Am I reading too much into it, but are some wanting us to 'fail'?
"Papering over the cracks"
- Thread starter marcusblackcat
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I think some people do take a grim pleasure in it. And yet they'd be there with the rest of us whooping it up in the good times.
I'll take any so called "luck" going our way (Sendings off, Penalties) god knows we have been on the receiving end of that crap for years and years. Yes, our squad isn't the best, but so far, with an average squad, we win our game in hand we go 2nd in the table. That will do for me
rant warning.
had someone offered 1 loss in first 10 i think we all would have jumped at that without stipulating that the points had to be won with free flowing skillful football, just as long as we got points on the board, considering we would be playing a few of our 'promotion rivals'.
has the football been great?...nope, but if i am honest, we have a group of lads who are digging in and grinding those results out, we are not man city and we are not premier league quality...we are where we are and have to deal with it (our rapid demise may have a lot to do with how many fans feel...i know i am guilty of expecting more skill from the team).
is parky filling me with confidence?...nope, he appears to stick with 'well it worked so i will keep using it' philosophy, we have cover and we have damn good cover yet we still see players out of position, partnerships broken up, like for like subs (often too late) and are still waiting for this 'youth to get a chance' we were promised, in fact it was used as an excuse not to play mcgeady...my worry is this, if the manager is not filling me with confidence, would/could this affect the players?
the players...
defence hmmm, hard to call on some, while we have a good record in defence we tend to concede easily if a team comes at us, sometimes too easy and that gives teams confidence going against us, if we can make it harder for them to score ie: they actually have to break sweat, then i would feel happier but for now, the defence gets a steady 6/10 bordering 7.
central...think most are agreed our best pair atm is leadbitter/scowen (7/10), only other option we have seen is power/dobson (5/10) which for some reason does not seem to work.
i still think dobson needs some U23 time, he can show he has good vision and an eye for a pass in one move, then give the ball away 3 times straight after...has to learn this part of his game more i feel, the 'when to, when not to' part of his game.
wingers/wingbacks/sweepers/attacking full backs or w/e name you want to give them....as this is starting to be where any pace in the squad lives, i dont think any of the lads has let themselves down, some good runs, good partnerships, good service into the box, good back up as well...the one problem with this set up is other managers set up to stop the long balls to the wings and that can seriously affect our game plan but again a stead 7/10 for these lads.
strikers...at least the lads are getting the ball right onto wykes feet or head as he is aiming towards goal which has resulted in him scoring a few, would feel so much happier if he could judge a cross, time his headers, turn and shoot, run, get anything on target from outside the 6 yard box, graham, thought it was a bad/emergency/'we have to sign SOMEONE' type buy at the time and he has a lot to do to convince me otherwise, goes through the motions well enough but for a lad of his experience he really should be contributing with goals...obrien, puts himself about well, looks like he could/should be working in partnership with someone and both will benefit (possibly try him and grigg in these cup games?) grigg needs a run and a couple of goals i feel to kickstart his time with sunderland, maybe the price tag has affected him i dont know. 6/10
keepers...left till last as i really dont know what to say, burge has not really done a great deal wrong, keepers will always make mistakes but they have just aboutno chance of 'getting away' with them, unlike other areas of the pitch...the trouble is, he has not had to do a great deal right with so few attacks coming at him...would still prefer to see him take more command of his area and come and claim crosses, hard to judge so give him a steady 6/10
overall, happy with our start but am a typical grumpy auld bassa who likes a moan...performances could be better but as someone stated i don't think i have seen one team totally dominate with free flowing football in the past seasons, it is what it is in this league and i think most of us (me more slowly than most i feel) are starting to realise this, remember, from reid's early days we slowly improved and hit damn lucky with SNQ and SKP and the team, we had years in amongst the elite of the game and suddenly we find ourselves back in div 3, we did not even have the 'luxury' of a few seasons in the championship to soften the blow.
there are some good partnerships within the squad that i feel if encouraged we really could begin to dominate some games...there have been some recurring silly mistakes happening as well though so for team score i give 7/10
had someone offered 1 loss in first 10 i think we all would have jumped at that without stipulating that the points had to be won with free flowing skillful football, just as long as we got points on the board, considering we would be playing a few of our 'promotion rivals'.
has the football been great?...nope, but if i am honest, we have a group of lads who are digging in and grinding those results out, we are not man city and we are not premier league quality...we are where we are and have to deal with it (our rapid demise may have a lot to do with how many fans feel...i know i am guilty of expecting more skill from the team).
is parky filling me with confidence?...nope, he appears to stick with 'well it worked so i will keep using it' philosophy, we have cover and we have damn good cover yet we still see players out of position, partnerships broken up, like for like subs (often too late) and are still waiting for this 'youth to get a chance' we were promised, in fact it was used as an excuse not to play mcgeady...my worry is this, if the manager is not filling me with confidence, would/could this affect the players?
the players...
defence hmmm, hard to call on some, while we have a good record in defence we tend to concede easily if a team comes at us, sometimes too easy and that gives teams confidence going against us, if we can make it harder for them to score ie: they actually have to break sweat, then i would feel happier but for now, the defence gets a steady 6/10 bordering 7.
