magvicar

You're right, it does look brutal but brutal times can bring out the best in players. It might not work for us but then again it just might. I'm keeping my glass half full. Just one or two new signings and one or two returning injury players up to speed is all you need to kick start the entire squad into action again. Fingers crossed we start a revival on boxing day and run it through January and see what we have by then and see where the possibilities lie for the run in.

Howe isn't blameless and can be criticised but all players can be. The key to it all is for fans not to over-react as if Eddie and co suddenly lose the plot and should be ousted, because that's insane.

It doesn't matter who we play, what matters is us getting up to speed again with players back and a few new signings, whether that's loans or whatever. All is not lost. We were always likely to have a second season of come down after achieving what we did last season and what we've been through this season. It's not too late to kick start.

The bad news is...(stating the obvious)....we're in a bit of a rut. The better news is, we are not out of anything as of yet because we still have January to come good and other teams still have their own rut to go through, as far as I'm concerned.

Seriously?

You're correct, he isn't elite and can't be classed as elite until he starts to really challenge regularly at the top and brings a trophy or two. If the club allow and Eddie stays hungry then I see no reason why he can't become elite. But...time will tell on this.

My take on Dan Ashworth is the same take as any employee at the football club. If the rumours are true and he's wanting out then I wash my hands of him straight away. He basically means nothing to me just as any player wanting out before they have any real impact at the club. Life goes on and so does the football club, whoever departs. But as we all know, rumours are just that until the proof in the pudding comes to the fore.

Miley's no slouch. He's 6 foot 2 and a smidge at 17. By the time he's 20 he'll be 7 foot 26 inches and still be no slouch.

I think the only winner of that comp is Real Madrid. If we managed to get through we likely wouldn't have got sociedad. I'm almost sure everything is rigged against us in all competitions. It feels like that anyway.

He was way down in the pecking order which was confusing seeing as he should've been at the top.

I have a feeling Cooper will end up at Birmingham when they sack Rooney.

Newcastle United will go on. Dan Ashworth is just another person in a long line of people that have come and wanted out of this club. Mind you this is assuming the rumours are true about him...and if so he can go and do one and I won't lose any sleep over him as I won't lose any sleep over anyone wanting out of Newcastle. Losing him under Ashley would've been a different kettle of fish but losing him under this regime will be leaving him with little excuse to curry any favour. If he goes he will be replaced with equal or better. He's not the only one that can do a job.

It's only a matter of time before Miggy takes a bit of a back seat (squad player) but on his day he can produce the good and his work rate and ability to scare defences adds fuel to our game overall but naturally that gets put on the back burner when he fails to deliver the goods from his energetic and speedy runs into great positions.

He talked about loyalty when Wolves came in for him when he was at Q.P.R. He turned them down citing loyalty to the cause and a few months later upped sticks to Rangers. He might do alright for them but then again he might just turn out to be a damp squib. I wonder what the general consensus is among Sunderland fans.

No mate, it's just a gut feeling but sling a quid on both game scores, you never know.

Just getting the big players back as a squad is fantastic for moral. Not to mention Geordie players.

In a way I'd be inclined to sort of agree but, although he's up there for me he's not quite elite yet...but I do take your point.

It's easy for us all to become internet managers but the stark reality is, Eddie and co coach those players and see them almost every day in training. Eddie is as meticulous as can be with what he has and given the way we've performed since he came here I'd say he is doing fantastic and will obviously have blips. We can't expect to just blow teams away all the time and we all know that all teams have blips, even the super moneybag teams established over many many years with elite managers. The thing is as fans we are entitled to have a moan and obviously we can all pretend to be managers when we do have a dig, because it's all about opinions and we all have them whether some like them or not. It what makes chat and forums work. Not too long ago Liverpool fans (some) were questioning Klopp and some feeling change would be better. It's a bit mad but this is what happens when teams have bad runs. Eddie's been here five minutes compared to the elite managers and he has the opportunity to become part of that. He's managed Bournemouth on a shoestring and did well at first. He's managed the rough and the smooth. He now has the resources to smooth out this machine he's creating and taking defeats (however bad) on the chin and going again without too many excuses will likely propel him into the higher echelons of management status, I think. Hopefully it happens.

I'm going to make a bold prediction about tomorrows games. We will beat AC Milan 3-2 and Dortmund will draw with PSG 2-2. AC Milan will have a player sent off and so will PSG.

I agree I could well be too hasty but generally when a keeper of Dubravka's standards (or was) you'd expect him to grab the Bull by the horns and basically die for the cause but he's succeeded in shipping 7 goals in 2 games (not all his fault....but) which will not endear him to the players trust and nor to the fan's trust either. To be fair I'm not falling into any trap because it comes down to Him being given another chance to get up to speed against AC Milan, which I think will make or break his tenure between the posts. To be totally honest I lost interest in him the minute he went to Man Utd....and... cutting my nose off to spite my face, maybe, I would rather see Karius and even Gillespie given their chance ahead of him...but that's just my opinion. They may fare similar or worse but I just don't feel confident nor happy about Dubravka.

I personally think Hall is still acclimatising to Eddie Howe's set up. The lad is only 19 and will get better and better, enough for him to be trusted to play a number of games this season, assuming there is an obligation to buy that does not hinge on certain games played, because if that was the case then it could be deliberate omittance. I'd like to think we keep him and work on him.

Trippier needs the rest. A good refresh for him will have him firing again. That lad has kept this team ticking for long enough so I can forgive him a few bad games.

I think Pope's a bigger rock than people think and even the players seem to know this. Dubravka doesn't fill me or likely the players with much confidence. I just hope he gets up to speed quickly. I think the AC Milan game has to be where he stands up to be counted or he'll have to be dropped in favour of Karius or even Gillespie for that matter. I don't usually like to be too hasty but he literally fills me with dread.

Miggy is simply a small bundle of energy and if his footballing brain was as on point he would be a world beater. I think he would be subbed a lot more if we had the numbers to bring on. Miggy is like a box of chocolates, you just never know what you're going to get in terms of goals in games but you always know you get graft to the bone. Unfortunately graft only gets you so far at the top level of games.