Just found this on the Sunderland Echo's website. Now I'm an advocate of the players talking to the press - it is part and parcel - but to say this is true stupidity in my eyes!! http://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport...ays-sunderland-may-have-to-win-ugly-1-7219853 ----------------------------------------- SUNDERLAND may have to resort to ugly football to get the goals required for Premier League survival, says Connor Wickham. Only Aston Villa have netted fewer times in the Premier League this season than the Black Cats, with Wickham and Adam Johnson topping the club’s goalscoring charts with a paltry five a-piece in all competitions. If we need to play dirty and win by being ruthless then we can Connor Wickham While Sunderland conceded four times in 14 minutes in their last outing against Crystal Palace, it is the lack of firepower which concerns new boss Dick Advocaat after just two goals in his three games at the helm have left the club again teetering only one point above the bottom three. Advocaat has tried to make Sunderland more forward-thinking after deploying Wickham, Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher in the starting XI, but both creating and taking chances remains a huge problem. And Wickham knows Sunderland’s players have to grasp the change of mentality under Advocaat, with the Black Cats potentially requiring another two wins to remain in the Premier League. Wickham said: “The way we set up under Gus (Poyet) was pretty similar to how we set up now with three up front. “But now the focus is on attacking play. “This manager wants us to play it forwards more and more, and actually win the game. “It’s not about playing direct, but being ruthless with opportunities and ruthless going forwards. “He said if we can win playing good football, then that’s great. “But if we need to play dirty and win by being ruthless, then we can do that. “It’s down to the boys and down to the team now.” Fellow relegation contenders Leicester’s third successive victory on Saturday blew away Sunderland’s buffer with the bottom three, heading into the final six games of the campaign. Sunderland now find themselves again within a point of the safety mark - the same the position they were in when Advocaat succeeded Poyet on a short-term deal a month ago. But while Sunderland may need to average a point per game from the final half-dozen fixtures, they now face three successive encounters against sides lying in the middle bracket of the table, followed by the crunch visit of Leicester. Wickham believes Sunderland can pick up points in the upcoming games and potentially suck Aston Villa and Newcastle back into the dogfight. “We’re not looking down, we’re looking up and see if we can get as far away from it as possible,” he added. “I don’t see why we can’t catch the teams above us. “We’ve got a run now where we can pick up points.” ------------------------------------- "If we need to play dirty and win by being ruthless then we can" WHY THE **** HAVEN'T WE BEEN DOING THIS THEN CONNOR!!!!!
****ing idiot. When someone coined the phrase "better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt", they had footballers in mind.
As I said in my OP I don't mind them talking to the press as they are contractually obliged to do so - just wish they would THINK about the words they say FFS!
'We’ve got a run now where we can pick up points' 'No we havn't, not really!! We missed that opportunity since Xmas! Basically Conner, you's have blown it, but lets be honest, the majority of yous couldn't give a **** anyway!'......would have been my response if given the opportunity!
Is this coming from the brick **** house who been getting out muscled and beaten to the ball all season long? I think it is. He shouldn't be calling on his team mates to toughen up when he's played like a scared little boy all season.
Bang on the lad can be a right fairy at times and only seems to get stuck in when wound up tbh he's ****e anyway when judged against "proper footballers"
We need to WIN by any means, now is not the time to play pretty football, not that we could anyway, we just need points. We don't need some young under achieving, overpaid footballer to tell us what we need to do, just ****ing get out there and do it. Then come back in the papers and talk about it, until then, shut the **** up.
It's almost as though he wants to look 'cool' and 'casual' on the pitch. The lad needs some fire in his belly.
Calm down clam down. Surely all he's saying is that under Poyet he had a philosophy and a way he wanted them to play no matter what. Poyet's gone and all that is out of the window and they realise they need to play any which way in order to get a win - that wasn't allowed before.
[QUOTE="Ill Man's Pants, post: 7847638, member: 1028803"]Calm down clam down. Surely all he's saying is that under Poyet he had a philosophy and a way he wanted them to play no matter what. Poyet's gone and all that is out of the window and they realise they need to play any which way in order to get a win - that wasn't allowed before.[/QUOTE] you a curly wig wearing scouser like?
you a curly wig wearing scouser like?[/QUOTE] A proper scouser might have been able to spell it right!
A proper scouser might have been able to spell it right![/QUOTE] didn't even spot that mistake.. jft96.
