S.A.F.C. - the future

Cheers.

You're right we all need a boost and clarity.

My feeling is that if Davison isn't the right hand man that I was told about, anyone coming in above him will be a powerful person. Perhaps Louis-Dreyfus will be a hands on chairman/owner, but it's my guess that either Davison or another appointment will be the day to day face of the club.

 

If I take away my immense impatience and desire for this to be announced, I can see the benefit in waiting until early February. We’d lose any chance of a bargain signing by announcing it now.

Bear in mind that KLD may already be the owner and may already be funding things, just not publicly announced yet.

 

Said as much myself earlier in the thread. Didn't put it as eloquently as you though.

 

I’ll also reiterate my point from ages ago that billionaire owner doesn’t guarantee success.

Pompey have had a billionaire owner for ages and been messing getting out of the doldrums up for longer than we have.

What gets us out is smart recruitment, smart use of academy and good management. Having a billionaire owner helps with all of those things but doesn’t guarantee them, and we should have been able to do all that with Donald and didn’t.

Where the billionaire really comes into his own is once we are in the championship.

So again this (pointless) post is just saying that we should be patient. The takeover is clearly happening, but it doesn’t need to be announced immediately to have much of an affect on us.

It’s already had pretty much the most impactful affect it could have with the introduction of Speakman and a player development and data driven philosophy. They were the immediate building blocks and they’re already in place. The money can follow later.

 

I am in no doubt that is correct , good sensible appointments in the right areas is something we have not seen in years and certainly not by the current owners . Their appointments will not have been cheap and I think further appointments will follow to complete the infrastructure that the incoming owner wants in place . The playing side will take more sorting due to the salary cap but a number of clubs have already terminated contracts of players their is no reason to think we couldn’t do the same - I can think of a few as I am sure most of us can .

 

Donald may be able to attract his buddies but there's not a chance he could dream of bringing in a man of the calibre of Davison.

I don't care which players leave tbh, even the ones I like ...

.... we need to create a style and a real team spirit to last more than the odd match.

 

Me too mate, but I have faltered a couple of times

 

How could you not mate?


But it's only a few weeks since we had Donald, Parkinson and Graham up front ...

... everything's changed.

 

This highlights the sad thing for me, I don’t remember a time in the last 40 years (until the last few) that I couldn’t care less which players stay or go. Even those who are supposedly good enough fir the championship have allowed themselves to be dragged down to the level of the others far too often. A real leader in the team wouldn’t allow that and would demand better. Our lot seem happy to accept the level they’re at.
Any one of this lot could leave and I wouldn’t be concerned.

 

We haven't had a decent captain for years, that's been a real downfall.

 

No offence Smug, but do you actually know anything about Davison? Nobody seems to have been able to find anything about him online have they? I'm not saying he's ****e, far from it, but of what calibre is he to suggest he's going to be great for the club?

 

We have a team full of bang average League one and League two players. The only one above that is Mcgeady. Donald in 3 seasons has turned us from a team pushing for promotion into one that struggles to make the play offs. If we were to get promoted with this lot god help us.
Having said all that I remain confident my beloved Sunderland will rise again.
We need the takeover sorted ASAP to give a fresh impetus to the whole set up.

 

Spot on about the leader mate. Lacking one since Bally to my mind. He wasn’t a great player but was a leader.

 

Not so sure a goalie is high on our list of needs. Burge seems to get quite a bit of stick but he’s kept 9 clean sheets from 17 starts giving him a clean sheet % of 53%. That’s better than any keeper in the top 6 and puts him 3rd overall in the league ( the 2 above him are 2nd choice keepers who’ve only played 5 or so games )

Agree 100% about adding pace and goals.

 

I don’t know if Smug knows of him or not but I’m currently working on jobs in London with Atkins and have done so for most of the last 20 years.
I don’t know Davison and haven’t had any dealings with him but have asked about and he’s viewed as a major coup for us and Atkins seem to have been disappointed and surprised at his decision.
To be absolutely clear I’m not ITK and am not working at a level where I would have any involvement with someone of his level.

 

I have always thought the position of captain is hugely important. They set the standards and the tone day to day. On the pitch they can have a massive influence when things need lifting. I dont think we have one at the minute, with the possible exception of Leadbitter. We need someone who wont accept players not doing the basics right like we saw Tuesday. I want to see someone driving the team verbally. I dont care if there is a better footballer on the bench, I want the character and personality on the pitch.

 

All I know is what we all know mate.

He's been successful over decades in a highly competitive industry and that's the kind of professional we've lacked. We need someone working away, behind the scenes, putting in a structure that will last ...

... and who better than a lifelong Sunderland supporter to galvanise the backroom staff.

Just like the playing squad I get the feeling they'll soon be gone if they're dragging their heels and saying they've seen it all before.

 

I agree Adam, if we do see another appointment it might be a Chaiman of the board of directors who ultimately will report to KLD, his ‘right hand man’. Possibly someone he knows personally who can be the one who links KLD with all the executive roles at the club.

 

While being owned by a billionaire doesn’t always guarantee success, having a billionaire owner with KLD’s contacts in the game and football coursing through his veins might just give us the edge of other teams.

 

If all the lads who will be running the club work from the same hymn sheet I can’t see anything but a very rosy future, maybe not this season though.