Match Day Thread Sunderland v Accrington Stanley - Friday 15th February - KO 19:45

Yeah he looks good - so close to getting off the mark but he will score loads for us.

 

Great work again
I’m o the bus back from the game

 

Wasn’t there. Never watched or listened. Was trying to give Wyke a chance too but guessing it’s wasted.

Don’t take chances. Don’t win games

We bought Grigg for goals and he’s do far missed 4 good chances. Scary! I know he’ll likely score but we need it now.

2-0 down it looks like a good result. But in the grand scheme not good enough

 

How do we get 5 in midfield, we would either have to play Grigg as a lone striker or go three at the back, I would do the later and go for it, we showed in the second half how well we can go forward, but our central defenders were all over the place and the distribution from the back continuously put us under pressure. Honeyman and Mcgeady were outstanding second half, but their two up front were a real hand-full until Smith went off. Overall we must do better than this at home, four points lost.

 

For the money you're looking for more than a league one quality blunt instrument and he looks to have it. First touch is excellent as is his positioning he just needs to get that confidence boost from getting his first goal.

We also need to drop the 442 experiment and work at getting him linked up with McGeady, Maguire and Honeyman, these are more than decent players and we need to get them feeding Grigg and feeding off him. No more of having the midfield and forwards at arms length we need them integrated.

 

Yes we need to link up much better, Wyke and Gooch were the worst players on the pitch to-night they must be replaced or we are goosed.

 

Yeah the 442 just didn't work - not helped by Wyke having a stinker. We still had enough chances to win the game though and the offside goal would have changed everything.

 

Yes, he wasn’t offside by much either

 

Highlights:
https://www.skysports.com/watch/vid...league-one/11638767/sunderland-2-2-accrington

 

Player Ratings
Jon McLaughlin, 6/10: Faultless for both goals, more wasteful in possession than usual.
Luke O’Nien, 6/10: Positionally awful, but impressive going forward when Sunderland were chasing the game.
Jack Baldwin, 4/10: Careless in possession, gave away a maddening penalty and just never ever played at an acceptable level.
Jimmy Dunne, 3/10: Sunderland’s worst player and that’s saying something
Reece James, 7/10: Much better, offered greater attacking quality than we’ve seen in recent games from him.
Grant Leadbitter, 7/10: Marshalled play well even if the 4-4-2 formation left him exposed at times.
George Honeyman , 7/10: Impressed alongside Leadbitter, scoring the goal to get Sunderland back in the game.
Lynden Gooch, 6/10: Anonymous in the first-half, highly influential in the second.
Aiden McGeady, 7/10: A real Jekyll and Hyde performance, great and infuriating all within the same game.
Will Grigg, 5/10: Still way short of the level you’d expect of this division’s most expensive ever acquisition.
Charlie Wyke, 4/10: Started well, but got worse and worse as the game went on, not showing anywhere near enough quality.
(SUB) Chris Maguire, 8/10: Outstanding, energised the crowd and his teammates, saved the game.
(SUB) Lewis Morgan, 6/10: Barley impacted the game.
(SUB) Max Power, 7/10: So nearly bagged a Sunderland winner.
Man of the Match: Chris Maguire
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/20...n-superb-comeback-second-half-rescued-a-point

Maguire certainly changed things but I thought McGeady was MotM.

 

Yeah I strongly disagree with some of that. I thought Baldwin was bad but Dunne was fine, I'm struggling to think of what he did to merit such criticism. Worse than Wyke? Come off it, he did his job well enough.

5/10 harsh for Grigg too seeing as he got the assist that got us back into the game and it wasn't an easy one.

Oh and McGeady was great throughout, never stopped trying and barely put a foot wrong. The Jekyll and Hyde comparison is a lazy one and completely inaccurate for this performance.

 

Some of these scores are way off from what I saw, the comparison between Gooch and McGeady was just nonsense, and I must have missed Wykes first half performance completely if this is to be believed.

 

Positive? We scored more than one goal ! And v the squad still has fight in it.

3-5-1-1 next game?

 

A few people questioning having Grigg up by himself but got to agree that 5 in midfield is the way forward. Grigg shouldn't be by himself anyway as the wingers and AM should form a formidable support every time you go forward.

I felt Smyth looked very good but in the first half was a touch responsible for not putting the game to bed. Accrington played the better football in the first 45 and if he'd had his shooting boots on I reckon the game may have been over then. In the end it's an acceptable but below par result. Generally I'd say it was a point gained which can be used to kick on but given it'd be pretty much the 50th time I'd said/thought that this last couple of months I'm losing hope that the momentum gained in the second half will be carried forward.

Overall, 3 points off automatics with a 10 point buffer in the play-off places actually a decent position to be in. People need to not over-react here, it's been a disappointing week but nothing too major.

 

Sometimes I wonder if they even watch the game - maybe they just follow #safc on twitter like me

 

we also must play to feet. we're just not big enough for lump it footie. and wyke looks incredibly laboured

 

which pissed twat put those ratings together?