Could have been a Sunderland hero but just can't be arsed. I've seen shelf-stackers at Tesco with more interest in their job than this fella. I've no problem with the top, highly driven, players earning big money but there's a big conundrum for the likes of Fletcher. He earns a huge amount of money for trundling along doing just enough but knows that no amount of effort will make him a top player. So why bother?
I think he is very talented - a top finisher - but can't be arsed like you say smug! He looked every bit the finisher and a good player last season before the injury. Still looks like he CAN do it but sadly doesn't look like he wants to! Hope he proves me wrong
On a thread a couple of weeks I was in the minority when I suggested we listen to offers for him. I still think we should.
If you have been reading the interview PDC has been making in his native country yesterday, you might get some glimpse of why we are totally ****ed up this season. He basically went on to call every player useless and a waste of space. He especially picked out Fletcher for individual critique. It's little wonder that players have been demoralized and off form when they have been so poorly managed and developed. PDC wasn't critical of himself though, save from maybe he could have been a better man manager? No **** Sherlock. Whilst I do agree it's down to players to deliver, it's little wonder they are struggling to reach any form if they were operating under this plums management and daily put downs. In any job, if your boss is constantly telling you your a useless twat, your morale will suffer along with your work. If only we had not baulked at the £2m compensation Brighton were seeking when we wanted Gus to reace MoN, perhaps we would be discussing Fletcher's 9 or 10 goals this season and not his poor form. Just because someone earns a lot of money doesn't make them ammune to disgraceful man management.
You make it sound like PDC has given them post traumatic stress disorder. They're grown men for crying out loud, it's not like PDC abused them as children or forced them to play russian roulette like the Viet Cong. He publicly told them they weren't good enough, Exactly what Gus has just done only without naming individuals. If what you're saying is true they're pathetic excuses for men who need to get some ****ing balls. Pussies.
What we need right now is a goalscorer. Fletcher, on his day, is a goalscorer undoubtedly. BUT he is not on his game at the moment so what can we do. I agree with cest - Di Canio's man management skills destroyed confidence in that squad - never admitted when he got things wrong but slated all of the players?? Had we got the right man in at the right time I reckon we'd now be at least 9 or 10 points better off than we are. On the plus side - we're only 4 points away from safety. Hopefully we can take advantage of the debacle that's going on at Cardiff at the weekend. Everton I expect nothing from so anything is a bonus. One thing is for certain - if we go down, we must try to hold on to Poyet - the bloke knows his stuff and has the team playing football. OK so sometimes it doesn't work like we want it to (against Norwich for instance) but it certainly is much better to watch than anything I've seen for majority of the last 9 or 10 years.
Didn't say there was mate but there's surely a tad more excitement playing top flight football than arranging tins of spam
I wonder if Fletcher's shoulder and ankle is still troubling him..he needs a run of games and a couple of goals..to me he looked sharper than Dozy when he replaced him on Saturday
Fletcher 12 Million, Johnson 10 Million, Whickham 8 Million and Graham 5 Million and we can't buy a goal ! I feel like sticking me heed in the oven with the Turkey !!!!!!!
We just score in the wrong matches don't we The three we wasted against Chelsea would've brought SIX more points if it'd been Villa, West Ham & Norwich!
Mind Smug, in 43 years of supporting The Lads you can count on one hand the seasons we have been so unlucky, nowt is breaking for us. As the Lads on here say, our luck is that we are 4 points from safety and some sh*te teams above us. Back to back wins and we will be back in the pack !
Id give Fletcher the Everton and Cardiff games to proves a point and show that he actually wants to be here. The conundrum is that only teams in and around us would probably take him at the minute. I heard West Ham, surely that would be cutting our nose off. At home we have to find a formula to play both him and Altidore if we are to score goals and win games .
agree with you Parker. i'd start with Fletch, as when the game is tight to start (hopefully!) he is more likely to put one away than Jozy. as the game wears on, bring Jozy on to run the ragged at the back as he is capableeof running at defenders and taking them on. as for the home games against the lower half teams, we have to try them both. it was not a good idea against spurs, but doesn't mean it can't work v the rest. we don't have the quality to pick through teams coming to defend.
No, what Iam saying is PDC has completely undermined this club in ways that may yet still end up calamitous and yet there are still people yearning after him. Like I've always said, we have had some duck egg managers in my time but without a shadow of a doubt, di canios legacy is the most damaging by a country mile. Poyet may well save this season and with it the club and Iam just grateful Short acted quickly to remove the problem but we are now reaping PDC's disastrous 8 month destruction of safc in a massive way. That cannot now be denied IMO.
Cest man, the bloke was only here 5 minutes ....... you can't lump all the club's woes on him for years to come. The players wanted him out and got their own way but they continue to fall way short of what's needed. The signings may not even have been his to be perfectly honest. You welcomed Di Canio, when he arrived, so you can't now pretend you saw what no one else did then or now.
Fletcher is currently on course for what must be a unique record.............................being relegated with 3 different EPL clubs.
what a load of bullshit that is but it does come from a man what thought Danny Graham was a good player
