How very sad I find this post, not upsetting just very, very sad, First thing you are wrong on you owe me nothing, I do what I do because in the main I enjoy doing it and try and help Mick, if I did it for praise I would have given up long ago. Second thing you are wrong on is my continuing praise of Bruce, I knew long before he went that his time was up, I was supporting the club ib my way and was disgusted by the "fat geordie ****" quotes and the llike. I like to show respect for anyone who gives their all to my club, Bruce IMO gave his all and for that I did and still do respect him. Next wrong quote, I think Bruce is a better manger than MON, well all I can say is either show me the quote or shut up. The saddest thing about this post, to me, is that on a day I and many, many more where glowing after watching a fantastic display from our team you sat and thought of this crap. I am wrong often but on this thread cal, you got it so wrong that I can only think it was drink.
I have to agree with syd about Steve Bruce. He joined the club June 2009. In season 09/10 we finished 13th in the Premier Division, the highest league position we had since the 1990's. In 10/11 we finished 10th. Again a position which hasn't been bettered since the Peter Reid era. Okay I know I am going to hear the old story about WBA pulling back the three goals at Newcastle to get us into 10th place but we have, to my mind, to also consider the 37 games before that which put us into the position to be in the battle for 10th place. Okay this seasons things didn't work out under Bruce and he eventually had to go but to say his stay here was a failure is a little bit over the top. During his tenure here I was neither a BIB or a BOB merely a supporter of SAFC and, as such, I was and always will be a supporter of whoever we have in charge. Well except for McMenemy who I thought was a bad choice from the minute we signed him on and sadly I was proved to be right.
Syd,I did not intend to upset you,or knock you in any way.I can only apologise...I did not think the post was aggresive to you,as I did not mean it in that manner.Sorry,mate!
Come admit it, who like Syd and I when we saw the team did not have Frazier in the starting line up, thought wtf! When Bruce did it against Brighton the infamous 4 6 formation he was slaughtered. MoN does it against Arsenal, we win and MoN was right. It is all about results. I was an early BoB, about this time last year actually, when SB seemed unable to get the team playing and I thought Bruce had shot his bolt, for me playing Elmo proved he was often wrong. But credit where it is due, Rico is now turning into one of the EPLs best LB and that is something I thought I would never say judging from his initial performances as LB. So I have no problem in saying thanks SB but I am also very sure his time was up and he had to go. One SB legacy I am interested in seeing how it turns out is the £8/10 million spent on young Mr Wickham as he seems very much a WIP atm. Cheers Syd keep on trucking!
Nowt wrong with supporting a manager calm it's syds choice and he stuck by him till the end as did a few others on here, no need for any admissions of being wrong or right for that matter let's just get on with winning this FA cup thing I've heard so much about.
All over Calm, lets enjoy the ride because its a good one. Sunderpitt, I was standing talking to a chap who normaly sits next to you when the team was announced, my words,"FFS if that had been Bruce he would have been slaughtered".
Each to their own but he did finish 13th and 10th, and lets be honest here, he brought in some good players as is being showed now, We also never got turned over this season, we never let in more than 2 goals a game, and never got beat by more than 1 either. (even under Bruces watch) Yes MON is having an exceptional start, probably too good tbh, it cant last (and I am optomistic by nature, but even i can see this form wont last) we are on a crest of a wave atm, but it will come tumbling down eventually, so what happens when it does go pear shaped (and i dont even mean 10 losses, just form that isnt form now) will ppl still by MON (Probably) but the excuse will be, well it isnt his team, its Bruces, he was ****e, but his players are working wonders atm. Keane put us on the map, but spent a fortune of drumavilles cash doing so, wasnt my money so meh, Bruce came in and steadied the ship, moved us up the table, bought a whole new squad, sold all (most) of Keanes buys, left us pretty much even which with the FFP rules was a good move, and we have a lot better team than we did when Keane was manager.
and thats how I feel, all managers do good then go bad, its how it works, but since Quinn came in the managers, IMO, have all played their part. I honestly thin k its wrong to simply knock, knocking is very easy to do but rarely productive.
Sorry too if I upset you calmcumbrian. I think sometimes we rattle off a post and don't read it back to ourselves and think about how it might read to other people. We all know what we mean in our heads but sometimes it comes out wrong when it is written down. I was just sad that, after such a great result people still want to talk about Steve Bruce at all. And singling out Syd as chief 'Bibber' seemed so unfair as there were many of us who supported the manager at the time, and trusted the club to do what was best, which they did. I just want to enjoy moments like last night because as we all know they are few and far between and should be savoured.
