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Renewed hope and faith ...

Discussion in 'Sunderland' started by Smug in Boots, Apr 8, 2021.

  1. Chip

    Chip Well-Known Member

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    Definitely, I dont want him spouting ****e on twitter I want him working 18 hour days to get the club back on track and where it should be. Its all been positive so far and seeing him in the stand on a match day is enough for me right now. Long may his considered approach continue.
     
    #21
  2. Smug in Boots

    Smug in Boots Well-Known Member

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    When I ran a coach from Mansfield, to all our games, I had business cards printed ...


    ... we'd leave them on pub tables, windscreens and stricken bodies in the road <laugh>

    You should get some ...
     
    #22
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  3. LBW

    LBW Well-Known Member

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    The foundations have been laid and its going to be interesting watching the building work over the next few years, the fellas he has brought in are top notch in their profession and will surely push us on. Teams much further up the football leagues must be looking at us now and thinking Sunderland are back and mean business. I remember the League cup final and me and my brother in law were absolutely spangled after the match and were drowning our sorrows in some boozer in Harrow on The Hill, we got talking to this group of Man City fans and the connection in terms of where they had been and how quickly things had turned for them really seemed like an impossible dream. We might not be that far away from something similar I reckon, I am not predicting Premier League titles and stuff but simply being in amongst the big boys and giving it a real go would be brilliant, that 10 years in the premier league apart from spanking the Mags regularly it was very much making the numbers up. I have hope and faith, that Christmas Eve announcement was the best I had felt in years about our club.
     
    #23
  4. Kaito

    Kaito Well-Known Member

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    From where I sit there are many similarities between my club, Saints, and Sunderland, apart from the obvious red and white stripes. We have a fairly new management structure in place with some exciting backroom appointments, and the best team manager we have had in donkeys years. You guys maybe in league 1 at the moment but that won't be for long and when the things that are being put in place start to kick in the whole club will take on a trajectory of its own. Our owner is currently wanting to sell the club so you have an advantage over us there but I'm sure we are going to get a good new owner in the near future. You already have about the best owner you could ask for and the future is looking very bright for you.

    I remember the dreadful times you guys have had to endure, much like we did years ago, and when that bottoms out and things start to turn around the excitement washes away the years of pain and frustration. You never forget it, but having come though it does make the upward journey something very special and the doubts do fade away. Start dreaming of what is possible and you just might make it happen. We have lost 0-9 two seasons on the trot but apart from the think headed pundits who never fail to mention it at every opportunity, I doubt it has held us back.

    Football needs big clubs like Sunderland, and you might be very surprised at how many friends you guys have out there. No one likes to see a great team and great fans suffer like you have, and when the success arrives you will deserve to enjoy every single moment of it. You just have to keep the faith and believe that everything is possible, and some of it will be. Leicester proved that to be true. Go for it, and enjoy the ride.
     
    #24
  5. Smug in Boots

    Smug in Boots Well-Known Member

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    Just waffling without knowledge or facts ...

    .. but I wonder how Newcastle supporters would accept a manager who's achieved nothing and been shunted out of clubs.

    He's way better than Bruce although Newcastle supporters can at least spell Bruce for their bedsheets.
     
    #25
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  6. samwise_new

    samwise_new Well-Known Member

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    been watching quite a bit of your team lately, probably my 'fave' premier team to watch, like a few of them in there the luck has evaded you right now but early season showed what they can achieve.

    as for us, i said afore that i doubt we will spend another season in this league but if the worst should happen i have faith that we will make it next season...people going on about the new owner not spouting his gob off, which is great, no false promises or pie in the sky he has just gone about setting up an infrastructure the club has been lacking forever...ffs he moved in near the training ground, how many owners would do that?

    i honestly believe that anyone with half an interest in SAFC has started to get 'that' feeling back on match days, will take longer to get the less interested back into it again of course but from little acorns etc...we are on our way.
     
    #26
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  7. Sunderpitt

    Sunderpitt Well-Known Member

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    Do I honestly think that for the first time in a while we have a good chance of getting promoted out of the turd division. Yep I think we are in the running, 2 of the current top 3, unless form abandons the teams will go up.

