Steve McClaren

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Makes you wonder why we went in to this season with many gaps still to fill...

 

Even if there is money to spend, its all about getting the best deal still. That money has to stretch very far. 15m on Austin? We can afford it, but we value him at 10m and we are sticking to that. Our whole player recruitment policy is holding back the club so much its insane. The team is crying out for experience, but the 26 and under policy kills that.

[Minhosa]

From what I've heard there is £150m to be spent over 3 transfer windows for McClaren.

 

Over the NEXT three windows or including the previous one?

[Guest Howaythetoon]

From what I've heard there is £150m to be spent over 3 transfer windows for McClaren.

 

Over the NEXT three windows or including the previous one?

 

Including the previous one.

[Minhosa]

From what I've heard there is £150m to be spent over 3 transfer windows for McClaren.

 

Over the NEXT three windows or including the previous one?

 

Including the previous one.

 

£100m left over the next two windows should still give us a decent chance of a sustained improvement in the first eleven.

[Ikon]

As if it will ever happen i wish so..

[Kanj]

I'm aware what I'm suggesting is a lot but all I'm saying is that's what we need.

[The College Dropout]

Spine needs improving.

 

CM & CB crucial. Another striker would be great too.We need an attacker that can take the pressure off Mitro & Ayoze. As it is, if one of them has a bad patch we are royally screwed.

[TRon]

From what I've heard there is £150m to be spent over 3 transfer windows for McClaren.

 

Yet there was a recent news article that claimed McClaren's wishlist included a commanding centre back who was vocal, but was told that sort of player would be too expensive to buy so we handed Colo a contract extension instead. Does that mean the £150m is being split up into £50m segments for each window? What would be the advantage of doing that rather than just improving the team right now?

 

 

[mrmojorisin75]

From what I've heard there is £150m to be spent over 3 transfer windows for McClaren.

 

Yet there was a recent news article that claimed McClaren's wishlist included a commanding centre back who was vocal, but was told that sort of player would be too expensive to buy so we handed Colo a contract extension instead. Does that mean the £150m is being split up into £50m segments for each window? What would be the advantage of doing that rather than just improving the team right now?

That article made no sense though thinking on it now.

[TRon]

From what I've heard there is £150m to be spent over 3 transfer windows for McClaren.

 

Yet there was a recent news article that claimed McClaren's wishlist included a commanding centre back who was vocal, but was told that sort of player would be too expensive to buy so we handed Colo a contract extension instead. Does that mean the £150m is being split up into £50m segments for each window? What would be the advantage of doing that rather than just improving the team right now?

That article made no sense though thinking on it now.

 

Well it was probably made up, but at the end of the day we still ended up giving Colo a contract extension rather than buy the commanding centre back that we needed.

[mrmojorisin75]

From what I've heard there is £150m to be spent over 3 transfer windows for McClaren.

 

Yet there was a recent news article that claimed McClaren's wishlist included a commanding centre back who was vocal, but was told that sort of player would be too expensive to buy so we handed Colo a contract extension instead. Does that mean the £150m is being split up into £50m segments for each window? What would be the advantage of doing that rather than just improving the team right now?

That article made no sense though thinking on it now.

 

Well it was probably made up, but at the end of the day we still ended up giving Colo a contract extension rather than buy the commanding centre back that we needed.

Yeah, but even assuming we had finite resources set at 40-50m over three windows or whatever why extend his contact? Why spend on Thauvin when we had Cabella if he wanted a CB? Etc.

[Mole_Toonfan]

CM is a bigger problem than CB IMO, part of the issue is that the midfield doesn't protect the defence at all and doesn't put the attack in a decent position to score either.

 

A better CM would help solve both problems as it links it all together and I agree with Ikon we don't just need one but two

[The College Dropout]

Definitely need a new CB. Concede so many goals from aerial duels and crosses. Both our CB's are weak in the air. Massive problem.

 

CM is a massive problem too.

[Dan Gleebals]

From what I've heard there is £150m to be spent over 3 transfer windows for McClaren.

 

 

Does not make any sense why they would not have spent it in the summer then really - same financial year (profit being key to these idiots).  Jan is harder to spend in and prices are  too high (for our lot anyway).  So this all points to a spending spree on players who will be available for free next summer who we can pick up cheep and not players that will actually improve our squad/need.

 

If they actually spent that on what we need the fair enough but the targets were probably already agreed way before SM even came in the summer.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Another couple of windows like the last one and we'd end up with a very respectable team. Not certain by any means obviously.

[TRon]

Another couple of windows like the last one and we'd end up with a very respectable team. Not certain by any means obviously.

 

Not really, unless we start buying players that we actually need rather than potential profit. While I like a lot of the players that have come in, we really needed a commanding CB and a dominating midfielder.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Another couple of windows like the last one and we'd end up with a very respectable team. Not certain by any means obviously.

 

Not really, unless we start buying players that we actually need rather than potential profit. While I like a lot of the players that have come in, we really needed a commanding CB and a dominating midfielder.

 

Oh yeah I agree, we obviously need to focus on those players. Just the calibre of players we got was good.

 

With the CB and CM issue, suppose it's a question of if the club believes we already have too many of those players on the wage bill. Particularly at CB.

[The College Dropout]

Another couple of windows like the last one and we'd end up with a very respectable team. Not certain by any means obviously.

 

Not really, unless we start buying players that we actually need rather than potential profit. While I like a lot of the players that have come in, we really needed a commanding CB and a dominating midfielder.

 

This. This. This.

[The College Dropout]

Another couple of windows like the last one and we'd end up with a very respectable team. Not certain by any means obviously.

