GUS POYETâS long-term objective is to have a January transfer window where Sunderland can look to the future.Poyet has made no secret of his eagerness to boost Sunderlandâs attacking options next month, with the Black Cats netting just 14 goals in 16 Premier League outings so far this season. A new forward is almost certain to be among the one or two signings Sunderland are looking to make in the window, with quality, rather than quantity, determining the clubâs strategy. But eventually, Poyet wants to reach the stage where Sunderland are not having to address any glaring deficiencies in January. The head coach sees the mid-season window as an opportunity to bring in young players who can be blooded into the squad for six months before challenging for first-team inclusion the following year. âIt would be nice to have a plan for three to five years because that means youâve got the basics of a team,â Poyet told the Echo. âIt means you can bring in a young player. âI donât think that can happen this January for the first-team. âBut when we can get to the point in January when we can get a young player who is not going to play, but will be around the first-team, that means weâre unbelievable. âIt will mean weâve got a solid base and are in a great position.â Sunderland have been keeping tabs on lower league talent over recent months â watching Ilkeston Townâs Che Adams before the 18-year-old joined Sheffield United. They have also been scouting Exeter Cityâs teenage pair, goalkeeper Christy Pym and midfielder Matt Grimes, albeit Premier League rivals Swansea City appear to be in pole position for the latter. But after bringing in a total of 14 players during his first two windows at the Sunderland helm, Poyet believes there is at least a system of forward planning in place at the club now to avoid such hectic shopping sprees. Inevitably, that had been eroded away when Poyet arrived on Wearside as the clubâs fourth permanent manager in the space of two years. âYes, that forward planning wasnât here,â he admitted. âItâs not about blaming anyone, it just wasnât. It wasnât possible. âIâm not coming here and saying weâve got a plan for the next five to 10 years if we donât. âBut do we need to look ahead? Yes.â Meanwhile, the youngsters currently on Sunderlandâs books will have a chance to impress tonight in the FA Youth Cup third round. The Black Cats Under-18s host Fleetwood Town at Eppleton Colliery Welfare (kick-off 7pm) with tickets priced at £3 for adults and £1 for concessions.
Why oh why does he not give one or two of our youngens a go...They have been knocking the goals in on a regular basis and deserve a chance..
They do deserve a chance & I`m sure it will come but I can`t really see how it`s been possible yet. It`s got to be frustrating for the kids on the bench not getting on to the pitch. I think they may have got the last 20 minutes if we`d been in a strong position (say a couple of goals up) but we`ve never been in that situation.
Getting a bit tiresome now I've got to say. We all get that he feels he was let down in the market in the summer, that's fine, but stop chowing on for **** sake what does this do for the players moral, the manager saying 'we lack this, lack that'. Why not changing the failing system that doesn't suit the players at your disposal until such a time that we have a squad that fits, 'play to your strengths'? Stick with the back 4 but change the shape of the front 6, where we have ability and we have potential, but it simply doesn't work because you, the manager, have them all in the wrong ****ing places. I like Gus but ****ing hell I'd like to slap him sometimes.
Apart from Wickham, who else is playing out of position (midfield and attack) ? Once Giacc is back, I am sure we will start seeing Wickham playing down the middle more often.
His media handling is appalling. I don't know if he's trying to be clever or someone's putting words in his mouth but it's just not nice to see.
Having that one player out of position weakens the whole time, the number is irrelevant. I didn't say we needed to change positions of individuals (bar Wickham), I said we need to change the entire shape of the front 6. The players are not suited to the system we are trying to place, so I'd say by default only Cattermole in the holding role is being utilised correctly, and Fletcher when available. I like Gus but he's been here long enough now that we can't pretend the sun shines out of his arse, we are solid at the back, great, we still would be if he left the back with Catts and shuffled up top. It's his job to find a solution with what he has, not to borderline insult the players and stick to his 'we have a system' but 'don't have the quality'. Change the ****ing system to suit what you have it's basics mate. Would this work better, with the personel we have, back 4 and Catts remain as is --Wickham-Fletch-- Giacc - Alvarez - AJ Well, I think it would be way more creative, we'd lose the stability of Seb, and Bridcutt, but draw every game we will be relegated. There is quality there we are not set up to maximise it.
Agree with everything you're saying although to be fair to Gus two of those players haven't been available for pretty much the whole season. I fully expect him to carry on as we are and continue complaining about the players to the media though...
Yeah, I should have acknowledged that of course mate, but flip side, he will have known they were out for a few weeks and if he wants to be, or rates himself, as a top coach he has to learn to adapt. He cpuld have tried to push Seb out wide and play AJ off a striker, he could have gone 2 up top, could even have tried Jozy out left where he's done well for USA and played Buckley right with AJ central, there have been options and he has chosen to stick with a system throughout that has made us very easy to read and defend against. Giacc & Alvarez may change everything, but maybe with some variation we have an extra 5 or 6 points now and are in a great position. It just screams of someone passing the buck and covering his own arse with the 'not my job to recruit' bullshit. You are the manager and figurehead of the club, you might not do the deals, but the players have to meet, hear and buy into you. We're a ****ing big club, don't tell me we can't pull in a few talented midfielders from France, Italy etc. Let's not forget, we took Giacc from Juve despite them wanting to keep him, AJ had several options. It's a cowards way to use excuses. Great managers take responsibility, players respect it, players respond to manager. He needs to accept that HE makes the decisions on how the team takes to the field, a good coach can literally polish a turd.
I think he will mate, after the end to the season and pre-season he had. I'm strongly behind Gus but he just needs to put his hands up sometimes, he could have changed things, he could have used young Mavrias who was superb pre-season but who I'm informed is now wanting away as he wants to play games, fair one, young lad with full Greece caps can't get 5 ****ing minutes man? Gus won't keep this halo forever, easy to forget after the way we finished the huge slump we had between the cup final and Man City, he's not ever safe with Ellis in charge and I bet you there comes a point when Ellis wants to slap him as well.
People will slate Ellis for that but I ****ing love that ruthlessness. I get bored of managers and players blasting chairmen and owners for getting rid of a manager. It's just a boys club sticking up for each other regardless of performance, all credit no merit. If you're not performing in your job you get sacked, why should football be any different?
Absolutely mate, if it doesn't work change it. Ellis didn't become a billionaire by being a ****ing fanny, did he?
He better start playing Giacc when the lad is fit. Please don't get me started on Mavrias because I f**ing knew when we signed Buckley then Mavrias wouldn't get a look in & my point has been proved right. plus I don't blame the lad for wanting away to play footy & I didn't mind Altidore moaning about not getting playing time before. some players want to play & if not they want away & it's as simple as that. fans would have a pop if they just sat on the bench & collected there big wages. I'll hold my hands up & say I wanted Poyet sack because of the FA cup game & the poor form but fair play to him for keeping us up.
I'm not 100% behind him mate, I can't say that, there are things about him that really ****ing frustrate me. I'd say about 80% at the minute, there's a great deal of good in him, but in any walk of life folk who won't hold their hands up lose my faith pretty quickly.
This has been my biggest gripe honestly. The lad looked really good and is really, really young. I honestly think he could be a weapon with some PL experience at his age, even if it's just 20-30 minutes here and there when we need a little spark to get us over the line (like in for example, I don't know, every game so far this season?)
