What's the real problem with the NE?

Cheers, MLF, thanks.

I am listening to the US Open golf on 5 Live. Rory M - really hope he wins this Masters (lovely bloke) - is a huge talent but collapsed at Augusta.
You could compare him with SAFC at Stamford Bridge and the subsequent collapse. You know they have the ability but it was not to be last season for obvious reasons.

We just hope that the SAFC potential, and the fantastic football we know they can play, will survive all the way through to the last day next season.

It can happen. But us as follow Sunderland week in, week out, will not believe it can happen until it has actually happened for 5 years on the trot.
It's hard to accept that steady progress in the PL (and 10th this year) represents steady progress. Is this our new reality?

Madness to not believe but we all know the history.

 

The expectations and demographics of players in the top flight have changed. Back to the 60s and 70s the NE teams used to have a good handful of Scottish players who felt comfortable in the culture and way of life in the NE. It puzzles me exactly what the likes of Sessegnon and Mensah would do in the NE. I don't want to pan the area, particularly as someone who is now an expatriate, however the blunt facts are that other areas of the country hold more appeal. The same could be said about the likes of Liverpool in the their heyday. St John, Hansen, Nichol, Dalglish, Gillespie, to name but a few who were comfortable and happy in that locale. Players today have more money and seem to have no interest in staying at one club for any length of time. Gone are the days when a player would spend an entire career at a single club. The top clubs have an appeal because they are the top clubs. Clearly geography helps the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea, and Spurs. Manchester Utd have been a star attraction for half a century, but Cest's notion that they are just a buying club isn't accurate. They sold Van Nistelrooy, Beckham and Ronaldo in their respective primes because they too are a selling club. The only difference is that there's only Real Madrid who come on their radar as vultures.

Born and bred in the NE and as well as spending a considerable amount of adulthood in the region, if I was not a dyed in the wool Sunderland supporter and was a player from God knows where, there would be few if any football reasons and even fewer cultural attractions to tempt me to live in the NE. That's just the way it is. Having said that there are some wonderful places to live within 1hrs drive. When Boro were attracting the likes of Ravenelli, Hassailbank and Emerson, I rather doubt that they were living in North Ormsby. They were living in places like Harrogate, Yarm and Ripon for example. The NE is a relatively deprived area both economically and socially. This is particularly the case for overseas players but even for southerners (and I wouldn't live down south for a gold pig incidentally), it seems like another universe let alone a different part of the country. This is just how it is. I'm probably going to get flamed for this but it's the truth.

 

Bald, point taken about the attractions or otherwise of the NE. I have lived for a while in Manchester (Salford, right beside OT) and it is improving greatly, in fairness.

But I contend that camaraderie and a feeling of being wanted or needed surmounts the problems with locale.

I loved the clips of Danny and Hendo being buddies and mates last season. That’s part of it.
Not sure if Brucie has the type of personality to engender that kind of camaraderie –
I just don’t know - yes or no.

But I do know that in the past I have managed to hang onto people on ****ty projects who wanted to leave (so did I) only because we had great craic and they knew that I would give them excellent annual review comments.

It’s not always about London or a few bob more, within reason.

There is nothing wrong with the NE if the presenter has the opportunity to point out the best bits.