Sunderland

[cp40]

I was listening to Total Sport tonight and I couldn't help but focus on something Steve Harper said. He was talking about Kevin Nolan and how he is the best captain he's ever had. I'm aware Harper hasn't been blessed with an abundance of candidates ,but it reminded me just how influential it was to have that 'player's council' we had in the Championship.

 

Harper, Nolan, Nicky Butt, and Joey Barton, while only the latter two consistently delivered on the pitch, it was incredibly helpful to have someone marshalling the squad.

 

It's something I think is lacking in the current Sunderland dressing room. Wes Brown and O'Shea have good resumés, but in the middle of the park there really isn't anyone vocal. Seeing as I get to watch Sunderland quite often, Cattermole is something of a faux-general. He shouts, he ruffles feathers, but he doesn't actually lead, and I sense a lot of his teammates don't actually want to work for him.

 

There's undoubtedly going to be a clear out this summer. Modibo Diakite and Cabral are gone already. Jozy Altidore, and Emanuele Giaccherini will both find mid-table teams in central Europe and then it's a case of who do you try and keep. Steven Fletcher will score goals but he's also one of their few saleable assets. We've seen with QPR and West Ham in recent years that some teams make few changes in the hope of bouncing straight back up.

 

I think if they played it right, showed some patience, it could be the making of them. The last 3-4 years especially they've been burnt in the transfer market. Nearly £30million on strikers, all of whom have been outscored by a loanee from Liverpool.

 

I don't see Lee Congerton helping much either. He's a bit like Roberto Da Fanti in my opinion. He's arrived with a flattering CV that has him down as working with a clutch of talent at Chelsea, then at Hamburg in the Bundesliga. What it fails to mention is that they brought a number of those Chelsea players to Hamburg and few if any of them worked out/lasted at the club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve  Harper said on Total sport a couple of weeks ago it was a dressing room meeting led by Nolan and Barton, that got the job of getting us promoted done.

 

[Ronaldo]

Do we have to have this nonsense on an NUFC forum?

 

By the way, Barton and Butt consistently delivered on the pitch? 

[Guest Walter]

Do we have to have this nonsense on an NUFC forum?

 

By the way, Barton and Butt consistently delivered on the pitch? 

 

I think he meant Barton and Nolan

[Ronaldo]

Barton had 5 good months in 4 years.

[Nobody]

I think he meant Barton and Nolan in the Championship. Not that it's still entirely accurate, and you have to make quite a few assumptions to get there

[cp40]

Do we have to have this nonsense on an NUFC forum?

 

By the way, Barton and Butt consistently delivered on the pitch? 

 

 

what nonsense would that be?

[Ronaldo]

An analysis of Sunderland's leadership.

[Ronaldo]

I think he meant Barton and Nolan in the Championship. Not that it's still entirely accurate, and you have to make quite a few assumptions to get there

 

Barton had about 5 good games in that league with us.

[cp40]

An analysis of Sunderland's leadership.

 

oh

 

 

ok

[Cajun]

Ronaldos right tbh, the majority of Barton's time here was a waste. He had a short spell where he managed to find Carroll in and around the box but that was about it.

[Guest neesy111]

Ronaldos right tbh, the majority of Barton's time here was a waste. He had a short spell where he managed to find Carroll in and around the box but that was about it.

 

[Interpolic]

Barton had 5 good months in 4 years.

 

Yep.  Was largely a waste of time.  Plus he spent some of that 4 years in prison, still getting paid by us.

[Tisd09]

I think he meant Harper and Nolan???

[Unbelievable]

Their knight in shiny armour Mk IV Poyet is being quickly found out like. That squad is nothing special obviously, but I genuinely think he has them performing under their potential (even taken into account 1 point from 7 when he came in). His recent tactics and team selections are simply baffling (3 at the back with 2 holding midfielders in a winnable, must win home game, Johnson benched, etc) and he hasn't managed to get any of his forwards playing well for any stretch of games, even a decent one like Fletcher, who on form could have been the difference between staying up or going down. His signings have been nothing short of disastrous too. Long may it continue.

[Minhosa]

Their knight in shiny armour Mk IV Poyet is being quickly found out like. That squad is nothing special obviously, but I genuinely think he has them performing under their potential (even taken into account 1 point from 7 when he came in). His recent tactics and team selections are simply baffling (3 at the back with 2 holding midfielders in a winnable, must win home game, Johnson benched, etc) and he hasn't managed to get any of his forwards playing well for any stretch of games, even a decent one like Fletcher, who on form could have been the difference between staying up or going down. His signings have been nothing short of disastrous too. Long may it continue.

 

He also struggled to get Brighton to score goals too.

 

They never had a prolific striker during this time there either.

[Gallowgate Toon]

I'm sure he also spent a fair whack at Brighton (for a Championship side)?

[The College Dropout]

Their knight in shiny armour Mk IV Poyet is being quickly found out like. That squad is nothing special obviously, but I genuinely think he has them performing under their potential (even taken into account 1 point from 7 when he came in). His recent tactics and team selections are simply baffling (3 at the back with 2 holding midfielders in a winnable, must win home game, Johnson benched, etc) and he hasn't managed to get any of his forwards playing well for any stretch of games, even a decent one like Fletcher, who on form could have been the difference between staying up or going down. His signings have been nothing short of disastrous too. Long may it continue.