    If we had beat Peterborough the odds of going up would be even greater. Drawing means our fate is still in our own hands..but the pressure is even more cranked up for the remaining games. A loss against Peterborough would have meant we were less likely to go up.

    As for the future, our young wealthy owner certainly seems to know what he wants to do...and is a fan/football man and is putting in the foundations for building for the future.

    LJ is an honest manager, he seemingly like a lot of us, (me included) played the Peterborough pitch by having two big lads up front. He admitted he got it wrong... fair enough, but imho should have made the switch earlier.

    Another big call is Mcgeady and Jones both capable of scoring and creating goals, but defensively not the best.

    Of course I have some criticism of the manager, some of it sure with hindsight. However LJ is getting most of it right and has got the players playing in the main both focused and with a smile on their face A winning combination.

    Charlton (another jinx to dispel) on Saturday... let's do it...one game at a time.

    Overall we have turned a corner

    YEP...promotion must happen!
     
    #27
  8. SpikeyBob

    SpikeyBob Well-Known Member

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    For most of the Ross and Parkinson era I have never in 60 years of supporting the club felt less connected and ambivalent about the team. The football was dire and defensive and I never believed we were going to win.

    Now the games can't come fast enough - the week we didn't have 2 games seemed to really drag. On and off the pitch things have improved out of all recognition.

    There's still a long way to go and nothing is guaranteed this season, but now there's a medium/long term plan which I think will see us back in the PL and not just making up the numbers.

    In short - I believe again.
     
    #28
  9. Arlyman

    Arlyman Well-Known Member

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    The 'bloody Sunderland' feeling left me when Swindon hit the bar in the last minute rather than scoring. We only need a reasonable amount of luck as we are playing too well and I think we'll get it.
     
    #29
  10. Nads

    Nads Well-Known Member

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    100% feels like something new and different to me.

    Not a single iota to suggest there’s anything to worry about, or any risk of another false dawn.

    How high we can go with it remains to be seen, but the foundations feel rather sturdy, and that’s where anything starts.
     
    #30

  11. Kaito

    Kaito Well-Known Member

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    It's very kind of you to say that, so many thanks. I think we are a bit of an odd team at the moment. We are definitely not fashionable for the media, but I like that about us. We really can play blistering football when things click but we have been ruined by injuries for weeks and with the small squad we have it has cost us dearly. Our manager Ralph has such a positive influence on every aspect of the club and although things are up and down at the moment, a lot of us feel there is something special being created with a long term outlook.

    Your owner is also doing everything he can to build for the long term and it will pay dividends in the future. There's no point in going ballistic for a season only to be caught out because the infrastructure isn't there to support continued success. We are doing the same but it can be frustrating for those who can't see the bigger picture. Building things takes time and unless the foundations are in place, whatever is built will eventually come tumbling down. I can't see that happening to Sunderland or Saints now things are getting sorted out.

    Wishing you guys all the very best for the rest of the season.
     
    #31
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  12. Gil T Azell

    Gil T Azell Well-Known Member

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    CL in 3 seasons or they can f*ck right off <laugh><laugh><laugh>.
     
    #32
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  13. Smug in Boots

    Smug in Boots Well-Known Member

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    That's how I feel mate ...

    ... can't believe it's still bloody Thursday ffs.

    I want the match!!!
     
    #33
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2021
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  14. samwise_new

    samwise_new Well-Known Member

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    i like ralph, he literally plays every game and you can visibly see the emotion in him when interviewed...i think redmond when on form is the man that drives the saints on, bit like mcgeady for us, both missed when not in the team yet at times you struggle to see what they bring to the table, you are safe for another season which is always a good basis to move forward, just wait there for us, we wont be too long ;)
     
    #34
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  15. rowley

    rowley Well-Known Member

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    I've been saying since Christmas, that I would rather we were taken over by an ambitious and confident new owner than fluke a promotion under the old owners and Parkinson. Maybe we'll get up anyway, and with a decent chance of staying there.

