pinkeye

Their front three are terrifying... I cannot see how we will keep them out!

I don't think any one of those teams fixtures are any "easier" (in theory) than any of the others listed. Maybe Crystal Palace and Bournmouth have slightly less of the top teams to play but, by the end of the season, or at least with only 4 - 5 games left to play there are generally only a small number of teams at the top with anything to play for. Brightons run in looks awful.... Man City have the league but, there are 4 - 5 teams playing for the remainder of the top four places. The bottom of the league is far more interesting this season than ever before...

Was his stupid statement not more directed towards Newcastle specifically though? Meaning he couldn't see us going on a 4 - 5 game run of wins? The way it is written can be interpreted in many ways, thick cunt that he is!

Yes, the above seems to be the correct situation. Very long term lease on the land that the stadium stands on. I think that some of the surrounding land is owned by Ashley personally.

St James' is owned by Newcastle City Council....

;D

As hilarious as the current plight of Sunderland really is I cannot help but, feel sorry for some of the fans, I have some mates who are top blokes but, just happen to be Sunderland fans. They are absolutely in bits about the state of their club, these are lads that never once had a go at me about being a Newcastle fan during the height @SportsDirect Arena or the two relegations. Lads that you can have a proper conversation about football with, everyone will know people like this and it is them I feel really sorry for. My mates even sympathise over Ashley when their owner is arguably putting their club into an even more dire position that ours is.... So my point is that every time I see Sunderland have been beaten again I laugh inside, check the table to look at how dreadful their situation is and then remember how my mates feel and suddenly wonder how they might escape the oblivion of a second relegation.... I will be honest though, if it wasn't for the couple of mates I am talking about here I would be loving this, especially after reading and hearing the shite spouted by some Sunderland supporters over us in recent years.

I have to give credit where it is due. I have been a huge critic of Dummett in previous seasons as well as this season. I cringe at how uncomfortable he is on the ball and how quickly he looks to relieve himself of it but, I cannot deny that his defending skills and ability to put in a good clean yet solid tackle are very good. He isn't winning me completely over but, I am less likely to moan about his name on the team sheet currently. The team is much improved with him in it.

He's part of the tributes on Sunday. Yes, there was a minutes applause before the players came out for multiple reasons, little Frankie Sherwood, Vic Keeble and a couple of others. Well observed by those in the ground!

This. There's around 17 or 18,000 still turn up to watch Sunderland by all accounts. If they went tits up end even half of those fans followed other teams in the area, NE football in general would be far stronger because lots of teams further down the ladder in our area get pitiful support (South Shields the exception). 300 odd at Gateshead the other night is terrible for a club at their level. Ticket prices need to come down and going to Gateshead to watch them isn’t exactly a welcoming environment, shit stadium, shit atmosphere etc. They need a new ground badly. The Gateshead Stadium has to be the coldest place in the North East. My son was a ball boy there on Tuesday night so I got a free ticket to watch the match, I know it was a cold night but, I have been there in the summer and felt cold in that stand. On the other side of the pitch, where the away supporters go is bathed in sunshine (in the summer). I have sat with a coat on shivering while Torquay fans were shirtless on the other side of the field.... The other point about the shitness of the stadium, couldn't agree more, the facilities are awful... no surprise that they don't get good crowds and even if they did it would be chaos and worse!

OK mate, you have a much better memory than me and those are significant changes, agreed!

I wasn't having a go, I was honestly just asking. Merino came on for Perez and Hayden for Diame, aye. Hayden for Diame obviously isn't that much of a change, but having Merino further forward as a more aerial presence seemed to be the idea. No bother... I think my original point has been lost a little, yes every player is slightly different so Merino brought something to the position he was asked to play that Perez doesn't have (strength and skill - but, that is another story) and Hayden is a different player to Diame. 3 weeks ago I would have bitten your hand off for Hayden to play ahead of Diame but, we have all seen what he can be capable of when he is giving everything. My point was that we don't seem to see strategic formation changes with Rafa, again that is fine with me. I do see other managers making these formation changes as the games progress and I wondered if anyone else had thought the same as me about Benitez and his strictness to sticking to the formation and tactics he starts a game with....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37426290 I remember the game mate. Seems like a lifetime ago. What were the changes that, in your opinion turned that game around? I remember us scoring really soon after they went 3 - 1 up on us and then us being pegged back until Gayles equalizer then it was mayhem, I sit in the East Stand and I know what a shit atmosphere is like, believe me but, everyone was on their feet and the place was rocking that night!

