching the video with all the goals from our Championship campaign. Moment of that season gotta be Jose scoring to top everything off!

 

TBH, I'm happy, something needed to happen and I think this is the start of improvement. I just dont want Quinn to leave the club, he had to move from the chairmans role.

 

i mentioned something similar on another thread not too long ago. asking for opinions on how different our situation would be if we hadnt have been relegated

 

Relegation lifted our complacency and our sense of entitlement, the feeling that we'd always be in the Prem and out of danger. I think that's what affected our final 2 seasons before the drop, critical fan base, lacklustre players who didn't seem to be interested in anything except the status quo. An acceptance there are some teams we would lose to, some we should beat but no great shakes if we drew. Too many times in 08/09 when the heads went down and a late draw was seen as something special.

Now we have that upward looking quality and ambition, and that's the main legacy of the Championship. Just hope we can sustain it and Pardew makes the right decisions re: transfers in January - the new players have to be guys with the ambition to make the club progress, not just advertise themselves for the next signing on fee or maintain our position.

 

To be fair mate, although we seem to be stuttering along we are 1 win away from the top ten and have a great owner & chairman in charge.

Stop trying to sum up the Sunderland situation at the moment because this is only your view on it from an outsider.

Yes some of us are a bit unhappy but our time will come, from your post you would think we were already relegated! haha

 

This has happened twice for you, I still say the playoff win for us ws the worst thing that could have happened, and the best thing that happened to you, Sir John Hall took over a year later.

You had also been in the PL for the best part of 16 years, you had glory, finishing top 6 about 10 times, 2 FA cup finals, Europe playing Barca etc, you didnt actually win anything, but I wish we had some of it.

You had "names" that just didnt really knuckle down when the going got rough, things started to fall apart, but when you went down, you kept the nucleus of your squad, Harper, Enrique, Collo, S Taylor, Barton, Nolan, Guitearez (sp), so you did have a team that should have stormed the Championship, and storm it you did.

usually when a team goes down, they sell all those type of players, but you didnt, you kept them and its galvanised your club.

I just cant say the same for us if we go down (I dont think we will, its not that bad yet) but if we did, I doubt the players would want to stick around, and most will probably have relegtion release clauses. 1 good thing is we have Short, who has money, so maybe we would be OK if we went down, as we could buy our way out of trouble, but then we may have another Keane situation, spend silly money on wages and transfers in the Championship to get out of it, but the players he bought, were not good enough for the PL.

I just dont want to contemplate going down, as i just cant see anything good coming out of it for us, with the recent history we have got in that respect.

 

What the hell is this op talking about? We have just had our billionaire owner take over the reigns and a direct involvement in team progress.

It's a great move for our club but maybe not for Bruce.

Either way, it means the stalemate for us is over. Your lot have massively over achieved this season. We have massively under achieved. That will change now.

Keep looking over your shoulder lads.

Were coming.

FTM

 

I agree here. In reality Sunderland aren't doing as bad as some of the doom mongers make out. Look at a team like Bolton. They're doing badly.

You haven't massively underachieved you helmet. Get a grip. You're severely overestimating your players if you think you have.

Sure, Bruce hasn't got the best out of your players by any means, but what the hell are you honestly expecting to achieve with players like Larsson, Gardner, Vaughan, Elmohamady, Turner, Bramble and co? There is no way on heaven or earth that they're going to surge up the table. They're decent players but that's it. Decent. You've even said yourself that you don't think your squad is as strong this year as it was last year, so why are you spouting your ****?

Sorry mate, but if you expect a new manager to suddenly turn your team into a superforce which is going to overturn a 9 point deficit with ease, then you need to sort your severe delusion out.

 

Some of your opinions baffle me Cest, 24 hours ago you were crying relegation, now Quinn moves to a different upstairs role and you're going to surge up the table? Get a grip man, you don't even know what your own opinion is.

 

You are underestimating the squad we have. I dont expect us to surge up the table, but our squad is a match for yours, and we will finish neck and neck especially after the January window -where we will buy and you will probably sell.

I think Cest is of the opinion that Bruce will be sacked tomorrow or even today (wide of the mark imo), and that the new manager will suddenly change our fortunes. He forgets that all change of manager involves a time of transition - and even if we have the "new manager fever" for the 1st few games it wont last forever. Especially as a lot of the players signed up because of Bruce.


Now for talking to you, i will probably get accused of fraternising with the enemy - especially one with your rep mr Cheik

 

You have a decent squad. Don't get me wrong. And I do expect you guys to improve on results.

However, saying that you guys are 'coming for us' and that you've been 'massively underachieving' and being so confidently arrogant that you're just going to fly over the top of us is beyond a joke. Surely you agree with that? Yes it might happen as no one can predict the future, but being so confident of it is just an absolute joke.

And I'm not so sure about finishing neck and neck to be honest. There's no denying that there is a 9 point deficit now. That's 3 more wins than us just to go level, and right now we're doing very well. You guys might do it, but boy that's one heck of a challenge.

Also, I certainly wouldn't expect us to sell this January unless a mega offer comes in. In fact, I'd expect us to buy. If you look at all the players Ashley has sold you will find that they either wanted to go, or there was a major dispute.

I agree there. A good manager will improve the squad and improve the results, but it simply isn't going to be some incredible and sudden turn of fortune Cest seems to expect. It never is.

 

Sorry Chappaz, but how many times has Ashley said you are going to to buy?

Pardew has had to be very astute in the market, cos he hasnt even been given 10% of the funds Ashely has generated from selling players. If any of those players continue to do well until January (which isnt guaranteed itself - you have to admit you are performing above expectations at the moment), and they catch the eye of the big teams then bye bye players - Ashley's pocket will be lined again. You dont expect any different from your owner, do you?

 

Don't think Sunderland will be anywhere near relegation to be honest, think we'll both be pushing for the same spot around 10th as well come the end of the season

 

Never, but when does he ever say anything?

A lot of people don't seem to realise that we actually spent around about £20million this year alone, with a number of £5mill players who have turned out to be far better than their worth implies. Yes, £20million.

Now we haven't spent anymore because A). Ashley doesn't want to or B). like most other clubs, there is a small stash of cash reserved for January to bring in any players which are needed by then. It's the sensible thing to do.

He might not spend a penny, but so far there is nothing to suggest that, so I'm staying optimistic and hoping that Ashley has the sheer common sense to fortify the squad in January.

He has mate. More than some people realise. In fact, considering that the agent and sign-on fees for free players usually amount to at least a few mill, he's probably spent more than most expect. At least £20mill.

Performing above expectations is a tricky one. If you look at the table at our 4th place spot, then yeah, you could say we're overachieving, cos we're not a top 4 club. However, in-terms of individual matches, we've done what I think our starting 11 has the quality to achieve. This is even without Santon and Ben Arfa yet.

Not sure what I expect really. I can't fault Ashley too much for accepting a £35million offer, especially when Carroll put in a transfer request. Once Ashley accepts a non-excessive sum for someone like Tiote, Colo, Cabaye or Krul then I'll be worried. They are offers I'd expect him to refuse.