It can be like that at times, but I have to say this board and this thread in particular has been pretty lighthearted about it all in the main. Lots of different opinions but I've not seen anything really personal and regardless of the views most appear to want the best for the club with varying degrees of frustration applied. All good for me.
I'm especially sick of the bolded bit especially when it always turns out they didn't know what they were talking about in the first place. Spot on post in general. Your explanation of what likely happened is what makes the most realistic sense to me. Us losing out on our number one superstar coach because Speakman has to keep Dodds and Proctor in their roles no matter what makes a lot less sense. It's his job and reputation on the line too. Football (Sunderland football) side of the forum has been crap for a while. Hopefully we can get the right bloke in, have a good season and people can calm their tits down.
We just need to start doing better, less scattergun style business. I'm more than happy for that to happy with everyone currently involved at the club to stay. But big improvements need to be made to how we're performing. Feels like we are going from fighting fire after fire at the moment. It's the opposite of sustainable.
No doubt about it but its refining the system that is required. We've got the basis of it right but things like the squad building needs to be more logical and evenly spread.
Checking out of here for a bit. The board and twitter are an absolute asylum atm. Still got offered a contract, he turned us down last minute, get over it man. We move on. Yes I'd like a new head coach in, hopefully it's someone decent. I'll reserve judgement until I know who it is. No point screaming KLD out now until you know the whole facts. Put it this way, if Craig Hope is saying we offered him a deal but he changed his mind last minute it's more than likely the truth. That knacker likes to throw **** at us at every opportunity man
If, and i say if, Still has turned us down there may have been nothing we could have done about it. For all we know he isn't able to sogn a contract until the 1st of June and as such there was always a chance of being besten to his signature. None of us know the terms of his departure from Reims
No, we're the biggest supported club in the Championship. We haven't won a trophy of note in over 50 years and there a number of teams in this league who have been in the Premier League more recently than us, many of them have the benefit of parachute payments. Their fans may think they're the biggest in the Championship. I think we should leave delusions of grandeur to our near neighbours, who haven't won a trophy of note for nearly 70 years. We need to stop thinking we have a God-given right to be in the Premier League. We have to earn it like everyone else. We are really not as an attractive proposition as we like to make out and competing for Head Coaches with clubs offering European Football is admirable, but a tough ask. If we've been beaten on this occasion, we dust ourselves down and move on to another target.
Nothing has been confirmed yet but we have had the 2 scenarios given out today that are dividing opinion. The first is that Still has walked away because of "staffing" issues and investment, where posters like Prehab26 etc are falling behind and calling the club out. If this is true then I agree to some extent with the criticism. Then we have the second, which is that Still agreed to everything (staff and investment) and was sent a contract to sign. However, Lens stepped in at the last minute to high jack everything, where posters like FellTop and Scout73 etc are falling behind (and would support what Magnus has been advocating). This is the scenario that I myself believe to be true, so that then leaves the question of wether the deal couldn't be signed until the 1st of June. If it couldn't then I don't see anything else we could have done as any approach from another club could always turn his head, wether that be the last few days or since we started negotiations (unfortunately it was the former). However, if the 1st June isn't valid then again I agree that the club have to accept some criticism for any delay to get the deal signed. Hopefully we now move quickly to resolve this with a Maric type signing being my preference. If we do go down the "English" route then I would much prefer Rosenoir to any of the others mentioned. However, whoever we appoint I will give them my support and be cheering the team on in my seat in the North Stand.
Aye if people are basing their frustrations on us being the biggest club in the championship and deserving better, a reality check is in order.
If League positions were determined by how good their fans are, we would be in Europe every year. Unfortunately, it's based on what happens on the pitch. Historically, there are some pretty big teams in this league, like Preston, Leeds and West Brom. We're not the only big fish in the pond.
I'm not one who demands premier league football or irresponsible spending at all. The vision of becoming a factory of young talent, local and otherwise, excites me far more than just spending our way to the premier league only to have our overpaid journeyman players hit their ceiling and be dumped out immediately. That said, it takes an awful lot of competence to go down the route KLD wants to go down and I'm not really seeing it currently. I really don't care if it takes some time building to get to the premier league. I don't even think I'd be disappointed if KLD missed his mark with his five year plan. But keeping people patient requires positive steps. They now need to make those positive steps. I hope they have moved on from Still and are now working on hiring a coach who wants to be here, who wants to develop young players. Anything less will feel like a mistake. I think I'm now having serious misgivings over Speakman's place at the club. For me, he has this window to turn the momentum around and if he can't we need to look for someone who can put the vision into practice.
Be interesting to see if Still signs for Lens tomorrow with it being the 1st. If nothing is signed there within a few days, got to think we still have a chance.
i'm just going to post 1 more time, im happy that roker report, craig hope and scott wilson has confirmed what i was saying with all agreed and the 1st of june and planned announcement this week, so ill just leave 1 more thing still couldn't officially sign a contract till the 1st of june he's tried to play us off against lens for more money,he got his wish and got what he asked for here if the clubs fibbing you'll easily be able to see on the next appointment and how involved dodds is
