Match Day Thread Sunderland v Fleetwood Town - Tuesday 25th February - KO 19:45

Gooch was double marked. Fleetwood were sitting back.

If anything, I'd have wanted to see power make more runs into the box, free up space for maguire and Gooch.

Appart from the 1st 5 minutes I can't fault the lads

 

Hopefully it’s a fence post.

 

Gooch looked more dangerous when he dropped back when Hume went off imo.

If he's double marked the emphasis falls to the rest of the midfield to use that space.

If this happens again I'd take Hume off earlier and play Watmore ahead of Gooch.

 

I thought we played ok in spells last night gave the ball away far to many times but the lads dug in and got the point at the end.

looking forward to Sunday now for hopefully another 3 points and keep marching on,top two still well in our reach.

 

Tbh, Gooch is a bit of strange one, he is not quick enough or a good dribbler to be a winger...he has however popped up with some crucial goals...even when his general play is awful...he may have been double marked, but last night he was not at the races. With Grigg being MIA we do not have alternatives?

 

I think he’s a great dribbler got very good feet .

 

Yeah he's great on the ball, he's not the fastest over long distances but he's not slow either and is quick off the mark. As a winger his strength and low centre of gravity make up for a little bit of a lack of pace imo.

 

A couple of games ago, he did do a good dribble, then hit a post, but he normally turns into trouble, waves his arms and vehemently asks for a free kick

 

We would have won this game with a stronger ref, can they get any worse

I would also like to see what John could bring to the team, at least put him on the bench in place of McLoughlin for now. I would think a combination of John and Hume down the left might give us more stability, especially early doors. Gooch is an enigma as has been said above, and maybe a stint on the bench for a game or two would do him, and us, good long term. I'm also a fan of Watmore's direct style of play, and do like the idea of giving him more of a role, in fact we have a lot of exciting options up front atm, our bench is our great strength, and if Parky can use it to our advantage, we are home and dry. Last night he did, although I would like to see a more pro active approach, it also has its risks. OaU with steady PP.

 

I really dont mind Barton at all tbh. I know he's an annoyance at best, and a thug at worst. His comments I take with a pinch of salt as he rubs our fans up the wrong way.
What would annoy him more would be if we just ignored his wum tactics.

 

There are 20 more 'six-pointers' to play, Fleetwood and Portsmouth both have a tough run of games to come ...

... and Rotherham have drawn 2 of their last 3.

We just have to keep going right to the death, just as we did last night.

 

My 'good' takeaway (as my american rels might say) is that we never give up... it was not quite happening for us but we kept battling.
What I am not sure about is when to bring the subs on when we struggle, on Saturday I was yelling for subs, but then Wyke and Gooch scored, so what do I know!
.

 

Absolutely that!! And, over the past 5 or 6 years, how many times can you say that about us? In the past it's been "1-0 down - towel in"

 

Was talking to Bally after the match and he said he really rates Barton as a manager, and he's heard good things about him from the players there. As much as I hate him, he had us wound up all match and you can imagine that's true. Absolute ****house in a team full of ****house players.

Can we talk about the ref please? Time wasting from 8mins in, and he just stood there like a plank, studiously determined to keep ignoring it. Then he booked Ozturk when he let a couple of their worse fouls go (one on Dobson I think from behind?).

 

Pitchside view of our goal.

 

It's like everyone is drinking from the MBC cup!!!

I hear people say "it evens itself up over the season" yet I'm yet to see that happen. We've had apologies for 2 decisions which have effectively cost us 4 points this season. Which would now have us sitting top of the league! Not to mention the "one rule for the opposition" as you state. I thought it was just me but I'm glad to see I am not alone!!

 

Mate I try not to get caught up in the ref business, before this season I sort of felt like what's the point? But now I'm all in on these ****ers being absolutely useless and in some cases, deliberately ****ing us over for some reason. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when that fella has to sit down and explain some of his decisions last night.

Enjoyed the throw in late on as well -

'did you see who it was?'
*linesman shrugs*
'... erm.... go on then give it to Fleetwood'
*linesman just shrugs and shoves his flag up*

Embarrassing.

 

I managed to drag myself to this one and I must say it was one of the oddest games I've ever watched.

The Ref was as weak as very diluted homeopathic medicine.
They went in for undisguised time wasting on an epic scale.
Their histrionics, every tackle, even, (specially), those where no contact was made, had them rolling around as if they had been shot only to jump to their feet as soon as an award had been given.
To be fair a couple of them had the manners to look ashamed about this.

EVENTUALY even this myopic Ref took some belated action when he awarded a minimum of six minutes extra time.
QUESTION. How many can remember any game where SIX minutes extra time was given but where there had been no occasions when the Physio had been necessary for either side, at any time during the game and no 'external' breaks (ie such as floodlight failure), in the play.

That we scored with the last kick of the game was the most appropriate poetic justice possible.
Had Fleetwood cheated LESS, they could have taken the three points home with them.

As it was I can't remember so many happy Sunderland Fans leaving after a draw.
The thought of how Mr Barton might be feeling cheered me up greatly.

 

Ironically I think the referee finally realised the Fleetwood players were laughing at him ...

... and punished them by adding more time onto the time added on.

I think we all suspected Fleetwood were writing the script and Power signed it off.