sunderland

[Rod]

13 hours ago, et tu brute said:

4/11 to go down, as I said earlier they have a squad full of championship level players and about four massive gambles. Apart from Leeds (one player), not one of these players had any other clubs challenging to sign them. They will be playing championship football this time next year along with Burnley and Leeds. As for the money spent, the three clubs relegated last seasons spent similar (Ipswich a lot more). 

ROCK BOTTOM I tell ya! Anyone who thinks otherwise is insane. I was talking to a Newcastle fan over the weekend who said Burnley would finish bottom and sunderland would be ok. I explained to him that Burnley finished 24 points ahead of the mackems. He just looked shell shocked at this news. Honesty,some people just don't realise how bad they are. Get a look at their results at the end of last season. I think they managed two wins from the last two months of the season. In the play offs they were second best to both Coventry and Sheffield United. How they managed promotion is a complete mystery.

[sushimonster85]

Luke O'Nien is likely going to get a not insignifcant amount of Premier League minuets. Doesn't matter who they convince to knock about in their midfield, there's no way a team playing O'Nien (who is barely Championship level) in the PL has a hope of staying up. 

[midds]

1 hour ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

Think West Ham could be in for a torrid season.

Yeah it looks like they've stalled a bit too. But even a torrid West Ham season won't end up 18th or worse imo. I think Sunderland will make a decent fist of it but still come up short, losing all those players to the AFCON in January could wipe them out and they never recover and fall away as the season takes it's toll on the squad

[Benwell Lad]

15 hours ago, RS said:

They know how to make a signing. We

manage one every two years or so……

 

We are looking to improve on what we already have, it's an almost infinitely higher bar.

The outrage if we'd brought in any of the players they have 

[Pilko]

I see Neckless Erik Ten Bob at Bayer has said Xhaka won't be going anywhere.

[Wandy]

29 minutes ago, Rod said:

ROCK BOTTOM I tell ya! Anyone who thinks otherwise is insane. I was talking to a Newcastle fan over the weekend who said Burnley would finish bottom and sunderland would be ok. I explained to him that Burnley finished 24 points ahead of the mackems. He just looked shell shocked at this news. Honesty,some people just don't realise how bad they are. Get a look at their results at the end of last season. I think they managed two wins from the last two months of the season. In the play offs they were second best to both Coventry and Sheffield United. How they managed promotion is a complete mystery.

 

So you are just going to ignore the fact that they are busy buying a whole new team? 

 

Nobody knows how they will get on this coming season, it's all up in the air. 

[Rod]

1 minute ago, Wandy said:

 

So you are just going to ignore the fact that they are busy buying a whole new team? 

 

Nobody knows how they will get on this coming season, it's all up in the air. 

Rock bottom.

[Adam P]

Bit irrelevant to the discussion but i was speaking with a colleague who is a Union Saint-Gilloise fan yesterday, said Sadiki was highly rated and one of their best players. 

[Benwell Lad]

29 minutes ago, Rod said:

ROCK BOTTOM I tell ya! Anyone who thinks otherwise is insane. I was talking to a Newcastle fan over the weekend who said Burnley would finish bottom and sunderland would be ok. I explained to him that Burnley finished 24 points ahead of the mackems. He just looked shell shocked at this news. Honesty,some people just don't realise how bad they are. Get a look at their results at the end of last season. I think they managed two wins from the last two months of the season. In the play offs they were second best to both Coventry and Sheffield United. How they managed promotion is a complete mystery.

 

It's doubtful if their various acquisitions thus far have even elevated them to the level of an automatic Championship promotion team.

Their starting point was really way below that.

Unless a couple of these signings they've made turn out to be the shock signings of the season, or even decade, 19th still looks a long way off.

[Wallsendmag]

2 minutes ago, Wandy said:

 

So you are just going to ignore the fact that they are busy buying a whole new team? 

 

Nobody knows how they will get on this coming season, it's all up in the air. 

 

Aye tbf to the mackems it looks like they're giving it a go. Don't think Burnley have done too much this summer (could be wrong) but what got Burnley promoted last season will never work in the PL. Their success was built on clean sheets. They'll be lucky to get 3 or 4 of them all of next season. They don't score goals. I think they're nailed on to finish rock bottom.

 

If Sunderland start well, and they have some favourable fixtures, they'll have a chance. If they don't, morale will quickly disappear and then they'll be into that horrid run of winter fixture minus about half a dozen players and they could be pretty much sunk by January.

[et tu brute]

3 minutes ago, Adam P said:

Bit irrelevant to the discussion but i was speaking with a colleague who is a Union Saint-Gilloise fan yesterday, said Sadiki was highly rated and one of their best players. 

Not a dig at you, but, if he is so highly rated, then why was there no other clubs interested and why is he now at Sunderland? 

[Coffee_Johnny]

34 minutes ago, Rod said:

ROCK BOTTOM I tell ya! Anyone who thinks otherwise is insane. I was talking to a Newcastle fan over the weekend who said Burnley would finish bottom and sunderland would be ok. I explained to him that Burnley finished 24 points ahead of the mackems. He just looked shell shocked at this news. Honesty,some people just don't realise how bad they are. Get a look at their results at the end of last season. I think they managed two wins from the last two months of the season. In the play offs they were second best to both Coventry and Sheffield United. How they managed promotion is a complete mystery.

Signing as many players as they seem to be, must create a lot of hope and no doubt false confidence for their fans. As far as I can see most of their signings are unproven, can’t see that they have increased their goal scoring options as yet. They only scored 58 goals last year (joint 7th) and conceded 28 more than Burnley (who scored  69) and 14 more than Leeds (who scored 95). They also lost their last five league games. 
If their newbies make the step-up it might not be as grim a season for them, but (bias aside), I genuinely can’t see  them staying-up. If their new players (below) and any other additions (Xhaka would be a great signing in their position) don’t improve the picture then I reckon they will struggle to break the total points (24)  they managed 9 seasons ago when they last graced us with their presence. 
 

[Joelinton7]

Xhaka’s not escaping the ten Hag penitentiary just yet, maybe not at all.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cx23854dz3ro

[Adam P]

5 hours ago, et tu brute said:

Not a dig at you, but, if he is so highly rated, then why was there no other clubs interested and why is he now at Sunderland? 

 

I have no idea, I assume my colleague has rose tinted specs on his ex players but he's a knowledgeable fan. Rated him highly and not the type to be on the wind up.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2025 by Adam P

[Menace]

3 hours ago, et tu brute said:

Not a dig at you, but, if he is so highly rated, then why was there no other clubs interested and why is he now at Sunderland? 

 

Do you genuinely think this logic is sound?

 

If Caicedo was highly rated why was Brighton the only club in for him, same for Baleba, