Totally underwhelmed. As said above, Short will see him as a low maintenance safe pair of hands to keep us afloat while he continues his efforts to sell the club.
I'm afraid that's what we need now though. We have been flirting with relegation for the past 4 seasons as well as signing worse players and playing gradually ****ter football. Stability looks good to me right now.
I'll give him every chance, we just need to sign a manager and this lads experience fits the bill. If we get off to a positive start then everyone will forget its not Conte or Klopp. Everything crossed that we get this over the line.
At least Bain is'nt going to Florida this time but is Grayson interested in coming - we have form here ?
Sunderland's prolonged search for a new manager could be coming to an end after they were given permission to speak to Preston North End boss Simon Grayson.The 47-year-old has asked the Lancashire club if he can hold talks with the Black Cats, with Preston saying there is a compensation package in his contract. After the Derek McInnes affair, chief executive Martin Bain must be confident of landing Grayson. But what would Sunderland look like under his management? We take a closer look... Background With just four clubs in over ten years of management, Grayson has been a consistent, well respected and stabilising presence in the Football League. He has won promotion from League One with all four of the clubs he has managed: Blackpool, Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and current side Preston North End. Grayson has never experienced relegation, although Huddersfield Town were struggling when he left in January 2013. Even then, however, they still had an eight point cushion to the drop zone. He is remembered at Leeds United as one of their better managers of recent times, narrowly missing out on the play-offs on their return to the second tier. At Preston he has underlined his reputation for being someone who stabilises and rebuilds clubs, taking over the Deepdale side while they fought League One mediocrity. He brought them into the Championship and has secured two mid-table finishes on a shoestring budget. The appointment would not be an overwhelmingly inspiring one, particularly given that he has never landed promotion to the Premier League, but his candidacy reflects the scale of financial uncertainty and the perceived need for an experienced, proven firefighter. His win percentages make for impressive reading on the back of his League One success, with a career record of around 43%... Blackpool: 36.8% Leeds United: 49.7% Huddersfield Town: 34.7% Preston North End: 44.3% Style of play Only three sides averaged less possession per game than Preston in the league last season, suggesting that Grayson's reputation for developing counter-attacking sides who generally prefer to play direct is well founded. Preston have been one of the better counter-attacking outfits in the division and generally they have played with a 4-4-2 to complement that. Wide players are crucial and that would be one of the main areas Grayson would have to address on Wearside, where the counter-attacking has been pedestrian and the lack of speed in wide areas alarming. The Preston boss has played a key role in reigniting Aiden McGeady's career in his recent loan spell at Deepdale, who at one stage looked like he could inspire a Championship surge. Nearly half of Preston's attacks came down their left flank, where McGeady and Greg Cunningham forced a strong partnership. Thomas Barkhuizen has added genuine flair and Daryl Horgan will be tasked with taking on the creative mantle from McGeady. Similarly, strengthening up front will be key. Grayson has switched between three and four at the back but has been largely consistent in preferring two strikers up front. Jermain Defoe's departure means that Sunderland will likely be without a recognised centre-forward should Fabio Borini and Victor Anichebe leave as expected. Defence has been a strength of Grayson's Preston, with a battery of unheralded but very efficient centre-halves including Tom Clarke and Alex Baptiste excelling in recent times. Their defensive record suffered in a poor end to the season for the whole side last campaign but being tough to beat has been a key feature of Grayson's side. Their tally of 14 league draws in 2016/17 was one of the highest in the league. Style of football would be a big concern for Sunderland fans, though his defenders would point out that pragmatism has been vital to make his side competitive. Recruitment Perhaps one of the key reasons Grayson appeals to Sunderland is the squad he has built at Preston, assembled for little but with significantly greater sell-on value. Sourced mainly from the lower leagues of the UK, they have not cost much in wages or transfer fees. Identifying that kind of player is a key part of Sunderland's strategy and was the profile being scouted by David Moyes and his team previous to his departure. Middlesbrough born Jordan Hugill, for example, was signed for a pittance but is developing into a good Championship striker. Preston have also caught the eye by signing four players from the hitherto largely ignored League of Ireland. They have by far and away the strongest Irish contingent in the Football League. Those kind of scouting networks will appeal to Sunderland as they seek to adjust to their new reality. A net spend of just over £1 million, combined with a wage budget dwarfed by their top half competitors, showed how well Grayson used the loan and free agent market. That is an area Sunderland did abysmally in last season and will have to improve next time around. He ticks every box for me like.
According to reports bain has claimed we're going into the German market regardless of the takeover. If that's true we'll be going foreign regardless and will probably be missing a trick not appointing an overseas coach who actually knows the market we'll be buying from. Think it's safe to say we can't compete with the 5-10m transfers which are common fees these days in the championship. We're skint so it will be the usual choice of **** foreigner, crock or has-been. Just as our transfer mission statement has been for the last few years. Grayson will only be dragged down be the same regieme, then the fans will turn on him cause they seem less capable of learning lessons than Short and mostly seem to think everything gets fixed in the dug out. Same **** different league as far as I'm concerned. If I was Grayson i'd run away as fast as I possibly can.
He'll miss the start of season and needs time to get back to his best. We need to be patient with the lad, he's just had a career threatening injury. Goals early on? Can't see him offering much till Christmas, providing their's no set back. Long way to go for him. I've no doubt he'll piss on that league, but not till he's had a decent run to get back up to speed. Certainly wouldn't pin any hopes on him being the Catalyst 1st half of the season. Flip side is we would have lost him this summer had he been fit imo. He'd be a great signing for a promoted club.
Want to scare us off your players. Simple, put any price tag on them. £1.99 should be enough to scare us off
Remember an underwhelming manager called Bob Stokoe? Plus, if- IF - he is our next manager, surely our remaining squad is at least as good as Preston North End's. Keep the Faith. Get him in. Five weeks to shore up the squad. x
Na mate. I don't think it'll be anywhere near as boring as people are making out either. The same was said about Sam Allardyce and I found that in no way boring. His teams have got the knack of getting caught up in high scoring, exciting games from time to time. That'll do me. Is that German, Norwich, Centre back still kicking about. I think he is called Klose? Wouldn't mind him at our club.
