Pretty sure it's well known the world over that a lot of learning is born of failure. Sure they have learned a good deal this year and will improve under a good coach. Great that you want experience. I want quality. We probably can't afford both.
Most important position to fill this summer is 'common sense consultant' by the looks of it. Absolute basics.
It's a fair point. The right Head Coach,who can get the best from these players, together with getting our injured players back will do wonders for us. Yes,we need to recruit for two or three positions,and they need to be Championship ready,but,imo,the Coach is the key. We need the right man to be in place for more than a year! Apart from the injuries,constant change is what's ****ed us up this season.
Likely not a possibility without breaking wage structures and forgetting about sustainability. If we want quality and experience, it's patience we need rather than irresponsible spending.
We've paid fortunes for experienced players who've crashed cars, been locked up and lost us millions when we've managed to get them out of the club ... ... whatever you say about our young players they seem to be decent human beings. I'm sure they'll be a credit to the club meeting youngsters at the training session.
Cheers to GG for keeping us informed and taking our thoughts into consideration. Agree with the sentiment on here, would not agree with a protest at this stage. A protest cant be suggested any time we have a poor season. What exactly would the protest be about? If its to try and remove KLD, then I dont support that at this stage, he still has sufficient credit in the bank for the progress made since his arrival for me. If its about removing Speakman, a protest would be ott imo. I think there is a fair and decent debate to be had as to whether Speakman should be removed following decisions this season as well as debate about 'the model' and whether it can take us forward in its current form (should be some decent threads this summer for us to discuss on here). Re the off field stuff, I havent been personally impacted but reading some stories there is clearly improvements to be made which are now actioned in meetings earlier this year and we can now hold the club to see these improvements through. The BCB debacle is one ill not forget but following Davisons exit and the club obvs not being able to legally comment on the investigation, I'll be moving on from that now. I would like some of the 'easy wins' like tidying up the stadium, repairing leaks, repairing the ripped flags sorting, that's a pride/standards thing and should be easily fixed.
It is very interesting how different the opinions are on here compared to over the road. I have to stay fairly neutral but on the other thread I've voiced my personal opinion that I don't think it's time for a protest. Rawa made clear that we want to see improvements with the statement in January. Since then they've started workshops for things like ticketing, they've produced an action log with clear action owners and outcomes, and Davison is leaving. I don't think it would be fair, at all, to then say "not good enough" and protest after 3 months. Frankly it would make rawa look pathetic and would, imo, be massively against the wishes of the majority. Equally on the pitch has been poor, but as of January we were still in the play off hunt. A protest about that after 3 months is incredibly premature imo. It'll be interesting to see what the prevailing mood is at the meeting but, whilst I know people are frustrated at the lack of progress, I don't think the majority are at the point of wanting to protest, and certainly aren't at the point of wanting kld out. I hope we tweak the "model" and bring in players that address the obvious weaknesses in the side and are ready to play a key role immediately. I hope we replace Davison with someone who has the right experience. I expect they'll then flag the lack of resources, and hopefully kld will agree to staff the club fully. I hope we get a good head coach in who gets us playing a good style of football and crucially, gets results. If we slip backwards again a lot will lose faith and it might have to be revisited. For now, my feeling is that there wouldn't be support for protests and I doubt the membership will say otherwise. So thanks for the replies on here, they're being noted
i noticed an obvious growth in negativity on this site (during beale, mainly) and have been mostly quiet in recent weeks because if i had anything to say it would not be positive. so, KLD is the best thing to happen to this club in many a year, a young man from a strong footballing background, bit of money at the back of him and (finally) a plan/model/aim...of course he has made some mistakes but now is the time for him to show he has learned from them, currently i feel he has plenty right. speakman i am unsure about, i think he will have some kind of 'guidelines' to what type of player he has to be looking at but filling a squad with almost all 'up and coming lads with a bit of talent and a possible high sell on fee' is simply offering us a chance to see some odd excellent games mixed with some 'mares...again he needs to prove he has learned although it seems the supporters will give him less time than KLD. imho, this summer is basically make or break for the current ownership structure, the coach/manager has to be a good choice rather than adding another 'up and coming etc' to the ranks...i don't know what happened with AN and TM but i guess they knew there was one hell of a team there but one that needed some on field nous, something the young lads have not developed yet. as for the squad, we all knew if results turned bad these lads would 'fade', when things are going well they love to run around the pitch like dogs with two dicks...they have given us some great football to watch and hopefully will do again, they just need some help out there on the pitch now and then, they are all good lads but need to grow into the game, we need the 'links' to provide opportunities for the strikers...i don't think the current squad needs a great deal of work but it really has to be the right work this summer.
Some people relish being negative/miserable, which reminds me of this . . . . A bloke in the toilet of a working men’s club says “What do you think of the comedian ?” The other bloke replies “He’s alright, I suppose . . . . if you like laughing.”
I had wondered what you were up to. That's a pretty fair summary and I'd agree with most of it. There's nothing wrong with posting about what's wrong, I don't even see that as negativity tbh. We can all see it but some are doubling up on it and already being negative about a summer window that isn't even here. What's tedious is when the good when the club is described as embarrassing when there are clubs below us, Birmingham, Stoke, Blackburn, etc, who've brought in the wrong players/manager/staff. That's just football and has always been like that ... ... no call for hysteria or protests, just hard work from everyone.
Well put GG, all very sensible imo. If people want to protest tell them to get on with it instead of just gobbing off on forums ... ... they won't as well you know. If I was KLD and RAWA organised a mass protest, against the club, I'd laugh my arse off then tell you to clear off and never come back. We've had a bad few months which could've turned out much differently imo. If we'd drawn Man City in the FA Cup, not lost important players and chosen the wrong manager it could've all been so much better. But that's football, sometimes it all goes wrong and it can just as easily go right again.
I could be way off the mark but I think that’s what happens with spirit of the 37, they became a voice of the fans rather than fan experience
I get the sentiment Smug but disagree about ridiculing people who are angry enough to talk about protesting. Probably not a popular view. We all feel strongly about the club and those angry fans could look on those who focus on the good things as being blinkered or having their heads in the sand. The nuances of the situation are difficult to pin down but it’s healthy for all sides to keep open minds about opposing and alternative views.
What I'm ridiculing them about isn't their passion, support or even protesting, it's the incessant talking about protests that we all know won't happen. They just want to feel superior and more passionate than others imo. People who don't want a protest are regularly ridiculed as accepting mediocrity, being part of the problem, not as committed because they're not from Sunderland, etc etc etc. If there was an actual poll of supporters there'd be, 20,000 who are angry but don't want a protest 15,000 who are disappointed but not angry 5,000 who are absolutely seething and demand a protest .... ... 10% of whom would give up a day to protest outside the club. Half of those would give it an hour and nip off to the pub