Off to Fleetwood today with the grandson, only his third away game with the mighty Morecambe. It's a sold out away end and a local derby so should be a good atmosphere, we desperately need the points. Recording today's early KO so it'll be phone updates again for me, it'll be tough at Coventry but we will prevail, HTL.
Yep,that team is a decent shout. I'm not confident about this match either. I'm mostly in the Bill Shankly camp of always playing your best eleven,although Mogga was cagey about some of the minor knocks and bruises being carried. Winning becomes a habit and tired legs become less tired.....the reverse is true when things aren't going well....the more you struggle,tired legs get more tired. But,I'd happily take a point here and recharge during next week ready for the run of quite testing matches to come. I'm expecting a difficult day against one of my most despised teams.
Should be a difficult game down there. I'd be happy with a point. Have a feeling that striker and Hamer will run the show if we aren't at our best
Wasn’t too down travelling back from Rotherham because the team gave it everything right up to the 96th minute and were very unlucky not to get a point after a poor first half. I can put up with that. They are still finding ways to play without Stewart and Mowbray seems to have self reflected on any mistakes he made, so it’s still a learning curve. I’m unusually very confident we will win today - Gelhardt was a plus for me against Rotherham and if he keeps improving we will be ok. Roberts has to play.
I've been struggling to see where Gelhardt fits but After he scored at Rotherham he started to come alive. I forget he hasn't really played much first team football and hadn't actually played 90 mins for Leeds. Fingers crossed he can take a bit of confidence from his goal. Something about the lad just seems to fit in with club at the moment.
Tony Mowbray on Isaac Lihadji please log in to view this image "As I say to these lads, I'm not a bully, I won't be telling them they have to play. This kid has played Champions League, he's played for Lille. But he wants to play," said Mowbray. "I feel as if he needed to play but I can only say there's an opportunity for you to get some game-time, to put your boots on and go and play on a football pitch rather than small-sided games or possession sessions or crossing and finishing. And I left it with him. "I couldn't converse that with him. It was Pierre Ekwah, who came with him into the office, who speaks really good English but is French speaking, and I said let me know after training. He said straight away really he wants to play. It's a positive for us." The plan was always to be patient with Lihadji. Sunderland didn't sign the youngster with the intention of throwing him straight into the first team. Instead, they'll give him time to settle, to adapt to the Championship and, importantly, to learn the language. But Mowbray hopes that Lihadji can follow in the footsteps of Amad Diallo and become a star for Sunderland. He certainly has the quality. "His talent jumps out at you on the training pitch," said Mowbray. "His left foot, his foot hovers over the ball whether he's going inside or outside, he'll wait for the defender to move then he'll flick his leg and he's away like lightning off a standing start. But it's OK seeing it in possession drills. I need to see it in games. "Hopefully at some stage through the process we all think, a bit like Amad Diallo, he didn't come in and start from day one because he's from Manchester United, he had to prove it and show us and do it in training. I think it's the same with Isaac. "When the opportunity is there he should play and show us. Let's hope at some stage before the end of the season we all think, did we seriously ever pick a team without Isaac in it because how can you not play that talent because it's amazing. "The talent jumps out at you on the training pitch and yet he doesn't speak the language at all yet. I can't put him out there if he's not sure whether he has to run back, he has to tuck in. And the communication side, the team is more important than the individual. "But I'm sure we'll get there, hopefully the talent will be shown to the supporters and hopefully he can impact our team before the season's end." https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/23344217.sunderland-tony-mowbrays-plan-hopes-isaac-lihadji/
