So we are now just 5 days from another new era and a new 2 year plan. The dust is settling on our new managers appointment and already there are detractors from the written and spoken media. Sunday Supplement on Sky this week was again infested with greasy haired ****wits keen to offer opinions based on nothing but conjecture and speculation and totally without any factual knowledge or thought. Well **** them all I say. I think Gus inherits a wounded squad certainly but not a mortally wounded one. I've seen enough in the 2 games under Bally to be encouraged and optimistic. Key to our turn around will be getting Fletcher back ASAP and keeping Catts fit and on the pitch. He is a born leader and was motm both games he's played in the league so far. I see Poyet has already begun to put down his philosophy and doctrine and is making good noises already that fill me with hope. He intends to go for the game on Saturday not set up for a draw and this is exactly the attitude we will need to get ourselves out of a mess of our own doing. I'm really looking forward to the Gus Poyet era and eventually a style of football we can enjoy. I'm absolutely convinced 100% that we will stop up this season and that we have made a good appointment. We have an ambitious, focused, determined young hungry manager, who was totally committed to landing this job from the start. He comes with an excellent track record at Brighton albeit a controversial one too. Is that bad? Not in my book it isn't. I dont want Mother Theresa ffs I want a game changer to stop the annual failure that has infected us for 4 decades. I want a manager that is determined to make it to the top not accept mediocrity but has the class and ability to perform that task professionally and with style. Poyet fits the bill and I sense the majority of fans getting behind him now and excitement returning to the ranks for his first game. Gus Poyets red & white army is mobilised, armed and ready for the fight ahead. Watch out Swansea, here we come. FTM
Couldnt agree more Under Bally we looked the best we have all season, if Poyet takes that and applies some of his own style onto it then there is no reason we shouldnt stay up Although we have a lot of journeymen in our squad I would argue that the likes of West Ham/Swansea finished highly last year with a lot of average players in their squad If we can get a few points on the board before Xmas then get some additions in January to replace some of the players out of contract in summer, then I believe we could perform an 'Everton' and have a strong finish
I find it hard to believe that with 93 points still to play for that some have us already doomed??? Please explain why Tony
Thing that worries me is why the players were good for Bally yet risked our PL status by playing ****e and proving a point for PDC? The players have a long way to go to prove themselves and who is to say they won't try the same trick when Poyet gets them in for extra training now and again. Yes we are wounded whether Poyet is the tourniquet that will stop the loss of blood or just an Elastoplast is the big question. When the team is announced Saturday we should all have a better idea of what he wants to do. Maybe I'm being a bit pessimistic but, if he plays the same so called senior pros then we are in for a long afternoon as Swansea will be refreshed as there are no Euro games this week for them.
Have to say welder that, unfortunately, I think we will be relegated also. Nothing to do with the points we have on the board or the new manager we have brought in. more the fact that, as soon as we are scored against (regardless of whether we score first or not) the players heads drop. If we can steal a win from somewhere with a bit of a lucky bounce at the end of the game to seal it then it may change the players heads. it may make them realise that occasionally things do go for us. But sadly nothing is going our way - look at the Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd games - Arsenal saw us robbed of a perfectly good goal at 2-1 down - and even if the goal was chalked off, it then saw their player booked for denying the goalscoring opportunity. Liverpool game saw Giaccherini fouled 1v1 on the keeper - no foul given. a minute later the ball hits Sturridge's arm and goes in. I didn;t "see" the handball but I am in the crowd. The Ref and.or Linesman should be spotting that. Then against Man Utd - no refereeing decision cost us - just a wold class save from De Gea that, on any other day, probably would've nestled in the net to put us 2-0 up. Then a wonderstrike from a kid only 18 years old! Fletcher doing his shoulder in as well - there is so little going for us and I have never believed in this "Luck evens itself up" bollocks! Hoping to be proved wrong starting at the first game of the season this Saturday. Talc - they haven't been "booed" from the field at the SOL this season so I can't see how we can say they were ****e for PDC - they were away from home (Palace and West Brom) and even at West brom if Fletcher had put that one away instead of falling and doing his shoulder I'd have fancied us to have got more from that game but they haven;t been ****e at the SoL so was it them or was it something PDC was doing wrong when playing an away game?
To be fair to the players, the games against Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd, I saw more positive football in those 3 games than I saw throughout the entire last season and we were unlucky not to get something out of those games. And lets face it, none of us expected much either. There is still 31 games remaining and yes we won't win them all, we'll probably lose more than we win but who knows at this early stage of the season? with a new manager behind the team and still yet to kick a ball in anger, I think it's a bit early to say we are doomed mate. If we get to Christmas and we're still in this predicament then yes, we're most likely doomed but right now there is lots to play for and I'm optimistic about the outcome.
