We usually begin our annual miracle fight back against relegation with about 8 or 9 games remaining but with good performances against the Manchesters and a good comeback against Liverpool we seem to be starting our usual good spell earlier than the last few seasons. Is it possible we will be safe in April? We actually seem to be playing our best football now and if we carry on doing so could get the 5 or 6 wins needed before May. Or is it another false dawn. Sam has somehow or other managed to get the lads believing in themselves.
Look at our record under Sam though, we did start a while back, just everyone else have been picking up points too. Would be nice to Start when the season begins next time, if we stay up.
Got to agree, if you think starting to play well after 20+ games is too early then that is a strange shout!
You say that like its a bad thing. I think you're getting ahead of yourself a bit though mate. We've some real tough games coming up but as has been said elsewhere, if we can play the rest of the season like we did in the second half against Utd, we're more than capable of picking up points in every game now. 4 points from Man U and 'Pool and the hammers next, who aren't firing on all cylinders at the minute. As Sam pointed out after the game, we're missing a few first teamers who'll be chomping at the bit to get back. Having said that, I wouldn't be changing Saturday's line up except for the right back who was run ragged.
I found myself in similar thinking until I stopped for a ponder. Easy for the club to drag you down to it's level which can leave almost accepting mediocrity. Take a step back and look in from the outside you see it's the way we open the season which repeatedly stunts our season. The way we finish seasons always seems to be extremely strong, imagine what a decant start could achieve. There lie our problem, We need stronger summer windows with better starts and no manager changes. I believe Bruce was the last manager to have two pre seasons.
How's Kirchoff by the way? The most frustrating thing for me on Saturday is when he moved Martial to the right, when he was terrorising Yedlin. He could have easily drawn another booking out of the kid if he kept running at him but no, the old boot decides to switch him onto the other wing to accommodate Memphis As soon as Mata got crowded out, that was the signal to fetch on Herrera for Schneiderlin, so your plan to crowd out Mata would backfire, but no, again, just leave it... the Sunderland players will get bored of marking Mata 3 on 1. **** sake, it's like watching a kid manage our team at times.
Thats right we need faith and almost relief that BSA knows football and is starting to succeed - great signings who are having an immediate positive impact in premiership & we can look forward to continued success next season (in premiership hopefully) as ES will back BSA in the summer - ES knows how to make risky choices successful - after all ES is a very rich venture capitalist (a risk taker) - and will back BSA football knowledge
The fact that we have started "early" this season gives me hope that this time around it isnt a blip. By that I mean that in previous season we survived on a miracle run, then as soon as the new season starts we fall to pieces; but this time it looks like it is due to actually having a manager who knows, most of the time, how to set the team up and get the best out of the squad rather than a desperate run of games that the squad win cos they are desperate to save their premiership wages
Our last two seasons are history both achieved under different managers GP could not explain how he did his. DA got us tightened up at the back and forgot about trying to win except for scraps. Sam is a more seasoned battler and possibly has more EPL acumen than the other two put together, add his management skills to that experience and maybe that is why the early start.
