Yeah as I said I do rate him but I can't argue with that, he went into his shell and it hurt the team at the time it mattered most. I don't think being conservative is his way though, Hibs aren't bad to watch at all. It was a hell of a tough job for a young manager, working under Donald with a thousand tonnes of expectation on his shoulders. Johnson has hit the jackpot really, how often do you get the opportunity he's got.
I rate Ross and think he'll turn out to be a decent manager, I think lack of experience and lack of proper support from Donald and that set up caused him to second guess himself and changed how he wanted us to play. I certainly think Donald was happy for him to be a scapegoat and maybe some of that filtered through to the players. I remember the Mags hammering West Ham a few of years ago in the last game of the season where West Ham didn't turn up and it was said that the players didn't bother because they knew BSA was getting fired so paid no attention to him.
I rated Ross (and still do), too, he'll have learned from bottling it when he did, and I'd love him to come back to replace Johnson and finish what he started, with the proper support that's being put in place now. I really believed that he had the makings of another Fergie when he was here, and, although I haven't followed his career since, I expect him to 'make it' somewhere
I found it a hard watch to be honest. For obvious reasons. Not like premier passions. Obviously I'd prefer to of seen us in a better light and now we seem to be heading that way, but I'd rather it not get filmed. I read that it was distracting for staff and players at the time. I don't want what the club is building jinxed .
In fairness, the 1st half of Check a Trade we absolutely butchered Portsmouth. It was the 2nd half we completely changed and yes, that was down to Ross. Having no striker on the pitch from 70 minutes onward was an absolutely shocking decision.
I do not think you can call Ross teams gutless. That season the one thing that his team brought back was a sense of pride in the team, they may have not been the best of players but they tried and never gave up. Started from the very 1st game of the season - getting beat at home then coming back to win the game in the 96th minute. Walsall away 2-0 down man sent off and came back to salvage a draw. Even in the final against Portsmouth they came back to snatch the equaliser in extra time. He was hung out dry by in the aftermath by SD and CM because their chance to make the fiip the club and ride off into the sunset with their bank balances bulging had been thwarted. From the day he was appointed and the **** storm he walked into Ross did a good job. I have no doubt that if all the takeover carry on had not ruined the transfer window in the second summer he would have got us up.
After we’ve won the Premier League with LJ and he leaves to take England to World Cup glory I’d have Ross back to push us on.
I still say that Power going off in the first 5 mins of the play final ****ed all the plans up. From that point on we were bullied all game. Same team had got a brilliant result in the 2nd leg at Portsmouth. Fine margins.
It would be smart mate, if they can get that same level of engagement, but with a club rising from the ashes, the potential marketing and sponsorships will be huge. That’s going to be a vital part of bringing the club back to life, increasing turnover so we have a larger budget. Wonder if the family business was that generated a £26 billion revenue last year will appear anywhere around the club, everyone else does it. On Ross, he we will be a very good gaffer in the future, just the job and pressure was too much for him so early in his career.
I am not getting this Ross love in mind, his tactics and formations were bizarre, to start with we looked lost at the back, had a few good games, Barnsley, Peterborough at home we we came flying out of the traps scored a bagful of goals but then the second half sit back and absorb tactics really didn’t work, it was only if we were a goal behind that we upped our game. after November in his first season we were very lucky in games and rode our luck so many times, then the 2 Wembley finals were shocking more so the Charlton game, we basically handed Charlton a free pass to the championship, they were ****e and there for the taking, Ross should of been sacked after that game. I agree he shouldn’t of been given the job, for me it needed someone who knew the league and could handle some of our big ego’s still left at the club, as much as do not care for SD & Methane JR has to take responsibility for the idiotic tactics he deployed. that said I wish the man well and am sure he will have a good career north of the boarder.
Just had an idea that might not be that daft. How about trying to get Chris Waddle involved on something like match day PR? Played for both clubs, popular chap aka canny lad, and a legend in Marseille. I have always thought that he is a Sunderland supporter and I remember him at Southend after a 4 1 win waving to the supporters as we left the away end, i.e. not the shirt match. I have no idea what he is up to now though.
Would have to disagree on some of what you have said there. Firstly the team showed no energy or will to win games and often seemed happy to settle for a draw when in reality we needed victories. We scored in almost every game and then tried to defend a lead only to concede time and time again it was these draws that eventually lost JR his job. I believe he got caught up in the let's not lose mentality instead of the let's go and win this. If we had lost 1/3 of the draws we had that season and won the rest we would have went up as champions, but we settled for a draw too many times and it ultimately cost us as JR seemed OK with mediocrity
Great positive attitude GG on a personal note. As for Sunderland lets hops the transformation continues to pick up momentum.
No love on from me mate, I agreed with the decision that he went, I thought the job was far too much for him. Like I say though, a good bloke who will have a good career, I don’t doubt it.
It's like when you've been after a pretty lass for ages and finally get her ... ... the next morning feels a bit flat when she says, 'Nice place but have you thought about changing the curtains and painting the living room'.