I was a fan too. Still like the bloke as he’s an optimist. And his letter to the fans was a touch of class. Agree there’s no point in comparing the 2. There are undoubtedly times Johnson got the subs right. And wrong. There will undoubtedly be the same with Neil in the future. I have a lot of time for Neil. He says it like it is. Seems to have the nous and have given the players the Nous too. Nice to see some ****housery!! Particularly in the Wigan game!!
Its early days to pass any judgement on AN to be honest, but he has shown himself so far to be a very astute game manager, and also very brave, something I could never accuse LJ of . They are like chalk and cheese to me, hence my faith in AN , it may be of course misplaced only time will tell. But I am genuinely pleased that you enjoy this board, as much as I enjoy your contribution to it, and long may it continue as we agree on so much more than that which we obviously disagree, no vendettas here . .
Looking at the home, away, win or draw prediction, i wonder how many will vote non home win for saturday
When you posted 1-2, I replied with the well thought out and reasoned response of "twat". I had put a smiley face after it, but for some reason it didn't post. Just so you know it was meant in jest....and hopefully no offence taken.
Personally I think that the plan was for AN to take over from LJ immediately but then Keane let it be known that he was interested and it all went sideways. All water under the bridge now of course
I am of a similar opinion, they shouldn't have let themselves be swept up in it though. I think Keane was more to win fans over than them thinking he was more qualified or better choice than Neil. So should never have been going down that route but if they believed he was a better option then needed to give him stricter deadlines on getting the deal done. The time they took was the issue!
Nice to see the Onion back in the team and get a goal. I'm convinced he's a positive influence on the squad.
IMO Neil was lined up, ready to come and obviously available. Keane then let it be widely known that he was interested. That put the club in a bind whereby an outright rejection would enrage the supporters. So he was interviewed, and that info released, which delayed things. Keane eventually bottled it, yes I know people think he's too much of a hard man. The club had to go to Neil who instantly said 'yes'. Keane may be the reason for the costly delay, not KLD. We'll probably never know and tbh I couldn't give a shiney shyte ... ... Neil might turn out to be the manager we've needed for years.
I think he might be used in the 10 role, he has the workrate of Pritchard to help us defend from the front, hopefully Clark is getting up to speed with lasting the full 90 as well.
I agree I think Keane dragged it on and in the end decided his other projects were better for him! He may have made all the right assurances right until the last second!
i thought LJ had to go, not that i disliked the fella at all but he really seemed to be struggling to get the squad fired up again. i also think keane was far more media than actual fact, he was interested and the club offered him an interview as i suspect they did with other candidates but because of who he is and past links it was blown out of proportion. is AN the right choice?...time will tell on that one just as it would whoever came in, my own opinion so far is that he has shown he is prepared to take risks and be brave in his choice of line up even though he knows if it goes 'pete tong' he is going to get some serious stick, his half time changes were good to see and i feel he was thinking about making them before the break. conclusion is he has not set the place on fire with any 'new manager bounce' but has had to work fast with what he had and it is obvious he is still working on his 'best 11' but there are improvements in the play on the pitch, not always skillful passing moves that sweep the opposition aside but in back to basics, getting stuck in and making the ball theirs...the lads need to get that belief back into them that they showed early season and if they do, we could hit the play offs with all the momentum needed.
Good post, makes sense. It's brave to play Matete, leave Broadhead out, take Roberts off, leave Clarke on, etc etc etc. By the looks of yesterday he let the players know his feelings on the first half ... ... and the good thing is they actually responded. Yes we won ugly but that's much better than losing ugly.
Winning ugly show resilience. Something we’ve not shown a massive amount of in the poor runs we’ve been on. I enjoyed the win last night. It was a poor (understatement) advert for the game but I perversely enjoyed the second half. Once we scored I only saw one winner as long as the ref didn’t award them some stupid foul (which he appeared desperate to do!)
The referee was so ridiculous biased to Fleetwood that he needlessly sent their player off for two minor fouls to balance it up. For a Sunderland team playing so poorly and booed off the pitch, to come out fighting gives me real hope tbh. Sheff Wed played poorly at Lincoln and lost, we were worse last night and won ... ... I'll take plan B any day of the week.
Echoes everything I’ve been saying all season. I’d rather play badly and win than play well and lose!!
