Stray Mackem

Our side is worse, believe me. It's amazing that Poyet got any kind of tune out of them really. Come on lads ? Sundolando !!!!!!!!

It was great because we were great that season. We won lots of games, scored lots of goals and won the division with ease. We also saw the emergence of a real team with key players coming to the fore, Colo, Jonas, Nolan, Enrique, Barton , Carroll et al. Everything was immensely enjoyable about that season other than who the owner was and the actual division we were in. If we had struggled however, we'd still be ruing the day we were relegated today because we'd probably still be stuck down there. Relegation for yous could be a disaster. We got lucky, will yous? Yous could easily do a Boro or worse. One of the biggest factors behind our promotion which is often overlooked was the fans not deserting the club/side. The players knew they had our support and that gave them a lot of confidence, it also gave Hughton a lot of confidence. It was a case of well here we are, lets get out of it ASAP together. We all knuckled down and didn't wallow in self pity or sack things off. If yous go down, you will lose even more fans and could well play in a half empty or less stadium and that can have a huge negative impact on everything. Indeed one of the reasons why yous haven't kicked on in my opinion is down to empty seats. A full house every week really can make a difference. If I was a player and looked around and saw thousands of empty seats I'd be thinking well the fans don't even believe in the club or us and while you'd like to think professionalism would dictate how much a player puts in effort wise, surely it must be demoralising to see thousands of empty seats in the same way a 5-0 howking can have such a demoralising effect on players. That's one of the things that truly sets our clubs apart and indeed us as fans. We stick with our club in the main. Yous don't, or have stopped even though you have an owner who has ambition for you club and has backed it up with money and managerial decisions. Yous were 3-0 down at our place when we beat yous 5-1 and your fans left at half-time in their thousands. When we got tanked 5-1 off Liverpool in our relegation season, when the 5th went in an almighty roar of Newcastle went around the then still packed stadium. Gerrard afterwards who was sensational said he couldn't believe it. We gave a louder ironic cheer to their final goal than the 3,000 Reds did. Don't get me wrong, yous are loyal fans, and both sets of supporters deserve better from our clubs and I cannot really knock those sunderland fans who don't go because yous have put up with so much s*** but if yous want to know why yous have never really kicked on, yous need to take a big long hard look at yourselves. There is no excuse really. You appoint a renowned successful manager in O'Neill and spend fortunes but still thousands of empty seats. Your cup attendances this season are a joke given how far yous went in the two. Look at us, we have a slimey b****** of a manager who along with the owner has systematically lowered expecations and taken the fun out of seeing us play but we still turn up and we do this because we foolishly believe in a better future. A huge portion of your fans have simply given up on safc period and it shows in those pink empty seats. If yous go down, the owner will surely sell up and you may well even lose your manager. If you do get relegated, I reckon it will be a long time before we play each other as same division clubs like, unless we also went down which under these clowns is always a possibility, see last season for example. Great post, and not a lot I can argue with, apart from the empty seats bit. We did great at home in the cups this season when the stadium was less than half full. Our worst performances in the league have came at home when we've had over 40,000 through the gate. No, I can't figure it out either

Connor Wickham recalled. Shit, we are desperate

Yes. And his proper name is Johno

A serious question for all you Newcastle fans. I know lots of you will laugh when we go down, and I actually don't mind that as that's what football rivalry is partly about, but do you think relegation is such a bad thing ? I've got to be honest and say I'd rather stay up, but I look at your team now, and compare them to the tarts who took you down, and it's like chalk and cheese. Relegation certainly done no harm to Newcastle in the longer term, and I've read many posts on this forum from fans who enjoyed the Championship.

I assume you're using 'gay' in a pejorative sense? No. I should have added a smiley

Only think they have a chance against WBA and Swansea tbh. Your avatar is gay.

Nice sentiment, but two games in hand gives them bit of a chance of sneaking out. No chance. We're gone. But that's not such a bad thing as we desperately need to offload some of the cloggers that have been stealing a living for far too long now. Players like Larsson, Gardner, Altidore and Fletcher who offer practically nothing game after game, and some of whom are living off the myth created by people who don't have to watch them week in week out. We made a s*** team look like world beaters again, and the only surprising thing about today is we're still not cut adrift, which will give some of the more deluded Sunderland fans the false hope of survival. The sooner we're down the better, and we can start planning for next season.

The odd time someone has bought one of one them down from the nearby lofts next to the bingo hall, but it ended up messing on the bar billiards table, so had to put an end to it. Also, the old assistant manager got them double booked with the bird of prey club, which caused a bit of bother, especially when Terry's Kestrel started going crackers. I read that last night and was pissing myself.