 

Not really, unless we start buying players that we actually need rather than potential profit. While I like a lot of the players that have come in, we really needed a commanding CB and a dominating midfielder.

 

Oh yeah I agree, we obviously need to focus on those players. Just the calibre of players we got was good.

 

With the CB and CM issue, suppose it's a question of if the club believes we already have too many of those players on the wage bill. Particularly at CB.

 

I believe we bought Gini to play CM, it looks like he's suited to a more attacking role.

We needed a dominant CB - bought Chancel.

Needed a genuine winger in the squad. Bought a #10 who had a bad season in France.

 

The only player we signed who was exactly what we needed is Mitro. Gini looks to have answered another issue but not the one I suspect he was brought in for.

[Ikon]

Agree Ian! That's why it's sooo frustrating supporting this club. There's so much potential to make this a great club with a very good team again. For the last few years we've had some very good players at the club, although no good manager. It's also that we never go all in and try to build on that, improving every weak position and add quality for squad depth and competition. Even if it's early days there's no doubt that players like Wijnaldum, Perez and Mitrovic for example are real quality. Like so many times before, a few years ahead from now on we will think about these in the same way that we do of former quality players.

 

Keep the real quality and ADD to it! For once please! Create a team!

[The College Dropout]

We haven't had a good team in yonks. Some good individuals but the same problems for a long time now.

[TRon]

Another couple of windows like the last one and we'd end up with a very respectable team. Not certain by any means obviously.

 

Not really, unless we start buying players that we actually need rather than potential profit. While I like a lot of the players that have come in, we really needed a commanding CB and a dominating midfielder.

 

Oh yeah I agree, we obviously need to focus on those players. Just the calibre of players we got was good.

 

With the CB and CM issue, suppose it's a question of if the club believes we already have too many of those players on the wage bill. Particularly at CB.

 

I believe we bought Gini to play CM, it looks like he's suited to a more attacking role.

We needed a dominant CB - bought Chancel.

Needed a genuine winger in the squad. Bought a #10 who had a bad season in France.

 

The only player we signed who was exactly what we needed is Mitro. Gini looks to have answered another issue but not the one I suspect he was brought in for.

 

I'm pretty sure Thauvin is a genuine winger, just one who wasn't prepared for the pace of the game over here. I like Mbemba too but he needs a big defender next to him rather than Colo. We lack height at the back and in midfield and much though I'm a fan of skill rather than physique, you need enough to be able to defend set pieces.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

You don't need 11 great players, you just need 4 or 5 and no glaring weaknesses. At the moment we need to address the glaring weakness in midfield, and also the glaring weakness is defence that's looming with an injury or Colo's retirement.

 

I don't think those two players need to be world-beaters, or massively expensive. They just need to be no-risk and suited to the job. The kind of players the other midtable clubs sign quite often. 

[Mole_Toonfan]

Another couple of windows like the last one and we'd end up with a very respectable team. Not certain by any means obviously.

 

Not really, unless we start buying players that we actually need rather than potential profit. While I like a lot of the players that have come in, we really needed a commanding CB and a dominating midfielder.

 

Think we did that this summer tbh, we just didn't do enough of it as per.

[Paully]

WE WON’T BE COMPLACENT

 

Win every personal battle, handle the occasion and be disciplined

 

Hi

 

It's derby day on Sunday and the importance of this match is not lost on me or any of our players.  Quite simply it is one of the most important days of the season.

 

We travel to the Stadium of Light at the weekend delighted to have our first win under our belts and looking to make it back-to-back victories. Needless to say it was imperative that we won last week and whilst we all said beforehand that we would have taken a scrappy one-nil win, the bonus for everyone at the club and, in particular, you the supporters, was that it was an exciting, entertaining game with some fantastic periods of play and of course terrific goals.

 

It was great to finally send everyone home happy and smiling after what has been a difficult start to the season.

 

Just as we refused to over-react to the defeat at Manchester City the week before, we have not over-reacted to the victory against Norwich.  It was a step in the right direction, but that is all.  No one is complacent. We have to ensure we deliver a consistency of high level performance not just over a number of games but also within games.

 

Gini took most of the plaudits after the game, and rightly so, but there were good performances all over the pitch which pleased myself and the coaching staff.  However there were still areas we identified that need to be worked on and that's what we've been concentrating on this week on the training pitch.  We have to keep working hard and focussing one hundred percent on getting our preparation spot on for Sunday.

 

I don't need reminding that we have lost the last five derbies and for everyone associated with the club that is simply unbearable.  It wasn't so long ago that we won five in row and we are desperately keen and hugely motivated to turn the tide and bring the points back to Tyneside.  The atmosphere is always incredible and I think unique to the North East and we have to go there, stand up and be counted.

 

There’s no question that our players understand what it means to win the derby.  A number of the squad have a great deal of experience of this particular game, but don’t forget that Mitro, Gini and Daryl have also played in huge derbies for their former clubs and the enormity of the occasion is not lost on any of them.

 

My message to the players is simple.  Win every personal battle, handle the occasion and be disciplined.  If we can do all that and put one or two of our chances away then we can come away with the positive result we all crave.

 

Sam Allardyce is a manager I've come up against in the past when he was with Bolton and I have huge respect for him. He gets the job done with a minimum of fuss and if you want to come out on top against one of Sam’s sides every part of your preparation and strategy has to be perfect. It's his first home game with Sunderland and the crowd and players will be fired up. If we at least match that, I am confident the quality within this group will prevail.

 

Enjoy the game on Sunday and I sincerely hope that come 2pm on Sunday afternoon, we’ve given you a performance and result to be really proud of.

 

Steve