Well that's annoying, I was hoping they'd put it on ESPN before the Goons give the Scouse a good thrashing, but I guess a live stream will have to do. Hope you don't mind but I will be supporting both Sunderland and Newcastle on the opening weekend, lol, but I do hope Sunderland win the derby so all the best. Will you be going to the NE derby?
Wouldn't miss it for the world mate! Flights were booked the day the fixtures came out, in fact within the hour! £640 flights, hotel for 2 nights was £140, hire car is £90 (bargain that actually..), and the spend on a night out with the lads and a meal for the parents will be about £300. Add to that Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights lost earnings (approx 800 euro), and if we don't win i'm gonna be a pretty unhappy boy! You know what though mate, i didn't even think about it, it's Sunderland v Newcastle, i'd have paid much more if required!
Well I'm sure it will be worth it, a bit ironic that the week everyone is going out of England you'll be coming in.
Ha you know your probs right mate, for the august bank holiday the next week! I head back the Monday morning, bit if the weathers canny I'll probs stay a day or 2 extra. Actually, will I bollocks, ha
You have to stay on the Monday, it's my birthday on the 22nd, my birthday will either be made or broken by the Saturday before. You owe me a present!
Ha ha. Well my flights 8am on the Monday mate, because when i booked i assumed, wrongly, that we'd be moved to the Sunday for sky, so if your around the Toon on the Sunday (result permitting...), i'll get you a beer. If we win, i'll get you a bottle of Champers!
Beer it is! I dare say if it's a draw, every Mackem will be claiming we were robbed, and every Mag the same!
You making any predictions yet marra, i'm swaying towards the old favourite 1-1 at our place,at the minute although i'm sure come matchday i'll fancy us to win yet have that terrible feeling that we'll lose. Torture..
None at all mate. No Ben Arfa once again. I am sure we will sign a couple of players before then and depending on their quality, its a tough prediction. If the game was tomorrow I would say we'll lose, badly.
Bad news on HBA mate, i know it's good that it's not a break, but the fact he's gonna miss the whole pre-season is a real blow. I can honestly say, despite being Sunderland through and through, that i hope it's not a sign of things to come for the lad, and that he does get back to his best. I won't hide the fact that i'd rather play you without him than with him mind
To be fair mate, his skill is still there, but he will be targeted in every single game next season, just hope he can handle the grind. Might be a blessing that he doesn't play, if we set our game plan around him and he gets injured, then what? Its too big of a game to rely on one player. Tiote will hold obviously and I am confident Barton will be there. But its times like these where you think it was a stupid decision to sell Nolan, as now we don't really have an AM.
It's not even a case of being targeted mate, it's a case of is the whole ankle as strong as before, i watched HBA extensively when he was at Lyon then Marseille, and he's one of them players you want to watch, so direct and attack minded. The big battle will be park centre i think, we know Tiote's your best player (unless one of the French lads really takes to the league early doors), so i think we'll counter this by playing 5 across the middle with Sess in a free role of Gyan. I guess that means a match up between Gardner & Catts and Tiote, with Barton likely to play right mid? If he does, he'll likely be facing Richardson at left back, so he'll be looking to deliver early (due to Ricco's pace, not his tackling ability!), which may play into Ba's hands. I think Sess & Gyan will cause your CB's massive problems, people say Bent & Gyan was stronger, but in terms of creativity and unpredictibility, Sess is something we've never had. It'll be a good ****ing game this, no mistake.
Newcastle were shocking, don't get me wrong, but Orlando had some very good players, seems the money has been invested there. It is a pre-season friendly in a heatwave, but I still didn't expect to lose.
The likelihood with Ben Arfa being out is that Marveaux and Jonas will be our wingers with Barton in the middle.
So Gardner & Catts vs Tiote & Barton, that'll be a good battle. We lost the game there last season as Jordan was found wanting twice, i think Gardner is a bit more steely than him, Catts needs to step up to the plate. I don't fancy Marveaux if he's against Bardo, as he doesn't like being tackled hard and Bardo will do that, i think the trick with Jonas is to reshape ahead of the ball when he gets it, as despite his poor final product, his running creates space if people get drawn to him. If you sign Erdnic, i won't have any fears about him, but Ba is a menace, no 2 ways about that.