    If I was a League One side with hopes of going up next year, or one on the way down hoping to get back up, I'd be rooting for us now. You wouldn't want us in that league next season.

    I have only very rarely felt confident about our prospects in fifty odd years of going. But I am now, and it can take the time it needs. Direction is everything, and we are heading the right way at last.
     
    #35
  16. NC Sanddancer

    NC Sanddancer Well-Known Member

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    It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this optimistic! Yes a little under Peter Reid and maybe when I was a giddy teenager!
    The other day I asked my husband, who’s a mug supporter if he’d swap Newcastle’s circumstances for ours!! Probably he replied ☺️☺️ (Reluctantly)
     
    #36
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  17. robinoz

    robinoz Well-Known Member

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    I have supported Sunderland since I saw my first game at Roker Park when my Grandad took me at age 11 years, over sixty years ago now!
    From age 15 I was constant attender in the Clock Stand until I suffered a broken arm during the mad crush of the Man Utd FA cup replay, after which I moved to the Roker End (stand 11) and after that into the Fulwell End until the closure of Roker and the move to the SOL.
    You can only imagine the ups and downs of those early, often exciting and bitterly disappointing years yet, after gaining promotion to the first division under Alan Brown, my optimism has not wavered too much until recently, and yes, I “fell out of love” with the club, but, despite emigrating to Australia some 11 years ago I did not forget them, looked out for the match results, read the match reports and avidly kept in touch with the old BBC 606 pages and this forum.
    Now the old fire in my belly is back, cannot wait for match day and often wake up during the night to check on the score, some would say it’s silly at my age, but what the heck? - I feel there are great times ahead for SAFC, just hope I last long enough to see them.
     
    #37
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  18. robinoz

    robinoz Well-Known Member

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    Like the Freudian slip - Mug Supporter instead of Mag supporter - no disrespect to your hubby mind you, each to their own.
     
    #38
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  19. KLD

    KLD Well-Known Member

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    More excited than when Short took over to be honest. This bloke seems like the real deal to me and every appointment he has made thus far looks very impressive.

    If we go up i think he will invest in the squad really well
     
    #39
  20. Draig

    Draig Well-Known Member

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    When Ellis bought us out I remember being excited about his money and not much else. I wish things had turned out better for him (and us) because he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy who had a naivety about football that led to the development of Sunderland's infamous rotten core (both on and off the field ) and the piss-taking party.

    I admit that I was naive too. I thought that money would automatically lead to better times.

    Well the rest is history. Success came to mean defeating the mags and scraping a place in the premiership for the next season. Still, I supported. Then came Moyes and I still supported, but it became the support a drug addict had for their next hit. Grayson and Coleman just cemented the toxicity around supporting the lads.

    Then came the Chuckle Brothers and things were so bed that I believed all the cuts were just a prelude to a proper rebuild. Yet the Playoff final brought a new low for me as a fan.

    I stopped believing and knew we needed a new ownership or else we were going to be stuck in League 1. Results hurt yes, but I was becoming more and more detached from SAFC. The takeover was more ìmportant than match results.

    KLD was more a hope for change, any change, than a belief in a brighter future. Against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic SAFC was, for me, becoming increasingly irrelevant. There was no period of pre-game anticipation and no post-mortem mourning period. Everything was constrained within the match day.

    The new manager came in and I was like'who?!' The backroom changes didn't reassure me much either as I wondered if this could be Short revisited. This all culminated in the defeat by Shrewsbury. That was a watershed moment. Whatever went on after that match was where our history changed.

    After that we started building this amazing unbeaten run, which was great in itself, but I also found out about KLD living by the Academy.

    For me those two things are when my fan's hope became something more. That is when I became convinced and I began to believe.

    After the defeat to Shrewsbury the games couldn’t come around quickly enough. After I found out where KLD was living then I realised he was genuine and I stopped worrying about club structure and what it might mean for club saleability. Without that anchor of domesticity the fine words to the fans' forums about being here for the long term wouldn't have carried the same impact.
     
    #40

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