GideonShandy

Some nice Tripadvisor reviews by recent visitors to a well-known local attraction. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g227059-d503276-Reviews-Stadium_Of_Light-Sunderland_Tyne_and_Wear_England.html

On the way out, allegedly. https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/25275506/newcastle-transfer-news-sean-longstaff/

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-fans-fuming-over-decision-28391460 Fewmin'

Didn't expect him to save the penalty, tbh.

Who's this eleventh guy, Wonderbar?

Cat scan?

1, 2, 3, erm . . . I think that may be it. I blame Tonali.

Jammy equaliser against bottom-of-the-table Rotherham.

No. He just told me to stop whining about his suspension and posting stupid shit on the Tonali thread, which he thinks is hilarious. Said he had a blast in Dubai but is planning to spend more time in Milan in the New Year and maybe get his teeth fixed. Gave me a hot tip for the 3:30 at Haydock Park, which was nice, and asked if I fancied a small bet on the Liverpool game, which he's pretty sure we'll lose by three goals. Worrying, but at least he's broken his silence.

Eddie's deadpan five-word response to Louise Taylor's lengthy Carragher quotes -- "Very interesting points from Jamie" -- cracked me up.

Should make Tonali pay it tbh.

If he had come out and apologized or at least made some public statement of regret and determination to make things right, thanked the club for its support (personally, not through his agent), maybe put in some time at the food bank, pledged his intent to stay, shown some interest in the region, put out some videos of him busting a gut in training . . . I'd be more optimistic. Instead he's clammed up and released a tone-deaf picture of him and GF having fun in Dubai.

Better there than Las Vegas or Monte Carlo, I suppose.

Back in August I would have said that 6th place, a long run in Europe and another trip to Wembley would make a good season. But for the phantom 8 minutes and phony penalty in Paris and the last-minute Trippier disaster at Chelsea we'd be on track for all of the above. Small margins, as they say.

Reckon the club as a whole might well still be traumatized over the way we exited European football completely and the last minute disaster that negated everything we'd accomplished in the Carabao cup. Our two best chances of winning something both thrown away within days.

Odd, then.

Too late

I posted this yesterday. If you go back and watch the replay, Miggy shoots (instead of taking it to the corner) right on the 90:00 mark. There's another one minute and 20 seconds, and two possession changes, before the Trippier screw-up. And there were four minutes plus of added time. He couldn't have kept the ball in the corner for four minutes, or even one minute and 20 seconds. Maybe Miggy should have learned to use his right foot and to speak English (and yes, he should have taken it to the corner), but he gets scapegoated and undervalued far too much. At least Eddie understands his value.

Yes. It's not just failing to win one game. All the effort of beating City, then pulling off an amazing win at Old Trafford, and then going toe-to-toe with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for 90 minutes, all rendered meaningless by one ridiculous last-minute brain-fart. We should have been looking forward to a semifinal against Boro and another trip to Wembley, but instead we're back to contemplating the injury list and wondering if Ashworth is going to jump ship. I was euphoric after the City and Man U games but in retrospect it might have been better psychologically and physically if we'd just lost to City as expected.

Always reminds me of "tight-lipped ashen-faced supremo Ron Knee, 59," manager of Neasden F.C., who used to appear regularly in Private Eye. Shows my age, I suppose. Hope Tripps isn't ill, of course.

Love his attitude. Always positive. Nothing seems to get him down.

Patronizing bastard

Yes, that's undoubtedly a big part of it. But there's still been a huge gulf between the quality and style of home performances as compared with away.

We played them at home 24 days ago, had 54% possession to their 46% and beat them 4-1. Our starting line-up had 7 out of the 10 outfield players who started today's game. It was: Pope, Trippier, Lascelles (c) (Dummett 87), Schar, Livramento; Miley (Diallo 90+3), Guimaraes, Joelinton; Almiron (Murphy 87), Isak (Ritchie 81), Gordon (Ndiweni 90+2) So this time we had Botman instead of Schar, Longstaff instead of Big Joe and Wilson instead of Isak. Otherwise the same. Yet this time we had only 22% possession and were constantly on the defensive. Obviously home advantage isn't the only factor, but it shouldn't make that much of a difference