It certainly doesn't take genius to work out something is fundamentally wrong at Sunderland AFC because 3 managers have lost their jobs inside 3 years whilst we have remained a struggling club throughout. We currently lie firmly bottom of the pile of a pretty ordinary league so we need some radical thinking but not a radical individual to perform it. There is certainly a core of players that need replacing but there simply isn't the financial will or perhaps the actual opportunity to replace all in one go (top players just don't want to come here and ones that do want to leave pretty quickly) so we are stuck with them. I do believe PDC saw this but went about the job in an appalling manor which was always doomed to failure. That said, he did bring in 14 new faces, or at the very least oversaw their recruitment, but then didn't play them or rate them once here. He also precided over the sales of Mignolet and Sessegnon. The next manager simply must address the weak playing elements over time (the crucial point in all this) and weed them out whilst also fashioning a team to survive out of them. That's the unhappy balance that faces Poyet or whoever it is that wins the poisoned chalice. Whatever we may think of the players, the way to address them isn't to go off on a media driven frenzy against them after every game. Di Canio may well have had good intentions and correct assumptions but he was one of the worst exponents of man management probably ever witnessed and I am hugely relieved he has been removed. Our plight is bad enough without the head man being an even bigger lunatic running the other lunatics in the asylum. I think that the club need to make their decision after Saturdays game for the new man to be in charge for Monday morning. This uncertainty and confusion is not helping matters. It was never going to be Ball from the very start and although much has been made of the players input, the final decision was never going to be theirs anyway. Ellis Short hasn't become a billionaire by being a soft ****e and easily led. I absolutely think it will be Poyet as he is the only viable candidate outside Pulis and I just don't think the backlash from his appointment will be risked. For my part maybe Pulis is a decent shout for an organise and a disciplinarian but over 3 years, which the next man has to have regardless, Poyet will offer a far more progressive style and opportunity. IMO. So, RDM was my first choice and Poyet my second LAST season so I'll stick with Poyet and I do think a lot of fans would be happy with that. He maybe a more intelligent and capable PDC style manager that can do the job we all want to see but in the professional manner we require.
I reckon any current Sunderland defenders atm do not have anythig to crow or even talk about. Until they keep a few clean sheets they should keep their mouths shut, train harder and do better what they are paid to do.
It's very easy to keep trotting this out but nothing he did was insane. We've missed a huge opportunity and now, thanks to the players, we're in a bigger mess than before. I'm starting to suspect that Ball is way too close to some of the players and there's a ludicrous & pathetic anti-foreign clique that includes him.
Kevin Ball insists his transition from Sunderland youth coach to caretaker manager is neither “massive” nor “illogical.” The Black Cats are without a permanent boss following the dismissal 10 days ago of Paolo Di Canio, who last night broke his silence in the wake of his sacking. He denied a reported training-ground clash with senior players and insisted he had been axed “unfairly” and would, in time, have delivered success to Wearside. Ellis Short continues patiently to weigh up his next managerial appointment at the Stadium of Light. Though ex-Brighton boss Gus Poyet is favourite for the job, Ball – who as senior development coach usually oversees the club’s under-21s – remains in temporary charge of first-team affairs for Saturday’s visit of Manchester United, having occupied the caretaker role for the Capital One Cup win over Peterborough United and a Premier League defeat to Liverpool. Though he admits elements of the task are a “pain in the backside”, Ball is relishing the opportunity to stake a claim to the permanent post. “You do enjoy it,” said Ball, whose club are understood to have agreed a £600,000 fee with Dundee United for 17-year-old defender John Souttar. “You sit down and you might have 10 minutes when you have a cup of coffee and go ‘what has just happened?’ “It is a busy week, but you do enjoy it. “There will always be bits which you think are a pain in the backside, but that is life. “I enjoy my football anyway. I enjoy coaching and doing what I do with the under-21s. “It is not an illogical step. It is not like I have come from the wilderness and all of a sudden someone has brought me back in. “I am doing a job very similar to this anyhow so it is not such a massive transition.” http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spor...s/sunderland-afc-caretaker-boss-kevin-6123645
The longer a decision is delayed the more the case for him does strengthen. It would suggest a lack of desire to appoint elsewhere. That's a fair assumption to make. However, I just enjoy playing devils advocate as there are always plenty of willing takers on here.
And Johnson and Fletcher oh, and Rose. You never mention them though do you? I don't recall one dissenting voice when we were linked with and eventually signed AJ and his lack of form is now under 2 managers. Fletcher is a quality player and Rose out best one all last season. That was all in his first proper window. He got Cuellar for free and although he has some bad moments he has also had some very good ones too. Graham was a mistake. Every manager in history has made them. I'd sooner have MoN back today than the likes of PDC or a whole host of other poor suggestions.
No you weren't ......... you were seriously putting Ball forward until enough people said they didn't want him. Now you're backtracking and actually trying to play the 'Devil's Advocate' card to try to dig yersel out See, for me, that's where you go wrong ........... why not just either stick to what you say or admit you were wrong. It's not a big deal, all this vagueness and prevarication is unworthy. Oh, and putting a ? at the end of each of your 'suggestions' doesn't really fool anyone. Your misuse of question marks is actually a bit weird. I reckon you may have 3 misplaced examples in the OP and even a mystery ? in the title .......... do you think the article is interesting or not?
Thing is though mate, when you stamp your feet and say play me or I'm leaving. You've got to deliver the goods. His performances are nowhere near good enough. To the point I'd would consider selling him in Jan and getting an adequate replacement in.