central...think most are agreed our best pair atm is leadbitter/scowen (7/10), only other option we have seen is power/dobson (5/10) which for some reason does not seem to work.
i still think dobson needs some U23 time, he can show he has good vision and an eye for a pass in one move, then give the ball away 3 times straight after...has to learn this part of his game more i feel, the 'when to, when not to' part of his game.
wingers/wingbacks/sweepers/attacking full backs or w/e name you want to give them....as this is starting to be where any pace in the squad lives, i dont think any of the lads has let themselves down, some good runs, good partnerships, good service into the box, good back up as well...the one problem with this set up is other managers set up to stop the long balls to the wings and that can seriously affect our game plan but again a stead 7/10 for these lads.
strikers...at least the lads are getting the ball right onto wykes feet or head as he is aiming towards goal which has resulted in him scoring a few, would feel so much happier if he could judge a cross, time his headers, turn and shoot, run, get anything on target from outside the 6 yard box, graham, thought it was a bad/emergency/'we have to sign SOMEONE' type buy at the time and he has a lot to do to convince me otherwise, goes through the motions well enough but for a lad of his experience he really should be contributing with goals...obrien, puts himself about well, looks like he could/should be working in partnership with someone and both will benefit (possibly try him and grigg in these cup games?) grigg needs a run and a couple of goals i feel to kickstart his time with sunderland, maybe the price tag has affected him i dont know. 6/10
keepers...left till last as i really dont know what to say, burge has not really done a great deal wrong, keepers will always make mistakes but they have just aboutno chance of 'getting away' with them, unlike other areas of the pitch...the trouble is, he has not had to do a great deal right with so few attacks coming at him...would still prefer to see him take more command of his area and come and claim crosses, hard to judge so give him a steady 6/10
overall, happy with our start but am a typical grumpy auld bassa who likes a moan...performances could be better but as someone stated i don't think i have seen one team totally dominate with free flowing football in the past seasons, it is what it is in this league and i think most of us (me more slowly than most i feel) are starting to realise this, remember, from reid's early days we slowly improved and hit damn lucky with SNQ and SKP and the team, we had years in amongst the elite of the game and suddenly we find ourselves back in div 3, we did not even have the 'luxury' of a few seasons in the championship to soften the blow.
there are some good partnerships within the squad that i feel if encouraged we really could begin to dominate some games...there have been some recurring silly mistakes happening as well though so for team score i give 7/10
No, it’s not our fault and we’ve done well to capitalise. However, you’re not going to get those breaks every game and without those in the last few days we’d probably be 4 points worse off.
However, as you say long may it continue
I guess I'm GK union again. He's been shaky this season absolutely, and, at full speed, I thought he should've done better last night. But when I've watched it back the lad has hit it very well and it was past him very quickly. Just my opinion of course. Pretty sure if Maguire had done that or Hume we'd be lauding the finish
The very nature of the saying 'paper over cracks', is the idea that overlooking small problems will ultimately lead to bigger ones. In that regard I'd say that our points return this season is definitely papering over cracks. I've said before, we're not a million miles away if we keep in the hunt until January and bring in a genuine rwb and a forward with pace and we'll piss the league.
Maybe a keeper too.
Maybe a keeper too.
I liked him last season. Looks a bit Camp this season. If you know what I mean
We're averaging over 2 points a game which is what you need to win promotion. At the moment, only 13 teams throughout the leagues are doing that which is a bit high for this stage of a season. Pushing the numbers up is League one where the top six are currently running at that level, but there's no chance that everyone will keep that up. Admittedly we're not playing brilliantly, but we are getting the points on board.
teams tend to go 'hell for leather' at the start of the season in this div, only to drop off, sometimes drastically as injuries/suspensions/both kick in...we would need some seriously bad problems to severely deplete our squad where most div 3 teams appear to have one or maybe two 'lucky mascots' and when they have to sit some games out the rest of the team do not seem to gel, stick as we are and i feel it will come down to 3 or 4 teams battling it out.
with you on this mate...burge has had some stick and i bet he will admit some deserved...and i would be first on his back but in this case the shot was well struck and just sneaked in off the post.
on a side note, exactly what wyke should have done later in the game but blazed two chances into row z...if you gonna blame burge for nervy game, we had chances to make it an easier watch!!
Your second paragraph is exactly the point I try to make to a lot of fans. Been told “If Ipswich took their chances...” yet when my retort is “well if we’d taken ours” to which I was told “but we didn’t”.. I obviously replied “neither did Ipswich” and the whole thing effectively starts again!!
those who want to be negative only see the “what ifs” that suit their negativity. They don’t see the exact same “what ifs” from a SAFC perspective. Been going on for the 39 years I’ve been watching the lads!!
"Ipswich were unlucky to have a man sent off for the tackle ...
... but not lucky to get away with a deliberate elbow in the face."
Is that the kind of thing?
not even given a 2nd look...hate it when commentators say 'had that been 20 minutes in rather than in the first 5 he would have been off'...2nd or 92nd if it is a foul it is a foul ...goes quite well with 'anywhere else on the pitch and thats a foul'...if it's a foul give it, then we might stop having to put up with these stop/starts at every feckin corner.