This, and the 19 point season, and the relegation to the third division etc.. At least a lot of the football this season has been watchable (after the first 7 games) and we've been to Wembley. Not successful by any normal measure, but by our standards it's not bad

There is still conditions to it though, they mostly get given to the university and city council. Unless your a student or work at either of these then you are probably unlikely to be given a ticket. It's not like they are literally handing them out outside the ground before the match. I've lived in Sunderland all my life, and I've never been offered a free ticket. My kids will come home from school with special offers (£20 for two tickets) but that's once a year.

not quite sure- mind if your reply was to me , you've misunderstood, I was talking about scoring goals. True, but surely he's their best option, or has he done a Cisse? Fletcher has been rotten all season, so he won't be missed. I'd play Borini up front on his own because him and Johnson seem to be our only attacking threats. I'd take a draw at Norwich, simply because they look to have a lot more goals in them than us at the minute.

Leeds situation was unique, in as much as the players Ridsdale brought in were 'leased' and not owned by the club IIRC. They've never recovered from that. Look, I'd rather we didn't go down, but we have too many s*** players on ridiculous wages, and getting relegated would be the ideal opportunity to offload them and start again, as Newcastle found out not too long ago.

Exactly. Although relegation is painful for us fans, it can be a godsend to the bean counters. You lot got rid of some right pap when you went down, and you came straight back up in a much healthier financial state.

10? good grief had no idea it was that many. Went to my first game in the late 70's and they were shit. We've been shit for at least 80% of the time since then, including the shame of going down to the 3rd division. I'm resigned to the fact that we'll go down again. I was hoping there would be three teams worse than us, but after that performance yesterday it's clear we are utterly useless in front of goal.

Any reason he left borini out? Against Hull ? He didn't really say it, but he was clearly looking at the league game against Palace. That went well didn't it ?

Aye, that was shocking yesterday. We're down. Norwich will beat us easily, and we won't get to 32 points, never mind 40. I'm struggling to see how we are going to score goals with our forward line. Poyet has done a great job, and I hope he stays, considering the shit he inherited, but we have too many really poor players who don't deserve to be playing in the Premier League. It'll be my 10th relegation (I think, I've actually lost f**king count) and I'm pretty much desensitised to it.

Tim Krul is a ****. That's all, I'm off out on the p*ss

To be fair, there's plenty of posters on there who are saying that Newcastle is better. Not everyone is so small minded. As for today, if we don't win we're as good as gone. Even a draw would be no good. I'm not confident simply because of our complete inability to beat any of the teams around us. We also need Newcastle to win again, which is a situation we've been in too many times this season.

Which one am I ? Does it matter? You all look the same anyway. Reported. Racism.

Which one am I ?

More than welcome for me, the common sense realistic approach they hay taken is so far bearing up against the jibes and anecdotes. Will it last? I think they have had the help of derby wins, and a relegation or derby loss could see them wiring jaws and pushing things in letterboxes. I'm staying, don't worry about that, I like it around here, even with the dogs abuse aimed our way.

This post is so full of unfounded, evidenceless generalisations that it hardly warrants a reply, but I'm polite, and I enjoy a debate, so here goes......... I'll start on the parts which I agree with. Newcastle is a better city. It has better infrastructure, architecture, museums, nightlife, hospitals and university. Now to the rest. There is not a huge anti Newcastle bias in Sunderland. I live here, and have done for all of my life. As with many of these things it's magnified because it's a vocal minority who spout off. Sadly the vast majority of Mackems, like me, are rarely heard, or worse, conveniently ignored. As for the Toon Ale. If I was to produce an ale called Mackem Magic, and tried to retail it in Newcastle how do you think it sell ? Nothing to do with the people of Sunderland being petty, simply our puerile rivalry rearing it's childish head once again. Sunderland a run down area ? The area I live in is anything but ran down, and by typing such ludicrous, generalised statements simply undermines the relevant parts of your argument. As for wearing rival tops in other cities ? Have you been to the Sunderland Airshow ? There's hundreds of Newcastle tops on show, and no one gives a toss. I go there every year and I think it's quite refreshing to see all the different fans, with their families, mingling without any trouble. As for your last rant. You began by saying you didn't want to sound arrogant, which is never a good start (it's a bit like saying "with all due respect") you then come out with this :- "And that's because yous are s***, a s*** club, s*** city, s*** fans, s*** s*** s***. NUFC are s*** btw but Geordies are recognised as decent people the world" Baseless, ignorant nonsense, akin to saying all Scousers are thieves, or all Yorkshiremen are tight. It's simply not true.

What's attendances got to do with fans behaviour ? I've already conceded earlier in this thread that Newcastle have higher attendances now, and historically, but I fail to see what that has to do with fan behaviour. And we are pretty much all the same. You can post lists of terrible fans from Sunderland, and I could do exactly the same regarding some of the idiots who follow Newcastle, but what's the point ? The only thing that would be proven is that the main difference between us is the colours on our replica shirts. We're only 11 miles apart, we're not from different planets. Where I work is about 50/50 between Newcastle & Sunderland fans, and I can honestly say I don't prefer one over the other, except on derby days.

I don't think most Sunderland supporters think we're different from anyone else. I've seen our fans behave amazingly well, and at times absolutely terribly, as I have with fans of every other football club.