 

He also struggled to get Brighton to score goals too.

 

They never had a prolific striker during this time there either.

 

Rarely picked up points from losing positions. He's a defensive manager no doubt.

[The College Dropout]

I'm sure he also spent a fair whack at Brighton (for a Championship side)?

Yes, then complained about it.

[BlueStar]

Remember in spite of all this, this guy has outwitted Pardew twice by the way

[Varadi]

Remember in spite of all this, this guy has outwitted Pardew twice by the way

 

Isn't it about 6 times if you include his Brighton stint?

[loki679]

Aye, you'd have to have been a mug to have lost to that Brighton side.

[Benwell Lad]

Their knight in shiny armour Mk IV Poyet is being quickly found out like. That squad is nothing special obviously, but I genuinely think he has them performing under their potential (even taken into account 1 point from 7 when he came in). His recent tactics and team selections are simply baffling (3 at the back with 2 holding midfielders in a winnable, must win home game, Johnson benched, etc) and he hasn't managed to get any of his forwards playing well for any stretch of games, even a decent one like Fletcher, who on form could have been the difference between staying up or going down. His signings have been nothing short of disastrous too. Long may it continue.

 

Aye. He's had a few years in management now the thing he's known best for is the infamous dressing room incident. Although it could now be argued that screwing up the easiest route to Europe Sunderland will ever be offered equals it.

Hardly a glittering CV, yet some of the retards still think he's going to be their messiah and they're lucky to have him as so many big clubs would want him 

[Minhosa]

I'm sure he also spent a fair whack at Brighton (for a Championship side)?

 

I've seen quite a bit of Brighton play over the last few years and can't recall him ever being known as a big spender by their fans but you could be right.

 

They certainly had a very specific way of playing under Poyet (building from the back, with the ball always to feet and always started every attack with the DM dropping back to centre half to collect the ball and immediately playing it out wide to an advanced full back). I never saw Brighton launch a ball forward at any point of watching them under Poyet (probably saw about 15 games under him, at the Amex).

 

He seemed to like using the loan system to his advantage with his signings of Bridge and Upson at his disposal during their best year in the Championship. So, I'd expect much of the same if Sunderland do indeed go down.

 

The problem with them was that they weren't very good to watch. For all of their possession, they were never hugely effective. They never battered a team and they never really came out of the blocks full of attacking intention. Their football was very slowly, slowly catchy monkey.

[Guest Nixon]

Apologies just to clarify, I meant the first two (Nolan and Harper) not (as my brain incorrectly told me to type) the latter two of Barton and Butt.

[Guest BenArfa10]

When we went down we kept many of our decent players. That's why we came back up again, not because of some terrific rebuilding exercise.

 

If (when?) they go down, they'll not be keeping the nucleus of a good squad for all the reasons already mentioned. They'll be pretty much building their team again from scratch. Not saying that's impossible, but it sure as f*** isn't a blessing to be in that situation and have to do it.

 

Very true and our squad was way too good for the Championship. I mean regardless of how they performed in the Premier League prior or what you may think of them personally the nucleus of that squad allowed us to piss the league really, I mean 102 points is ridiculous, we went 7 games unbeaten twice, scored 90 goals, regularly putting 4-5 and 6 past teams and we only lost 4 games. We had two very good goalkeepers in Harper and Krul and along with keeping Coloccini, S.Taylor, Jose Enrique, Barton, Smith, Nolan, Jonas and Lovenkrands along with the emergence of Carroll and added signings of Williamson, Routledge, Best, Hall and Van Aanholt there was no one who could stop us. Even Shola was a goal machine before he got injured.

 

We dispensed with the 'dead-wood' in Beye, Bassong, Viduka, Geremi (stayed until end of Jan, scored against Huddersfield in cup), Owen, Martins, Duff (at least played in first game and scored) and Cacapa. Okay some of them people would have like to have stayed like Oba Martins, Bassong and Habib Beye but we didn't need them at the end of the day, those were the ones with the attitudes that took us down, Owen especially. I mean look at what happened to some of them. Beye went to Villa and had a torrid time only playing 9 games, then went to Doncaster before eventually retiring. Bassong went to Spurs full of promise but failed to live up to it, he went to Wolves who then got relegated and he is now at Norwich who are in a relegation battle. Duff went to Fulham and tbf he has done ok for them but it looks like he is going to be facing another relegation. Martins is probably the most successful as he won the League cup with Birmingham but then he got relegated, he's currently playing for Seattle Sounders. He also had some non-descript times at Wolfsburg, Rubin Kazan and Levante. Owen went to Man U scored a couple of goals including a derby goal and he finished his career at Stoke which says it all, such wasted promise. Viduka ended his career at Newcastle, good player with too many injuries. Geremi went to Turkey and then Larissa so yeah he was a decent player in his time but it was pretty much game up for him when he signed for us.   

 

The season rebuilt the confidence of our players, we became harder to beat and were more 'one' as a club. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise but clubs who go down cannot afford to take instant promotion for granted because it won't always work out like it did with us.