This is a bit bizarre I know but even this defeat, appalling as it was, doesn't have the depressing effect a Bruce one did. Is that because I don't view it as a trend but more a terrible blip? Or is it that I'm amazed it hasn't already happened? Or is it just that I'm relieved it happened this weekend and not the next one? Whatever it is, I reckon we will bounce back versus the mags, Liverpool and Everton now with some force. I reckon Mon will not be that bothered, as it will reduce expectations and allow him to re-focus the squad once again. Can't wait for next weekend now and we have just got a table of 10 in the Durham suite for the game. Anyone else going in there?
The nature of the defeat wasn't, cos they were truly ****e.... Big difference is, you can sense the next victory ain't far away.
I disagree mate. I thought WBA looked like a canny side. Hodgson is no mug. We should be more respectful to them as well as not being happy with our performance. Good time to put it right next Sunday.
WBA were good but, we did ourselves no favours that day. WBA got the luck as well two deflected goals a definite goal ruled out for offside, having said that it was all their own doing. They had a good game plan stuck to it and beat us very easily in my opinion and, it could have been 5 or 6 which would have dented the morale of the lads a lot more than the 4-0 that it was. MON will sort them out not sure what team or formation he will put out but, I can see a few changes from the starting line up on Saturday. Agree with commachio mind the next victory shouldn't be too far away and, hopefully in about 6 days time which will do very nicely.
Hmm two league defeats in a row, not good, but we can hope/expect for better, under SB I didn't. Unfortunately the mags seem to have the jinx/curse/evil eye on us for derbies, or is that going to change under MoN? I hope so! We and I guess they have quite a few players away this week on national duty and it seems (after a very weak performance against WB, following a strong outing against the Arsenal) it may come down which team is freshest mentally and physically...I just hope it is us. Not sure where I am watching the game, I've had Sky for ages but have never bothered with ESPN, pub?
As good as West Brom were on the day, I still found it worrying how we crumbled...I hope that it was a only a blip and we put it to rights in style next week..
Got to disagree mind Cest, I was just as angry with the level of effort and performance on Saturday than I was under Bruce. I will accept defeat with having a go at the players if they turn up but I don't think they wanted the win enough on Saturday.
MARTIN O’Neill has promised Sunderland will continue chasing lost causes – even if it results in defeats as heavy as the one at West Bromwich Albion. The 4-0 reverse was the Black Cats’ biggest since losing 5-0 at Manchester City last April. It might have been more respectable had O’Neill been less gung-ho in the second half. He acknowledged as much afterwards but has no intention of changing. “I don’t mind losing by two or three goals, particularly if we are chasing the game,” said the manager of a team who had not lost by more than one all season. “We chased it all second half, but we left gaps all over the place we were so open. “There was always a chance of them scoring the third goal, which they did pretty quickly (through Peter Odemwingie in the 48th minute). “That third goal knocked the stuffing out of us but we pressed forward trying to get something. “We did not pass the ball well enough. More importantly, we did not control it well enough. That was disappointing. “We just have to accept we did lose the game. We have a third of the season left and a lot of points still to play for.” Sunderland trailed 2-0 at the end of a dismal first-half in which their hosts scored early and late through Odemwingie and James Morrison. O’Neill introduced strikers Fraizer Campbell and Nicklas Bendtner at half-time, moving winger James McClean to left-back. Although specialist full-back Wayne Bridge appeared after Odemwingie scored a second and Jerome Thomas hit the crossbar, damage limitation was never a consideration. “No, absolutely not,” O’Neill insisted. “Not at all, it never entered my head. “Anybody who knows me from my Aston Villa days, I can remember a 7-1 at Stamford Bridge (in March 2010) when we could easily not have conceded another three goals but we were charging on at 4-1 still thinking we could get into the game. Foolish me! “James McClean had spent a ten-minute period (at left-back) and I was hoping he and (Stéphane) Sessègnon might be able to work a twosome and get forward. “I did not really want him defending as much as he did, so I wanted to get him forward and a defender on in that position.” O’Neill was keen to keep a hugely disappointing result in the context of a three-month spell in which he has utterly transformed the team’s fortunes, picking up 22 points from a possible 36 and taking them to the FA Cup quarter-finals. He added: “It is very difficult for me to criticise a group of players who have put heart and soul into the last three months. People will say a game too far? No. We have a third of the season left. It was a poor performance, the poorest we have played. “Even the games we have lost, against Tottenham and Chelsea, we were always in with a chance of getting something. “We were well beaten, particularly first half. I thought we were really, really flat. “That would be hard to understand about the team because that has been really unusual for me. “The early goal should not be the deciding element of the game but we just never recovered. This can happen to the very best of teams.” Read More http://www.journallive.co.uk/safc/s...-change-my-ways-61634-30412294/#ixzz1naWeH935
This is SAFC and we all know that, when things are going well, a kick in the bollocks is just around the corner. We've been playing well under MON but now is the tester - can he pick them up and get them revved up for the skunks game ? I was at the WBA game and thought MON got his tactics wrong; however that said most of it was down to the players simply not turning up and I hope the reality check that was Saturday is followed by several kicks up several backsides in time for a huge improvement against our nearest and not-so dearest ! Had we got to half-time only 1 down I feel he could have turned it around; as it was we conceded just before the break and constantly allowed West Brom to bully us off the ball, win everything and were second best all game. As well as they played I think we made them look far better than they actually are ! I'm concerned the bubble has burst and the honeymoon will be well and truly over if we don't get something at the SDA.
It's p!ss easy to see why it didn't work out for MON and co on Saturday, I saw it coming a mile off. Your counter attacking was nullified. You have to hit WBA consistently, let them come at you and they've got the quality to pick you off with ease. They've done it to the best of us, and they'll do it again and again to teams that try to play hit and run with them. For what it's worth, I reckon your "derby", will be a draw, a boring 0-0 or 1-1 and if MoN knows what's good for him, he'll play for that draw instead of trying to be a hero like Bruce and getting his pants pulled down. That team that Pardew has available, as much as it pains me to admit it, were truly the only team this season to outperform us (United) for 90 minutes. They were too good for us on the day, which shows they can turn up for the big games. Even City when they done us 1-6 was a tight game up until the sending off. If they don't turn on the style I trust O'Neill to find a goal or two but I'd be very surprised if he tries to attack from the off, especially after last year. A draw will be a good result for both teams.
As poor as we were, we created and should have scored 3 goals. Only McClean will be able to tell you how if missed that sitter; gardener should have bust the net from 6 yards out and Campbell had a good goal wrongly chalked off for offside. You could argue Sess had a chance and so did Catts so with a little better finishing we could have salvaged something. Our shooting boots, so well worn since Mon tool over just deserted us for once. I am confident enough to say that if we create the same amount of chances next Sunday, we will score 1 or maybe 2 goals. Will that be enough to get something out of the game? Probably.
