I love this club! Never a dull moment. Either in the mix for promotion or relegation, which player is getting the hoyers, which player is coming in, is he good enough, sack the manager, who is the new manager! I know most of the same happens at other clubs but without the frequency. Always something to look forward to or to dread. It must be boring being a fan of most other clubs. This club is insane! And I love it!
Spot on. Who but us would be looking forward to the next game after Saturdays debacle, pulling a 30,000 crowd in, in a deprived part of the country decimated by the closures of its centuries old traditional industries, without a manager and in the third tier of English football. Astonishing it really is.
Both - he even drew a diagram of 'the process' He's getting a lot of stick for his dancing celebration
tbf his judgement can't be knocked on one thing, Probably the only person involved at Sunderland that didn't fancy Defoe coming back. Season isn't over and neither are at the club.
Think it was the not signing proper help and back up for Stewart that was his gripe. If the Defoe move prevented this he was right.
I have a certain respect, and sympathy, for Johnson. But he had Stewart on the pitch at Bolton and we were beaten as soon as they kicked off. There were too many days like that tbh.
I would have accepted the club sacking him for the result, or even saying it was a footballing decision. They didnt though, and all parties said it was a culmination of things. That rankles with me still. In my opinion he should still be in post and if he were we would be much better off on the pitch.
IMO that's results like Rotherham and Sheff Wed away. Promoted sides can bear one or two performances like that but there were just too many.
I dont disagree with the heavy defeats being a problem. We were 3rd in the table though and the club had backed him in the tfr market with players, including Baath who was clearly a Johnson pick. It seems unlikely to me they get rid of a manager having done that, but I may be wrong. I would be very surprised if he hasnt blown his top at the prospect of Flannagan and Gooch going and that has proven to be the final straw. My complete guesswork is this happened just before the Bolton game.
Maybe mate. I think we have sacrificed a cutting edge and attacking style to achieve defensive solidity. Not all games, but in a lot we have looked very easy to defend against under Neil. I am not going to get on his back though, he has to do what he thinks is needed and he has my backing. I just havent seen that cutting edge enough yet, I hope we see it today. I would also say Matete has made a massive difference to our solid look. He is superb when we lose the ball and has made us much harder to counter, which was a massive problem, showcased perfectly by the Lincoln game.
My belief is that Neil realised we needed to calm down and become a more solid organised team. He did that. Now, from today, I think he'll take the brakes off and put the throttle down. Pritchard is the man with the ignition key imo.
