First article for a while lads, but I'm offshore again with nothing to do. Out here we get Foxtel and they show every Premier League game after the live one on a Saturday night, and all the following week they are repeated. Its not very often that you get a chance to watch every team apart from brief highlights on MOTD. Anyway, I've sat here for hours on end watching every single EPL game all the way through for the last 4 weeks and all I can say is that I'm deeply worried about Sunderland, they don't seem to show the effort and tactical ability of the other teams, and I'm including the bottom 3 in this. I may be reading too much into this, and I sincerely hope that I'm wrong but I can see us getting dragged into the **** again unless we change our game drastically. I had every faith in MON to turn things round but he seems to be struggling for excuses these days. Should be back home for the last two games in May and I am praying that they aren't nail biters.
He's inherited a dodgy squad to be fair. weak injury prone defence, no back four protection apart from an injury prone cats. nobody to link defence with attack. our wide men are having to play far to deep to help out a shoddy foundation. Got a squad full of 442 midfielders (vaughn, gardener, larsson, colback) who I don't think can adapt to the modern 433/451 formations. MON doesn't have an unlimited budget and it's going to take 2 or 3 more seasons for him to build his team. I agree with the artical but I don't think we'll go down. We just need to be patient and let him build gradually. Bruce has a lot to answer for.
If we dont pick up atleast 5 points from the next three games I will be worried. If we get them it'll give us a cushion that should ease us through the harder fixtures that follow. QPR the only uncertainties for me to go, after that its anyone upto Stoke in 10th
I think your concerns are well founded BC, however, I still think we're better than 3+ teams in this league. Having said that, I've also witnessed quite a few relegation-material performances this season and I've seen us play well too, well enough to merit at least a mid-table finish. The trouble with Sunderland this season is you never know which Sunderland are going to turn up - the team that beat the league champions, or the team that can't score at home against a woeful QPR? Like most on here, I'll be glad to see this season out without a relegation scare run-in and I'm prepared to wait for the next summer transfer window.
I dont buy into this **** of people blaming Bruce for MON's failings! He has had 3 (not 2) transfer windows, and in the modern game that is more than enough time to sort out players and tactics. We should be doing better and that is not Bruces fault, the buck stops with the manager. How many transfer windows has Clarke, Pardew etc? It isn't the players, it isn't the formation thats the problem either. It's MON's negative attitude towards approaching a game and his dire, boring tactics that are the problem. There's quite a few worse teams player for player, in the league then us, who are all doing better then we are.
Sunderland ARE the worst footballing team in this league by miles.3 teams WILL finish below us this season but that just doesn't disguise anything and agree what the OP is saying. I don't think we have been hot and cold for one minute, I would say, cold, cold, luke warm, cold, cold, average, repeated all the way to West Ham at home where we managed to get the gloves off to get warm (even though WH were shocking) and then back to cold etc..... Think this next game is the 5/6 time we have a ( yet another) must win game. Hoping Berbatov has a sulky day as he (on his day) will run rings around us. Worried. Me also.( hope your getting well paid for doing nothing all week except watching football) Safc. Me neither, 2/3 windows, so what! Even if it's 2, thats over 5 months to see what we need, identify the players and go and get them. More than enough time. Spent all summer chasing one man and the same again in January.
This right here is the harsh truth and reality of it, I don't think even the greatest of MON supporters can argue with this.
Yeah a 10th place finish our best since Reid. MON has had almost as much time and money as Bruce. Remember Bruce inherited a load of knackers from Keane. I don't buy this "Its all Bruce's fault" The same tactical weakness's are being shown by MON, players playing out of position, not scoring enough goals and defensive lapses at critical times. I want to keep MON I think he needs time, the time Bruce did not get. He needs 5 years, if after 5 years and the money to build his own side we have not improved then fair enough hire and fire but until we give longevity a chance we will always be fighting a relegation battle
Moorsley, yes mate, I am being very very well paid, wouldn't be here otherwise, its a stinking hot **** hole, and the reason we are doing nothing is because we are running away from a severe cyclone, if you google Cyclone Rusty , Western Australia you'll see it. What I meant was there's a different match on each time I finish work so its pretty good watching that instead of the crap they have on the telly over here - netball ( I've checked a hundred times and they've all got knickers on ) and lawn bowls would you believe, no wonder all the Aussies are piss artists.
Hope it didn't sound like I was having a go. just tongue in cheek mate. Anyone working away deserves everything they get.
MON tactics are simple - don't lose at all costs - We after week we keep losing because we play sh!te football. MON needs to be careful, he has 10 games to prove himself to me because what he's served up to date is total ****e. No matter what we say. HE tells them how to play, HE tells the coaches what to do and HE is responsible for the sh!t state we are in at the moment. It's as black and white as that......
Not worried at all. Disappointed yes. We will finish better in the league this season than last in terms of points and placement imo. We will ship out some more ****e and shepherd in another 3 or 4 better players and then go again in August. Simples.
MON has had 3 windows to change Bruce's squad, but the most important one is this summer. If the team is still non creative and showing complete negativity in games, I will then be very worried about the man at the helm. Bruce was a good manager, and certainly knew a good player, and in my opinion was very unlucky during his time here at Sunderland.
Moresleymountainman If sunderland are the worst team in the league why aren't we sitting bottom of the league? Isn't that the definition of the worst team un the league! Most of those on here slagging of MON were slagging of Bruce not so long ago. I for one am not worried mid table is what I expected and mid table is what we'll get.
It pains me to say it, but I've thought this for a while. Barring WH at home, when have we played well enough to have a comfortable victory? I would say we have had some decent defensive performances (Arsenal away for example) and I'm willing to be corrected, but I just cannot think where we have played well in an attacking sense for most of a game all season?
Just googled it BC, f*ck Sunderland get yasel away out of there. pretty bloody scary stuff. On a more serious note I think you need to keep checking the netball games tho. We'll be safe this season. We may still finish well and beat our previous points record for the EPL. Hopefully with a good summer transfer window, John Robertson hopefully coming on board and a few tweaks with tactics we can all hope come back next season with renewed enthusiasm.
Bruce- Complete failure to bring in full backs. Signed central defenders who were either injury prone, dodgy or just not good enough. Flooded the squad with central midfielders and proceeded to play them out of position. eg. out wide and fullbacks. sold off our best strikers and failed to replace them, instead, 'invested' in unproven young strikers who not surprisingly have made zero impact. yes, it's Bruce's fault. MoN has started working on giving us some width. He's brought in two capable strikers. He clearly has a transfer and wage budget to adhear to so what do people want from him? he IS working off Bruce's train wreck and it won't be solved instantly unless we suddenly become a man city. The season we finished 10th lets not forget that there was only 3 points between 9th and 15th. You say they've had the same money to spend? compare the amount of signings they've made. MoN is trying to add quality. Bruce baulked the squad with crap, crap MoN has had to slowly get rid of in order to free wages to try and add quality.