I am afraid I reckon we are atm most likely to go down, after our last gasp escape from relegation a few months ago, we were one on the favourites to go down this season. If anything the 7 matches so far have just firmed up those odds. Can we escape, of course we can, but is it likely? We must stop leaking goals and the defence has to be tightened up, I argue for dropping AJ and playing Giac behind the striker and putting two defensive wing backs in. Get Fletcher fit and playing asap cos' unless we can score goals we are not going to win games. If we manage to get some points between now and Jan we must buy say a £15m striker to back Fletcher up when he is injured etc. We then may just have a pray...however I will except some gallows humour Why isn't Sunderland like a toothpick, cos' toothpicks have two points
Thing is mate I don't believe the players did play **** deliberately to prove any points with PDC. I think PDC is the worst managerial appointment in my lifetime and created this regime of confusion, turmoil and utterly **** tactics and decision making. The heart and soul of the club were ripped apart by his manic and insane regime and Bally has partially restored some order. I think Poyet will build on that and the players pride and professionalism is at stake now. I see a reasonable squad of players with some outstanding individuals that once fit will see us mount an escape and when we are there and there about come January 1st, will be added to to ensure survival. We are in a poor place right now but with over 80% of the current season still remaining, it's folly to suggest it's all over. If we had given the madman another 10 games then I honestly believe it would have been well and truly over but under Poyet I see nothing but positives. We WILL stay up this year and anyone us welcome to use that statement as they see fit until May.
Don't getme wrong Cest I reckon we will survive only just mind, Marcus I never mentioned anyone getting booed off the pitch mate. WBA and Palace were under PDC and we were ****e, the Arsenal first half and Man U second half we were ****e. The Liverpool game was a bit strange as they were not much better than us on the day but, we were still ****e. Barring the Fulham game and a couple of 45 minutes against Arsenal and Utd we have been terrible, you can blame luck the refs anything you like but, you don't end up bottom of the league with 1 point after 7 games playing well.
No I know mate - just if we had played ****e we would have been (it's my twisted way of explaining stuff man!!) We played well against Fulham, Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool and not too bad against Soton - and, until the "O'Sheaism", we were doing OK against Palace as well I thought!!
Not sure what we have been watching….against Arsenal/Liverpool I would argue we matched them just unfortunately they were far more clinical than us and got their goals, against arsenal there was a horrendous refereeing decision but 2 world class goals finished us off Man Utd were terrible and if Gardner had taken that second attempt it would of been 2-0 and a completely different game Palace and WBA I cant argue with about performance however
I recall the first game of the season against Fulham and we kept the ball beautifully, I reckon Gus took one look at that game and seen he can implement his philosophy. He'll have seen the Man U game and seen we can attack. Teams dismiss us at their peril. Most opposing fans don't realise it's a capable squad who were too preoccupied with getting shot of a coach then picking up points. They just think we've got a poor squad. The stupid knackers. We're more than capable of beating anyone.
Stand away from the emotion and look at the games we have played and the results.. Fulham OK bad result but played well..Southhampton good result away especially considering who they've gubbed since..West Brom..no surprise to lose away and they beat Man U away..Palace..awful result but an away loss..but Man U Luvypull and Arsies , we wont be the only ones to lose to them at home. " 2 bad results, 4 no surprise results and 1 good point. It aint that bad you know. Even a loss to swansea would be no death knell..but we must get a result against the toon and thereafter is the real start of our season. We can still stay up with 93 points to play for 13 wins out of 31 games is the target, 42% win %tge, if we win all our 16 home games to come we'd get 48 points ..the lads have shown enough for us to have real hope. Or am I just a dreamer?
How can the players be blamed for the mess PDC put us in ? I cant believe you actually think the players actually lost the games deliberately. The manager (or a manager) needs the have the respect of his employees. If the manager doesnt deserve or loses that respect then his teams performance is going to suffer.
Mate, in our best seasons with reidy we managed 57 points (think i'm right but may be corrected) and that was in 38 games. We now have 31 games to get up to and over 40 points. Certainly not undoable but we are going to have to produce form we have not seen in many many years.
I'm not under any elusions mate, it's a tough ask, I just don't get the mentality that we are already doomed. So why bother even turning up? if we haven't got hope then what have we got? may as well chuck the towel in and get a refund on my season card.
Hi Cest, Its been a while - because if, you are not it the 'I agreee the the local suspects' on here you get hammered for having a different opinion. But with it being the dawn of a new era I thought I would have my say and it's nothing to do with 'following my team through thick an thin' it's an opinion regardless of what others think. I think we will go down. I have seen enough of this side over the last 4 years to notice something that is blinking obvious. We have rubbish players. I use the word 'rubbish' because that is the level of quality I see. Heart and passion have nothing to do with this. It's about winning and quality. I think out of our back 5, that have been playing or 7 if you count Diakité and Roberge that they have been shocking. I have seen sunday league teams with better defences. Midfield, Ki is the only footballer for me. Until Catts came in the others have been total rubbish. These are not throw away comments. I have seen every game, either live or on sky/internet. Up front - No goals. Running in the right areas and holding up the ball is not what forwards are for. They are for scoring goals and ours can not do that. I love your optimism Cest but you are like me. Totally want believe that Gus is the man but he's not. You have done this with Bruce, O'neil, Di Canio and now Gus. I will always support them regardless of the crap they serve up but the nuts and bolts of it is, we are going down. Before all of you get you knifes out let me finish. We have no winners in our team. Sorry one, Emanuele Giaccherini who won a title with Juve. All the others couldn't get into their sides prior to joining us or have been relagated and we've picked from that. Everyone can nit pick and throw stats at me but the sooner everyone realises we will be in the championship next year the easier it'll be. These are my opnions and you can call me what you want. it's been on the cards for some time now and I have finally realised that we will be going down this season and that's because of the rubbish players we have at the club. It's as black and white as that.
IIRC the monkey hangers have just been on a winning streak...how we could do with one of those. As somebody mentions above we need 13 wins...
