Match Day Thread Sporting CP v Sunderland AFC - Monday 21st July 2025 - KO 20:00

Top thread again RTB, cant thank you enough for the work you do keeping us involved in all things SAFC. .
First half against Sevilla was an eye opener, and a similar line up as suggested above will do me, not a fan of 10 changes at half time, and hope this is a tactic that wont become the norm . OaU

 

I think we will see the same tactic today.
RLB has said that they will evaluate the squad after this trip, we still have a lot of transfer business to do but he'll probably start to narrow the squad down to those that he feels will feature in the Premier League in the next few friendlies.

 

Def make 10 changes at HT but I suspect against Hearts players will get 60 mins then there'll be subs

 

Thats how I see it , pleased as punch with that Sevilla game, that first half move with Le Fee and Huggins laying on a chance for Mayenda was us in Wembley mode. Auguring well for the season ahead, our counter attacking second half was also heartening, sharpen up the finishing and we are RTG. Oops.

 

HA'WAY THE LADS

MACKEMS ATTACKEM

 

Not sure if this is the best place for this, I don’t want to derail your thread RTB but here we go.


Enjoyed a great afternoon/evening training session and ’meet and greet’ with the players, staff and management yesterday.

The training was intense and impressive with a temperature in the shade of 30c.

The lads look super fit and the team spirit was great and very obvious with lots of obvious banter between the players.

After the session the players mingled with us and were very friendly and happy to chat and have photos taken.

Photo above is my partner with Enzo, after a hug for the photo she told him he was very sweaty, naturally he apologised , what a gentleman.


I had the opportunity to have a good chat with Kristjaan Speakman, we’ve already seen massive progress with the squad but there’s still more to come, he’s been out of the country for nearly two weeks, still working on the squad. It’s obvious from what he said that he still has a big role to play in recruitment.

David Bruce gave a little speech to us at the barbecue afterwards. He’s a very impressive guy and totally SAFC. We know that there are big improvements being carried out at the SOL, he said, we’re spending more on these improvements than anything since the stadium was built.

He also said that there is tremendous pressure on him and the senior management to absolutely maximise every revenue stream so that they can hand the proceeds to Kristjaan and Florent to improve the squad, a pressure that’s amplified by qualifying via the play offs.

In speaking to him personally I was very impressed by his passion for the club and his understanding of what it means to us, he emphasised that only the very best is acceptable in every department, his philosophy and that of Kyril.


Kristjaan also talked about up scaling every thing at the club to meet and exceed Premier League standards.

He also said that that although there are already over eighty members of the on field operations staff, there are still a lot of positions to be filled once they can recruit the best people.

I also had a good conversation with Steve Wood , head of safety, who talked about the organisation at the club and how it has massively changed and grown in the past three years, with a big boost this summer because of promotion.

My overriding feeling after this event confirms what I already thought in that there’s a massive community feeling about the club and a commitment to engage fully with the supporters, the city , local businesses.

Kyril is not here for the fun of it, every decision he makes is about building the club to be competitive at the top end of the Premier League but to do it in a way that is sustainable to guarantee the club’s future.

As part of the process he has, and continues to bring in the very best people to support him.

One comment my partner made was that the club didn’t feel like it was filled with suits, just real football people with a shared passion for SAFC

One tiny bit of ITK, although Chris Rigg has recovered from his niggle, he won’t feature in tonight’s game.

Oh, and the stadium will be extended, probably already known by many.

One last thing, many have said we just need to get promoted then if we go back down we will be in a stronger financial position. That is definitely not the way Kyril and his team are thinking, yes safeguards are in place if that should happen, but the plan is most definitely to stay in the Premier League and build from there.

David Bruce said he’s looking forward to our first European trip with his mates, it won’t be long!

 

Brilliant post. Thanks for sharing. Making me feel even more gutted for not pushing the boat out and heading over

 

think this is why we may fair better than other clubs think,

there is a togetherness amonst the squad that I havent seen in years, last 2 times I recall the squad being this close was under Reid and then Keane,

there is something about this set up that just works and suits SAFC to a tee,

 

Brilliant mate....thanks for posting....at long last we're in great hands!

 

Cracking post and Info, its going to be a hell of a ride

 

Love this, thanks for sharing.

Only thing I'm a bit funny about is the stadium expansion. For me I'd want us to have survived two premier league seasons before we did anything.

 

There are a good number of our fans who don't think we'll sell out at over 55k+ regularly,even if we're successful.Not something I necessarily subscribe to,but we need to make sure we're not playing in a quarter empty stadium.

 

Don't understand extending the stadium at all personally. I think it's 5k larger than it currently needs to be.

Would be thrilled to be proved wrong with sellout crowds this year.

 

The expansion will be implemented, most likely at the end of this season by which time we will have confirmed our position in the Premier League for the following year, in my humble opinion. However, although the SOL is the home of SAFC, and always will be, there are significant revenue streams to exploit in events, and the expansion will help the club capitalise on that, a major factor in future plans for the success of the club.

 

Mandava to get a run out tonight? Be good to see him get at least 45 minutes.

 

Seeing the guy greet every player after the Sevilla match I think he will be itching to play.

From what’s been said this seems a gold standard player to me professionally.

 

I would love to see Reinildo but can't see it. He hasn't done a proper training session with the lads yet. Yesterday was just a recovery session between games.

 

I share the view we don't need an extension but our crowds are already guaranteed to be higher than your figure here. Only 3,000 general admission tickets available per game and you'd expect every premier club to bring at least 1,000 of their 3,000 away allocation.

 

F in tremendous

High pollen here in SR6... a few tears in the old eyes...

Hhhaaa'wwwwaaaaayyyyyy the lads

 

What an absolutely uplifting post. Thank you so much for sharing. We are on the road back to greatness.