... is a phrase that should carry a six month prison term, suspended for a first offence. It's such a stupid and lazy phrase to trot and only matched by 'Ex-Sunderland player nailed on to score' as was claimed for Wickham at Cardiff. In reality Sunderland have failed to win at Wembley, as have many teams, and failed to win important games, as have many teams. In reality most teams don't get into those positions we have so will never 'fail'. And people forget the times we haven't 'done a Sunderland' like the semi-final at Old Trafford, the Burnley 3-2 game and the title winner at Luton, the second leg play off at Hillsborough and the final against Wycombe. Never mind the Tranmere game at Wembley when we won a trophy. They forget the 2-0 at home to West Ham and the fantastic night at the battleground of Stamford Bridge when police horses were on the pitch. They ignore the di Canio classic and the unforgettable play off semi at SJP when we broke their hearts, brought them back to life, killed them off and danced on their graves. Yet some tossers are still gleefully predicting we'll blow it tomorrow against a team we've already beaten ... ... perhaps we'll lose but, ffs, support the Lads and hope we're on our way, to the Premier we're on our way!!!
On a similar note I’m dreading the season end whatever the outcome and the same doom mongers tripping up with IF WE’d signed a striker ****e this young side and the management team have done us proud COME ON
All of the teams in the bottom six have signed strikers ... ... QPR were 'nailed on to stay up' once they'd signed Chris Martin who's actually shyte please log in to view this image
I agree, but for me, I'll happily say that we "do a Sunderland" from time to time, because that's who we are. We're unpredictable, so I expect the unexpected. It's why 73 is iconic in football, how we can be relegated with a record low points one season, but get to the FA cup semi final and just miss out on promotion the next. How we can come down on a horrible losing streak and look like setting a new league record, only to stop it with a brilliant stoppage time header from our goalie. How we can be relegated with a new record low points, but comfortably win the league title the next season. How we can have the heartache of missing out in the play off final in 98, but win the league with a then new high points total the next, winning it by 18 points to the runner up. We were the first club in England to defeat Jose Mourinho at home. The great escape in 2014, bottom of the league at Christmas, yet finish the season in 14th as well as get to the league cup final and FA cup quarter final. Even this year, we've "done a Sunderland" as it's gone far better than anyone would have predicted at the start. The disappointments hurt when they happen, but just like you've said and the examples I've given, the highs are something else. What other club can give you that? It's like going to an amusement park, do you go on the peddle cars or the rollercoaster? Me, I'll take the rollercoaster every time. And I think everyone one here will be the same
This centre forward saga has made us trust the squad we had to see out the season. Yes we could be higher etc, but even before January we were relying on these kids to do the business and on the whole they haven't let us down. Speakman has been proved right imo by not going down the buy anyone whose worn the No9 shirt in the past. Even since January our injuries have kept piling up, there's another one today apparently but even down to the bare bones were still in with a shout of the top six. Whether or not we make the playoffs doesn't seem to matter to me if I'm honest I'm just happy to have enjoyed a fantastic season, seen some great individual play and some fabulous team goals, what will be will be and we haven't long to wait and see.
Good post mate....and,no matter where we end up, this season has given us real hope and optimism for the future.
I think the ovation the players get, after the last home and away games, will be as good as if they'd won the league ... ... yes we've blown a few leads and made mistakes but they've given us some truly incredible moments. Anyone who was at Reading will never forget that Jack Clarke goal
Spot on Smug. Watching this team this season has been a real pleasure. Even the odd aberration...Stoke?....hasn't taken away the excitement and the anticipation. I've not enjoyed our football more in many a year.
Some people like to be pessimistic as for whatever reason, to them it maybe takes the sting out of failing. The vast majority of fans this year though seem happier than ever, and for good a reason. We’re finally out of league one, we’re miles ahead of where I thought we would be in terms of league competitiveness, and what gives me the most optimisation, play offs or not, is how much we know a player like Stewart can impact this team, and only take us further. We are on the up.
Some on here were desperate for us to sign him (or some lump from non- league ) purely because he's over 6 foot and "you need a target man to hold the ball up". What a load of ****e that's turned out to be. Glad the club stuck to their guns, what a waste of money Martin would have been.
‘Don’t waste money on stop-gaps’ seems to be one of the key rules for our recruitment. The other side of the same coin is that the stop-gaps we don’t get, don’t get in the way of other players developing.
I'm as pessimistic as they come and I've been guilty of the 'typical Sunderland!' comment numerous times. But since supporting them since the mid 80's this is the first time I feel that the club has shaken off that burden that they have constantly placed on me. Yes, in the past weve been higher in the league, won more important matches, but the club has almost always seemed to have been sitting on a knifes edge, a game or two away from disaster. Where we sit currently, with people who seem to know what they are doing, with players who are here who have not arrived for just a final fat pay packet. We have players wanting to push on and better themselves, giving the club some assets in the process. I mean, how often have we actually bought a player and sold them on for a hefty profit? This is the first time we have a squad of players where we can do that. For the first time in recent memory we are not a relegation away from financial disaster or financially desperate for promotion. We can enjoy the FOOTBALL. Now there may be some 'typical Sunderland' moments along the way, but now I feel like we are in a position where we can laugh about them instead of letting them choke us on our own rage and despair.
Excellent post mate, really sums it up for me. I don't know if we're there yet but we might become a club where every current player is worth more than they cost ... ... unlike recently when we've actually had to pay players to leave and most of the squad has been worth fractions of what we paid.