This is a big problem for some Sunderland fans and most probably the older fans. There isn't any reason to believe that it will all come tumbling down.... For starters, this is the first time we have had a world class manager at the helm of the club... Managers like Bruce tumble down, ONeill has never demonstrated that undesireable quality throughout his entire history.... so the first point is that people should forget the past and believe in a positive future because the conditions are now vastly different. The second point is that the tactical style of O'Neill places the balance of probability in his favour... When you play counter-attacking football you are going to have atleast 10 good chances every game to score a goal, unless your playing Real Madrid... The reason is because all it takes is one misplaced pass from a team that is trying to force its way through a well organised defence and straight away the wingers are on the attack breaking with pace 4 against 3... The style of Martin O'Neill is effective against traditionally considered top class clubs aswell as they eventually make mistakes too... Sessegnon's ability to hold the ball up and break with pace if he gathers the ball on the half way line is very important... and considering the type of players we have, ONeill is garnering the best out of those players and has identified the best way to win games with these players. The sky is the limit and therefore it is time to stop being negative and begin to believe.
The form we are in at the minute, if we carried that through to next season, and continued it all season, we would win the League, Like i said I am optimistic by nature, but you have to draw a line somewhere, and i just dont think we will win the league anytime soon, so the form we are in now has to drop off sometime. if it doesnt fantastic, but we cant expect this form to last, because it wont.
Don't you know it's the prerogative of old gits to be miserable and cynical!!! You make some very good points about the style of play and how it is working well for us at the moment. The problem is that we can't put 30/40/50 years of bitter experience behind us that easily. Sadly people like me and many other 'oldies' have been there, done that, got the flippin' t shirt many times. For instance, I was there in the Sunderland Empire welcoming McEnemy (no not a mistake in my spelling!) and ended up crying when we got relegated to the 3rd Division because of him. There are many other examples and it takes it out of you, the rollercoaster of emotions between the highs and lows. But believe me even us oldies are being infected with the MON stardust effect, and feeling more and more positive after every game.
Next season we will make a good fist of a European spot and possibly a champions league challenge as the teams around 4th to 10th are now able to beat each other as Sunderland and Arsenal have proved. If that is what you are so concerned with when you talk about it droping off then I think most people would consider that to be very positive and a continuation of the good form we are proving ourselves capable of. One thing for certain is that you can forget the Steve Bruce flirt with relegation for next season with Martin O'Neill in charge and if we arn't flirting with relegation we are contenders for something else. As I have already pointed out, we have for the first time in a very very long time a world class manager in charge of the club and therefore our ambitions ought to adjust upon that basis. Ofcourse, although in the minority, some people are inherently and permanently negative. For those types of people, they will never see anything other than doom and gloom for the future and therefore it is important not to be distracted by such an outlook on life.
Very good! There are two possible futures... 1: Allow ourselves to wallow in our previous experiences. 2: Dare to dream once again! I know which one I'm choosing.
Yes, too many false dawns for me I'm afraid. Not that I have a 'half-empty' attitude, pragmatic is what I try to be, so 8 more points needed to be safe and WBA will not be an easy place to get points. The reasons for optimism are MoN is a class act, we have a good first eleven, we are still in the cup and not too many points needed for safety. I think some folk have forgotten under SB we were relegation fodder. The summer recruitment will be interesting, we obviously need a couple of strikers, (just how many players have scored this season and how many, has anybody got the stats?) add some goals from strikers to all the other players and we will be some team. As for Europe, CL a big yes, Euorpa you can keep it! Lots of games all over Europe and the team is knackered for its league games, and the money you get is not enough to pay for a bigger quality squad to fund it.
We have 15 Goal Scorers this season and 8 with at least 1 assist. 38 goals 23 assists. In all Competitions.
I wish I could have managed to get a bet on Steve, I read Sunderpit ask for stats and I just knew it would be you, you are an amazing man for stats
Well that is your choice, and I agree. Where exactly did I say I was not dreaming? If you had been on this board for more than 5 minutes you would know that I am a 'glass half full' person but I keep my feet on the ground because 'experience' tells me that this is the best way to approach life as well as football!
Those of us that questioned Bruce, were told in no uncertain terms by the BIB's we were being unrealistic in wanting Sunderland to be doing better. And we should be just happy to survive in the Prem. 10th place was rolled out ad-infinitum, totally avoiding the point that we were lucky to finish there as results went for us elsewhere. You keeping dragging up MON picking similar formations to Bruce and saying Bruce would have been slaughtered. The difference is Bruce would have had the ball lumped up field and a cavalry charge to try to get to it. The opposition would then attack and rip us to bits, this was a regular occurrence. Under MON the ball is being passed forward to the likes of Sess and being held up brilliantly. Sess was looking very disheartened under Bruce having to chase lost causes. For the first time in many many years, I feel that Sunderland could score on every break away. The only good word I could have had for Bruce was if he walked, rather than wait for the sack.
