I am all derbied out today but I did sleep well because despite all the faults, we are moving in the right direction. Hopefully we will get back to Sunderland fans talking about Sunderland and put the rather surreal world of the derby behind us for another season. At first glance we could be forgiven for thinking its been a bad few weeks, heavy defeat against WBA, Quinn leaving, 2 sending's off and an injury time goal, but has it been bad? Maybe its part of that moving on we crave and a sign of things to come. A defeat at WBA would have been no shock not that long ago and the fact it was a shock is a sign of how our expectations have risen, after all we were not supposed to have any expectations not that long ago. Quinn leaving was always going to be a sad day however its a good day for the big man and a sign that he believes the club no longer needs him, has moved to that next level. 2 sending's off are unforgivable and I wont begin to try and justify them, I do however understand them, Sess reacted badly to constant fouling and showed passion and Catts reacted to the disappointment of an injury time equaliser, again misplaced passion and caring but passion and caring all the same. Last season we had a 5-1 humiliation and no show, this season it was Newcastle who forced that injury time leveller. We now move on to Liverpool and the FA cup, a Mersey double header, I honestly think we can win them both, even without Catts and Sess. I'm sure there will still be many who need to get the Derby out of their system so I will leave them to get on with it, for me its on to the next challenge.
Now that the smoke has cleared from the battleground we have much to be pleased about. The commitment, energy and will-to-win stood out like a beacon. With a bit more control we would have walked it. To me the lads wanted to make up for last week and came so close. Neither of the next two games scares me, but the Everton match is the important one, maybe time to ease the pressure and give a couple of players a day off next week.
If only Mclean had scored If only Sess had stayed on If only mig had managed to get down If only Bridge and seen Shola If only, if only, if only Or the big one IF ONLY WE HAD KEPT BRUCE, now try and sleep
Tiote is a cheat similar to Taylor a few years back being hit by a snipers rifle. To play act in order to get a fellow professional sent off, Just shows the depths that football has reached. Can anyone explain how the play acting cheat was not two yellowed way before his simulation? As you say Syd IF we had scored the second goal. So Catts will be missing for a while, but more crucially so will Sess!
Well said Syd. Onwards and upwards. It was a magnificent display by the Lads. Pride and passion restored all over the park - and off it! Can't wait for the next match. Happy days!
Good chance to prove we're not just a one man band would like to see Frazier and Conor paring espescially against Everton.
Now the dust has settled I feel a strange mixture of relief that we turned up for the Derby at long last, disappointment we coudn't hold out for the win and contempt for both Tiote and Pardew for their antics. Catt was a bloody fool for the red after the final whistle (happened to a mate of mine years ago while playing football in the army - the FA Disciplinary Board is nothing compared to your Unit OC !) - and Sess got suckered into his red ! All in all I thought the game had pretty much everything, except 3 points for us, and worry about posts I've seen here and elsewhere describing it as "Ugly" and a poor game ! Just a good old fashioned game of football the way they used to be (diving and play acting excepted !) Think the skunks will be the happier this morning having rescued the point though !
It was a fair result in the end. At least we battled and to be fair any team getting a point at the Sports Direct this season has done well. the game could have been very different, the ref did ruin it for me as he never really had control of the game. I am sure we would all have liked to have seen 11 vs 11 for the full 90 minutes. We can talk about what if's all day what happened happened and we should be proud our lads did not get beat. A special mention to Migg, he has been given a bit of stick recently but that pen save was superb.
Not wanting to cause abuse etc. but we had: Possession 63% Shots ~ 29 to your 8 19 corners to your 4 You did win the foul count by 15 to 14 though. Through my (black and white eyes) it would have been a travesty if Sunderland had won. But there again, everyone has there own opinion on the game.
It would be interesting to know the stats prior to the sending off. You were always going to dominate the game from that point onwards
Would have been a lot closer, especially in the first half. but we were well on top in the second half, even before the red card.
Agreed, but the way our team was set up I think we would have come into the game last 20 mins or so playing on the break. I would have fancied us to score again with 11 on the pitch. Just hypothesising of course.
