I feel that PDC has hit a real raw nerve and this has reverberated across all the clubs in the country. I take it that what he is saying is that if you go out on the piss this affects the next three days of training and thus you will be grossly underprepared for the next game. I think this is demonstrably true in looking at our team, BUT I also thing that a culture of drinking affects your mental strength and more importantly your mental agility. Whereas a player may be able to outthink his opponent and profit from quicker thinking, this speed of thought is missing from a regular drinker. For me this explains a lot about Sunderlandâs performances and the culture of underachieving at the club. PDC did say that one cup win in forty (thatâs right 40) years is no return for a club our size and shape. But lets widen this out a little â lets just say the dimming of the speed of thought in our international players gets them found, out because of their chosen lifestyles, and lo and behold we have the reason our NATIONAL team have consistently under performed when it matters most. It also explains how British players are becoming as rare as hens teeth in those clubs winning in the Champions League. Some players have the talent to overcome their unhealthy lifestyle, until they meet their equals from across the sea. Then we see they cannot cut it. I think Paulo is onto something and I hope this weakness in British players is driven out of our game. If it is, we can look forward to success not just at our club, but at European and international levels.
Good post 52 and probably explains why British players find it so much more difficult to break into first teams when their foreign counterparts who are successful, are successful because they don't adopt the same drinking culture as the Brits do.
