It's interesting to get an insight from regular matchgoers to get a more honest appraisal of what you're up against as the snippets we get to see from MOTD often give a false impression. In the Collery pub talking to some mackems from Washington,rather than the doom and gloom I was expecting I was surprised to find general optimism for the future as if a corner has been turned with Poyet at the helm,which is hardly the impression the halfwit shearer and his cronies give from their Saturday night soapbox. Once we'd scaled the eiger to get to our seats in the clouds,thanks for that go to Martin oneill I believe,it's clear to see that a lot of work is needed to bring back the stayaways to the plentiful supply of empty seats but it's only ever going to be performances on the pitch that will put the bums on the seats. The atmosphere seems a bit subdued,practically the opposite to the hellishly daunting Roker Park where the wall of noise from the home fans just gave the away fan a grim sense of foreboding.Perhaps the atmosphere is better on the lower tiers as up in the gods,similarly with st James Pk,the noise below dissipates by the time it reaches cloud level? As expected City had plenty of early possession,largely through Poyet tactically allowing that by being more concerned with keeping tight and solid through the middle,keeping the defence and midfield close together to stifle the space that City look to play in. With Fernandinho injured Pellegrini once again played the dreadful Garcia in the centre of midfield and as expected he spent the half chasing shadows as Larsson & Colback dominated the middle of the park with yaya toure a subdued figure as Ki seemed to read his thoughts too often and the balls through to Aguero & Negredo were constantly intercepted by Sunderland players. The goal came out of the blue really as neither side looked like creating anything and it just looked like Bardsley wanted the ball more than Milner and clinically fired home from a tight angle giving Sunderland a lead at the interval which their work rate and passion probably deserved Apparently Larssens tackle on Garcia was a red card but I couldn't tell from up there and as Cattermoles red last week was a pathetically weak decision,these things tend to even themselves out over a season so it's not worth bothering over too much,I thought the ref had a good game on the whole to be fair Second half saw City taking the game to Sunderland as finally the penny dropped as the tempo increased and the speed of passing.which had been so pedestrian in the first half,started to have an impact as City started to make inroads now Navas had replaced captain slow and Milner had come inside to partner Yaya. Prolonged periods of pressure tell you much about the character of a side and Sunderland survived some really intense under the cosh periods of play where they blocked everything and great credit must go to Brown and Oshea who provided a great barrier in front of Mannone as he had very little to do to keep the clean sheet intact The stats may tell a different story of a peppered goal and a home side dominated but the truth of it is that only Sunderland played as a team and fought tooth and nail for one another as yet again we headed back to Manchester having lost 1-0,been out fought and out thought by a team that simply wanted it more.Pellegrini has a lot of work on to turn this situation around as it's been the same story at Cardiff and Villa,games we should be winning if we have ambitions of winning the title Future looks bright for Sunderland under Poyet as he clearly has them all fighting for the shirt and that really is half the battle,the optimism in the Collery certainly wasn't unfounded Regards PPLF
Wondered when you'd turn up mate, decent post as usual. 40,000 + is incredible after decades of nothing to be fair but a full house would be great against a team like your's. Despite your great players and obvious talent I didn't think Mannone would need to have his kit washed. I thought Man City looked like they just didn't fancy it today which is, hopefully, down to Sunderland and a cause for hope.
Good read PPLF and worthy of a reply. Poyet has the squad pumped up so that in their minds every game is the last one in the prem - unless SAFC get something from it. Good luck for the rest of the season x
Far too often it's just seen as the "big" team not turning up,I think Sunderland deserve all the plaudits for not letting us play,though I think it may well have been different if Silva had been playing as he's generally the go to player in those situations and we're a little lost without him at times
Nice post Power's and totally fair. Maybe it was a Euro hangover by City but either way we looked to be more determined than your team. Just about deserved the result and boy do we need it.
Ok mate but who are these big teams we are talking about present day big teams or do you mean top performing teams.
Runs down blind alleys a bit too much and his crossing hasn't been great,seems a bit hit and hope Probably a bit too early to judge though
Excellent post. I was surprised how long you allowed us to force you onto the wings which gave our big lads plenty of time to get organised for crosses. I like Milner and think it strange he was played so deep! Larsson should have been off, but like you say swings and roundabouts. When Garcia went off you looked more viable through the middle.
Silva is that something special, the team plays with him and around him. Thanks for a brilliant OP mate, you are a credit..
Teams likely to make up the top 4 who you are supposed to roll over for About time you lot read the fecking script
Great post mate and as always a realistic and honest appraisal. We played some good stuff at times today too and we also look like a united team under Poyet now and I really do feel we can turn the corner under his guidance. We gave him a real mountain to climb but he hasn't shirked his responsibility one bit and has instead dug deep to create a team ethic and spirit. City have some incredible players and will be top 2 again this season so for us this is a brilliant win although its becoming boring winning 1-0 every year (lol) We have a survival fight to look forward to and you have a champions league campaign ahead. These 3 points will be vital for us come May but will only be a blip for City. Good luck and I'd like to see City win the Champions League this year although that will be a massive challenge too.
I remember when you were ****e, I also remember a great great team, you know the one I'm on about? Our lad Dennis Tueart was the missing link before you signed him. Bell, Summerbee, Marsh, Doyle, had the pleasure of seeing them at Roker as a kid. You daft twats never won like, seems nowts changed.. Seriously, hope you enjoyed your day & best wishes for the season..
We are Sunderland mate. We never follow the script. Good honest assessment that. It's rare we get someone on here who is graceful in defeat.
Somehow we ended up with Micky fecking horswill in the Tueart deal,possibly the worst footballer I've ever seen We never won at Roker Pk and we've carried that on at the SOL,good job it's like shelling peas at st James otherwise I'd be getting a north east complex