Wow... It is almost like no-one read my point. Merino came on for Perez right? Played right in behind Gayle Hayden came on for Diame.... Again, I am a fan of Rafa and I would support him no matter what. I want to know if anyone can really remember a significant strategic change brought about by a substitution.

Doesn't really explain why Murphy appears to be 4th choice of our wingers, which IMO is way off based on recent performances. Yeah it's an odd one. I can understand him not starting to an extent, and him not getting in ahead of Ritchie if he wants someone to protect Yedlin. I really don't understand him not coming on ahead of Atsu, though. He doesn't offer anything better defensively, or going forward, and he's in poor form. I am a fan of Rafa so don't bite my head off here but, it is always the case with his substitutions that he doesn't ever try to change a game by changing players... it is always one for one and the same tactics. Striker off, a different striker on,,,, left winger off, a different left winger on. This is far from a criticism, Rafa is one of the best tacticians in the game but, we do not have the depth of talent in our squad to be able to simply refresh positions with a new equally adept player. Many times I have thought a game I was watching was crying out for a system change but, we seem to persevere with the starting system right to the end. In the end we are all top managers and would all do things in our own ways eh?

God I hope Slimani is good for us.... Gayle offered precisely nothing through that game.

Well we haven't completed Slimani or Dubravka yet. We will likely be working on them until after the game before an announcement. Don't know we will have time to hear those infamous words. That is my point, while all the media outlets are claiming that the deals are done, or at least in place there has been nothing official from the club. I would like to hope that they would announce all the business officially in one hit closer to the deadline and would love to think that a surprise one would give us all a "brain hemorrhage" but, not holding any hope out for that...

As the club have not made any official announcements yet I am still hopeful that more business can be concluded before 11pm. We usually make an announcement along the lines of "business complete" don't we?

Also N'Dong has gone to Watford hasn't he??

What was the logic of splitting it up? It just seems like it would always have been a bad thing for consumers. To stop one company gaining a monopoly and therefore could drive the price back down again as they would be the only show in town. From my personal view I would rather pay someone like Sky Sports a little more than to have to have subscriptions with multiple vendors of Premier League football. I pay for Sky Sports today and I get BT free with my phone (EE). I would not pay for BT, nor would I pay for other subscription channels - see how well that went for Setanta......

Many of us on here think that Mitro has not been given a fair run in the team but, I would say that he has had plenty of chances to establish himself as a first team regular, each of those chances have been blown. He seems to be incapable of following a set of instructions given to him by the manager and given that we are currently only surviving (just) in this league based on the tactics applied then I would say that following the game plan to the letter is a vital part of each players requirements. This and being sent off for stupidity tells me that this player, no matter how likeable he may appear, is not the striker we need under Rafa at this time. The above is a pity because he does have a huge likeability factor and if he had the self control required, the intelligence to follow instructions and the ability to finish some of the many chances that fall to him he would have been a great success here. I would wish him well wherever he ends up but, he isn't going to change!

Not really, apparently he's been struggling with this for a long time and in pretty much any other line of work if you're medically unable to do your job for an extended period you'd get laid off. True but, my main point was that this issue in sports has become quite high profile and hence just appearing to cast him aside looks pretty crass on their side....

If has mental issues surely the club ought to be taking care of him, not trying to cancel his contract / wash their hands of him. Especially in light of so much recent press over the mental wellbeing of professional sports people.....

Everyone has gone mad!

The O'Shay one is absolutely perfect. :lol: