How come every other team that played yesterday is playing in the cup on Wednesday but we are playing tomorrow? & not sure if it has been mentioned but does tomorrow night cover Humes suspension?
Its not Town fans that are saying this we know how tough it will be and a mid table finish would be an acheivement.
Hope your grandson was buzzing after that mate. Not too long ago it was Dan who was the startstruck young lads fan.
Unexpectedly spoke to an Ipswich fan at work today. Talking to a supplier in London and he saw my Sunderland wall of fame in the background of my office. His view on us was that we were unreal for 25 minutes. He said they have never faced anything like it in years. Ultimately he couldnt believe they had won, but thought second half they showed much more of what they are about. His final words were he would be surprised if they finish above us this season, based on the overall quality on show yesterday, specifically Pritchard off the bench is miles above them.
The CBs we signed literally just turned 20 years old. Same boat as Hemir, they likely won't be ready for a while. Have been baffled all summer at folk saying "we have plenty of CB depth now". O'Nien is still a starter there. The Bathh situation needs sorting. He's still our player so not sure why he wasn't playing on Saturday?
My parents watched it on tv and said they didn’t notice the Ipswich time wasting. I couldn’t believe it as I thought it was blatant. 2 minutes at the end of the first half was a piss take
He was one of three grandchildren at the match, another one was in a Exec. Box with his team mates and he was very upset at not having his picture taken with Sampson and Delilah . He is the joker in the pack often unintentionally.
Finally got round to watching the highlights. I'd say O9 at fault for both goals - 2nd one is an excellent ball by Broadhead, but O9 should have been tighter, his positioning and body shape was all wrong - a natural defender would potentially intercept that pass. The incident where their player hit the bar was a nailed on pen and just sums up the ref's performance that he didn't give it. Hume's 2nd yellow was apparently for kicking the ball away after the foul, because I was wrong and he barely touched the lad's arm. Brilliant save from their keeper to deny Neil at the end, but wondering if he should have taken it earlier with his head.... please log in to view this image If you look at the pic and see O9's balance is on the front foot instead of the back (like Ballard above him) meaning as soon as the ball is played beyond him he's committed and taken out of commission. Not saying Batth would have stopped that goal, but O9's lack of experience cost us O9 is looking to move towards the ball (like a midfielder might) rather than move with the ball and the player to reduce the angle
Good analysis of that mate I watched it back as well and thought he has to be dropping towards the goal in that situation. Can not be stepping up as the last man to try n intercept the ball, think he realised n then got caught in no mans land Also think cirkins body position could have been better for the goal, he wouldnt have stopped it but would be wanting him to be turned more towards his own goal As you said its a great pass by broadhead but sloppy from our side of things Neils one is a tough 1 at the end, since its a quality save by the GK id say he made the right decision. He made some great runs into the box, once he improves his finishing he could be a very good goal scoring midfielder - another reason i really wamt a cdm as frees neil n ekwah to get forward
Random thoughts with optimistic lenses in: All three teams that made the playoffs last season lost. Not just us. Ipswich on paper are a weaker team and we outplayed them for most of the game (without creating much). However they're highly rated for a reason and defended well. For all we know we just played one of the strongest sides in the league. Jobe Bellingham looked a lot better than I think most of us expected him to. Certainly not the "nowhere near ready" view we got from Birmingham fans. Our style suits counter attacking into space which we couldn't do because of the way Ipswich set up. My views of where we finish this season haven't changed - I still think Top 10. But I don't know where in that 10. If I'm honest I am leaning towards narrowly missing the playoffs this season.
Tend to agree with that. Thought Jobe faded early in the 2nd half so he has to work on that this season, but he was outstanding on the ball in the 1st half. My gut feeling for this season is top 10 with a play off flirt. I don't think we are strong enough to worry the top 2
