McCann in ? Or out ?

I remember him playing that game against us, I'd never heard of him at the time but he really irritated me, going down and winning soft free kicks all the time. Didn't help that losing that game effectively relegated us. Of course, now it brings a wry smile to my face whenever he buys free kicks by falling on top of the ball.

 

I remember it well. Him and Pickford were stand outs. He was always wanting the ball. When he first came to us, I wondered how the heck we'd managed to get him, and then when he started playing wondered what the heck had gone wrong. Guess it was a case of settling in.

 

FFS!...
Why did you have to write something using common sense.

In December, I would've sacked McCann in a heartbeat but 2 of the last 3 performances have started to sway me (a little).
As the saying goes, One swallow doesn't make a summer (just 1 really decent night!) He knows now, he's going to be watched like a hawk and he'll also know he's not untouchable (which under Ehab, let's be honest- he was!) which may just spur him on a bit?


Either way, I suppose I wouldn't be sad if he got the boot.

 

Did you ever see the Sunderland documentary on (possbly?) Netflix? I genuinely thought he was one of the very few who came across as a decent, down to earth lad.
Couldn't quite believe we'd got him and the Sunlan fans were slating him!

Who's laughing now eh?

 

There were 2 Series on Netflix of 'Sunderland 'Til I Die' which followed the club over 2 complete seasons. Loved them!

My first husband was a Sunderland fan and my current one has followed their fortunes since he was a young lad.

A 3rd series was talked about but has yet to materialise.

 

Docherty had a very good spell at Shrewsbury though and both Baxter and Longman have yet to play a minute for their parent clubs.

They were all players we signed after their performances at lower league clubs

 

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spo...discussed-with-acun-ilicali-next-week-3536595

McCann on his future..

"Acun and Tan came to see me when I was doing the press conference after the (Blackburn) game, but the airport was closing and they had to quickly shoot back to Humberside (Airport) and I had a brief four or five-minute chat with Tan before he left. He said we will obviously look forward to seeing you at Bournemouth and sit down and have a chat next week.

That is where we are, we are all looking forward to the game and can only control what we can control and want to se if we can take the performance on Wednesday evening into Saturday against a team who are probably expected to try and win the division and we are looking to the challenge.

It is right with the way it has been done. It (takeover) has only been announced on Wednesday and I don't think it is right that people should be speaking to people when these things are happening. It has only come out on Wednesday and we have game after game after game at the minute, so in terms of respect and constantly focusing on games, there's a lot of other stuff going on behind the scenes.

I am just focusing on this game on Saturday. What will be, will be and everything else will be taken care of one way or another. I love being at this football club and working with these group of players and that's where we're at."

 

A few words from McCann on the Allams..

“I went to see Ehab yesterday, I spent a couple of hours with him and brought him a nice bottle of champagne round and a card to say thanks. I think Assem and Ehab are going to come down and see the players (on Friday morning) at the training ground and have some food.

I’m very thankful, they brought me to the football club. I’ve been here the best part of two-and-a-half years now, they’ve been very faithful to me. They could have easily sacked me after the relegation in the first season, obviously there was a lot of reasons behind that we felt at the time. Hopefully we repaid them in getting the promotion last season and winning the league with very limited time to try and prepare and change a losing mind-set into a winning mind-set.

A lot of people from the outside looking in haven’t got good words to say about Ehab and Assem, but I can only tell you how I feel and how the players feel and how the staff feel. They haven’t got a bad word to say about Ehab and Assem, they’re very nice people, a nice family and we wish them well.”

 

it is rumoured that Şota Arvaladze will be the next manager. Still, I would expect Acun to bring someone already proved himself in such an organisation.

 

Seen the clips, McCann seems very happy and relaxed about the whole situation.

 

Hardly surprising. The pay off if he gets the sack would put a smile on most people’s faces.

It’s a win win situation for the bloke.

 

I think terry has probably improved his cv lately, he’s got a better chance of another job now. What happens at city now is out of his hands so I suspect with a pay off he’s not in a terrible position

 

TBF once he won L1 with us, any big team trying to get out that league would take him. I doubt he'll go to a championship team so his stock will be no better it worse then it was at the end of last season.

 

Is that TV program or husband.

 

True but they’ll still look at his championship record if they want to stay there and progress. No point in just hiring him to get out of l1 if he can’t go further

 

Lot of teams which were thought to be promotion contenders from League 1 have not made it. Terry has done it. You would bring him in to do it again. It is why relegation facing clubs bring in the usual suspects to get them out of trouble and then get rid when they have done it

 

He's proving this year that he can comfortably keep you in the league even with the smallest budget. That's a real admirable quality to many clubs. He's been on a hiding to nothing here, given no money for players, incredibly difficult owners and one of the least intimidating home grounds in the country because the fans hated the owners so much. Despite that, he's built the makings of a very good side, he's promoted and developed youth which will earn us a fortune down the line and he's really well liked amongst the players. He's going to have his pick of clubs

The disrespect he gets his crazy, he's done a very steady job on absolutely peanuts.

 

Sorry, I absolutely can’t agree with this.

This is a manager who had a horrific run of form that got us relegated in the first place from a very good position. In that run we had our record worst defeat against a relegation rival. He tried the same thing week after week and it NEVER worked. He didn’t need to do much to stay up that season.

I respect the league win, which is always impressive. At the same time however, we went into that season with a good squad against a league with many clubs reluctant to do much business because they weren’t sure when fans will come back to give them some form of income.

He started this season very badly and we saw a bit of the same stubbornness that got us relegated in the first place. Things have improved and he’s got more flexible (forced or not is up to you to decide) but I think it’s a reach at the moment to say we’ll stay up comfortably when teams below us have games in hand.

Alongside this, he’s put himself into positions where he has brought more pressure on himself. I remember specifically the draw we got against Swansea, which I didn’t watch and remember feeling fairly impressed with when it came through. His reaction to a fairly mundane question in the media was defensive and aggressive and left a sour taste over a reasonable result.

I don’t think he’s been 100% terrible and I’d agree there’s some positives about youth progression, but at the same time saying he’s done a steady job ignores a fair amount of his failings.

 

Out of interest where would you expect a team with the lowest budget in the league to finish?

The biggest criticism people seem to give Grant is that he got us relegated. Both he and Ehab have agreed that they were extenuating circumstances for that which weren't directly relegated to the gaffer.

The 433 argument is and always has been bollocks. There's lots of small changes in how we play from game to game depending on the opposition. Just because it's not mentioned, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

You don't think he's a good manager but he completely outfoxed Mowbray the other night and his gameplan l worked great.

 

How many points do teams get docked for a truculent attitude in post match interviews?

it’s such a bizarre stick to beat anyone with, especially the manager of your own team.