gjohnson

I remember a lot of Roberts goals....I only remember one of Bellamys

Burn has done really well for us, and probably could next season too. The fear is that if he's replaced by someone in theory better the team dynamic is disrupted and makes us worse

Means nothing. Football is not like regular employment where you get an offer of take it or leave it. There will be details and clauses to sort, and anyone who has ever dealt with an agent or solicitor will know it doesn't happen in a few hours

Exactly this...he wouldn't raise a peep if it was Man U shifting their deadwood for millions. He'd be saying it's great to see the middle East building a decent league offering more competition. As good as he is as a commentator and insightful in many ways he does have an inbuilt Man U bias which is completely understandable

Should have phrased it a bit better ?

Saudi chopper heading in Newcastle direction right now

We all know what they do to seagulls

As much as we don't like him. Good effort

And the rest...it would probably take 75-80 for us to even consider selling

Good on him. Probably the biggest turn around I've ever seen from a player. How much is down to him and how much is down to Howe's coaching is an unknown, but I've never seen such an improvement in a player without them having to change clubs.

More often than not he wins it cleanly, but it's good to see some aggression from us rather than bending over and taking it for a change, and if a few cards is the cost so be it

Wouldn't you? Footballers or not they are still human, and it's human nature to go for something for nothing if possible. Ultimately we are all evolved to do as little work as possible for the maximum gain. Yes there are some anomalies who seek glory above all else, but they are a rare breed

That's a fair point, but I'd not be expecting us to look at ageing expensive loans given the improvements to our scouting department. Hopefully more up and coming players in the botman mold.

14k a month after tax and pension...while being coached to be fit as hell and being able to say you're a footballer....I'd be dead in a week with drink, tarts, and fine dining

He's a very expensive option to replace Lacelles on the non playing CB role. Hopefully Ashford and the team have younger cheaper option in view

Still nice work if you can get it. 5k a week for sitting around in the vague hope that 3 people better than you aren't available. Don't know how the poor guy copes

Yes...used to be straight knockout completion with only the champions of the leagues playing. First extended when we got 2nd under Dalglish, and still had to do a qualifying round...recall that Ketsbaia got the goal to get us in

He's no Dave Challinor

Dan Burn has been a fixture in a team threatened by relegation to champions league in the space of a year. O'Shea was surrounded by the best and always did a good/decent job when called on. Ultimately always just a space filler to do a job when the first choice wasn't available. So yes I think it is fair to say Burn has been more useful to us than O'Shea ever was for you

Was he b*****ks Different player different role, and Burn has been far more effective and useful for us than O'Shea ever was for you.

Hans....it came with the frame

Would we take Joselu back now?

Think the exact situation is that he has gets the interest on it till mommy clocks it. Either way as we saw with Big Fat Mike....having money doesn't mean your going to spend it all on a football club

He doesn't actually have any serious cash till his mother clocks it though. Well I say serious cash ...I doubt any of us would refuse it, but it's not enough to run a club the size of Sunderland on a month to month basis

This season has been amazing. For the first time ever it looks like we've got where we are through sensible and sustainable management. Yes Keegan got us places, but it always looked like surfing on a wave that was always going to collapse, Robson did too, but always relied on a bit of magic from Robert, Bellamy, or a bit of grit from Shearer or Speed. We seem to have a bit of all now and some smarts for a change....just changes that last minute draw to a win, or pulls a win from no-where. Makes a difference