Just watched the extended highlights. Frustrating loss but the lads certainly battled and created good chances. Watford looked like a big, physical side with plenty of pace. The Watford players and the home crowd were delighted and relieved at the end so you can tell that we gave them a very tough game.
Stayed off this last night as I was frustrated and can’t understand the need to have a scapegoat for some. I criticised Neil after his sending off and hoped he learnt from it, the penalty was just a poor decision by him and he is still integral to the team. For me RLBs subs cost us, we were playing well and causing them issues and he brought 2 subs on who had zero impact. Another 3 points on Tuesday and things will look better, our home form is crucial this season
Still upset we chucked a point away. However, we are ahead of where we all thought. You can see we will be a real force this season and who knows where it'll end? This league is tough and unpredictable, but we've proper depth in the squad. Onwards to Derby on Tuesday and hopefully 3 points
personally i expected us to start slow and improve through the season so as things currently stand i am a happy bunny. yes, i did criticise neil, mainly because he had luckily avoided giving a foul away just outside the box then follows it up with a 'forwards' tackle for the penalty..it was a complete brain fart from the lad (pretty sure i also mentioned he started the game well) but it helped cause us a loss of a point. i could also criticise onien for his venture upfield (and losing the ball) or hume for his brain fart of a mid air tackle (in our box), luckily neither cost us a goal... dan neil (imo) has hit one of his 'sticky times' just as he did when losing the ball when on the half-turn and when he simply waved his leg limply when going in for a tackle, both of those times he seemed to improve from one game to the next and came back stronger, i am sure in a game or two we will be praising the lad again but yesterday was just one of those decisions every player has at some point.
You can guarantee that Dan Neil knows he made a bad decision. The need for some of our “fans” to point vitriol at him is disgraceful. These will be the same people who say we have the “best fans in the world” no doubt!
A stupid moment costs us at least a point. I'm not going to sit and berate Dan Neil for it as hes said so himself. It feels similar to Plymouth in that its frustrating to lose points when we've shot ourselves in the foot. Away from the actual result and that first half hour its really encouraging I feel. Isidor looked a threat and scored a good goal, again created by Roberts who is shushing those who say he has no end product. A fourth goal involvement already. We were creating opportunities and looked the more likely to win it. We lost a little bit of momentum when Isidor and Roberts went off but understandably with a Tues and Fri home double. Hopefully we have a couple back for those as I feel the strength in depth is just a little light right now. Once we get lads back in from injury and the new signings up to speed the squad strength actually looks quite good for me. Still plenty to be optimistic about despite ths result.
Agree with this. In excusable Neil’s challenge. I also think his sending off was rash decision making. He needs to sort it but overall he’s a quality player. I had a feeling it might not go to plan with us losing players late. When we’re well drilled we’re solid, but losing players late at this point in the season when we have new players is disruptive. Eventually they’ll all know the drill. Some very exciting players on our books at this point and huge competition for places ahead which will lift standards.
Trai Hume has revealed that Sunderland captain Dan Neil accepted responsibility for his mistake against Watford in the dressing room after the game. “Definitely,” Hume responded when asked if Sunderland’s dressing room had rallied around their teammate after the game. “Dan put his hands up, he knows he shouldn't have dove. “You know, those things happen in football, it could have happened to anyone but, you know, we'll rally around him, he's our captain so we'll rally around him, we'll go again Tuesday.” Sunderland face two games this week against Derby County on Tuesday and Leeds United on Friday to take their total to three in six days including the clash versus Watford at Vicarage Road. “It's a heavy week,” Hume added on Sunderland’s schedule. “It's got to be tough, there's a lot of games back to back. We're playing three games in six days so it'll be tough on the legs but that's where the strength in the squad will have to come in. “We'll have to make changes and a lot more subs because it's tough, but we'll have to manage it, and we'll just have to bounce back on Tuesday and then go again Friday.” https://www.sunderlandecho.com/spor...dMDA_aem_yzriuf-dXjjS-4K9XFyuGA&sfnsn=scwspmo
Haven’t read through all of the thread so no doubt it’s already been discussed but what on earth was Neil thinking? Genuinely can’t believe he dove in there. Embarrassing really
A badly timed 'last ditch' tackle to prevent someone through on goal is one thing ... ... what sickened me was that there was absolutely no need to make a tackle at all.
Yep, really frustrating. It’s early days but I think we might’ve got it wrong with Neil being captain. I’d have Browne in for him as soon as he’s fit.
Good to see Watson involved. Poor result, we need to be better with the ball, feels too slow and predictable. What happened to the press, far too passive in the first half.
I’m not as knowledgeable as most of you but a common comment about Dan Neil is that he’s not a number 4 or whatever position he’s currently being played in. We all know he’s a good player. Why is he not being played in the position where he’s best. Where he has been playing and getting glowing credits. If it means rotating Jobe and Rigg then so be it. Am I right in thinking we have a couple (currently injured) that can cover this number 4 position. Samed, Aleksic and Browne…even Onion when Ballard is back. Is Corry Evans still available for a temporary stand in (although he will probably not be match fit)
Totally agree. I was there and people round me were going mental about it. The guy had got to the byline but was going nowhere, Cirkin was back Infront of him a couple of yards away, plenty back picking up their forwards. All he had to do was stay on his feet and stand him up. Instead he dove in and wiped him out, needless and with 5 minutes left and us comfortable it made it even worse. Age and inexperience can't be used as an excuse, he's almost 23, been a first team regular starter for 4 years now and played 154 games in all competitions for us. In fact only O'Nien out of the current squad has played more games for us. He should know better.
Nice to see him go over to the coaches. Always like players doing that. Great to see Paddy back on it as well. Such a good player when on form. Maybe a reminder that players can go through a bad run of form and still repay a bit of patience and faith from coaches. If we dropped everyone who had a bad few games, or made mistakes, we would never build any consistency in our play or results on the pitch.
