It's starting to look increasingly likely. This season has certainly been one to forget. A season littered with defeats, with victories very hard to come by. A team with no real attacking flow, and a defence without a scrap of resilience. I don't think the players can be to blame, because these are the players brought/kept and selected by the manager. Half of the players are out of position, with the other half worthy of a place in a championship side. There has been a few bright sparks.. Fletcher, rose, mig and sess.. But on the other hand there has been some very poor signings... Johnson, possibly ndiaye, the pointless mangane and Danny graham doesn't look like he fits in. I think that MON has taken us backwards despite investment and a full crowd/board backing. His subsitutions are particularly strange and if not strange, far too late. His team selections are all over the place, with midfielders in defence, wingers in midfield, midfielders upfront... We are basically a team of midfielders but unfortunately bar sess, not one of them are creative. It's naive to blame Bruce and the squad he left behind, he left 3 windows ago, and also left behind some good players... Sess, catts, mig, oshea... MON has had time to bring in the extra quality and has failed to do so, and because of that we find ourselves in another relegation scrap. I was full of optimism when oneil took the helm, but unfortunately I can't see him taking us forward and it's very disappointing. In a recent interview he says "I'm not surprised to be where we are"... If he isn't surprised then he must have known we Wernt good enough at the start of the season, if so, why didnt he put that right in the summer, or even January??... I think the man has run out of excuses and is now shifting the blame towards the players... Which is very unfair imo.
once again my friends , is mr oneil unapproachable within the club , we the punters could see that , to exit so many players and not have any cover left was always going to end in tears. some body must have looked at the staff list and said ,hold on we have got nobody left , walford imo is as much to blame as oneil ,he must have seen it transpire before him. Even with an over flow of players he could not offer much anyway , most clubs have a positive approach from either the manager and if not his assisstant, both of ours are too defensive, walford could not run a bath never mind a team. recall connor at once its a must. he quotes lack of players , whos emptied the club but himself. if quinny was still there , i dont think this would have happened, i also would like to know what the club doctor is doing, as he must have noticed that something is wrong with his skull. do the right thing and put him and walford on gardening leave and put bally in for the remainder with chisholm whos is back at the club in a duel role. martin can get his head sorted and return afresh , after revising how many players makes a squad , all the different places on the pitch certain players can play in, tactics and so on he could go down the pound shop as well and get a little note book so he can makes notes as he goes along. what he really needs now is a supporters forum night , that would be interesting .
I have to agree that something is not right and Marty is making "big" mistakes. I remember Steve Bruce bemoaning the size of his squad, yet we seem to be constantly reducing the numbers. What is Mr Short doing? Why is O'Neill happy to let players go without cover? I find this strange. So with little in the middle of the park, certainly a death of talent, Cattermole injured and N'Diaye untested we allow Meyler to leave the club. He was doing well at Hull, gaining rave reviews (yes I know it's a division down) still he may have come back into the team and done well. I for one would certainly have preferred him in the middle of the park to Larrson or Colback. Very few attacking options up front and we allow Campbell to leave the club, Campbell gave us good options from the bench and he had pace too. Again he has found some form and yes again it is at a lower level but I have to ask have these players been moved on too soon? Why have they been moved on when the squad is so small? The only conclusion I can come to is that we have to sell to buy. So this puts the onus on Short. On top of this with only two strikers at the club and no attacking options on the bench we loan of Wickham???? The last few games we have been crying out for Wickham to be brought on as he does offer something different but we've been unable to change things. This leads me to question MON and his abilty to spot a player and certainly get value for money. Danny Graham has looked awful at best. We have paid way over the odds for him £5 million pounds and I'd rather have Campbell and Wickham before him. In fact in every deal that MON has made we have paid over the odds for the player. unless they have been a free pro at the end of his career. We spent nearly 10 million on bringing in players and made a nominal amount back on "getting rid of the dead wood" and you could argue we are a weaker team. We have a very real chance of going down and MON is using up his reputation every day. By the end of the season if we do stay up (and I'm worried) MON will not be afforded the support he has had this season. Bloody hell Sunderland has become an omnishambles! We need at least 8 new first team players!!!!! The whole team is devoid of pace. Gardner is becoming more exposed as a full back every week. Would I sack O'Neill now - I have to say no, I can't see who you could bring in to improve the players, they have reached their level. The only reason for sacking O'Neill is if he has lost the dressing room. I'm sad to say we just have to hope that SAFC can drag this failing team over the line and hope Mr Short is ready to back the team and rebuild and back Marty. This summers activities will reveal a lot. Just how much Short wants this and is prepared to back the team. If he has lost faith in Marty he need to get him out early and get the next man in and back him.
tony , i have said before it was a bad move to sell myler , i rated him , he would have proved vital to fill in the midfield. i am serious about walford, what ever happens he should be told to go now, at once. you also know about gordon chisholm with his managerial past , he also knows our club from top to bottom and was a fans favourite as well, no comp to be paid as he is already here.
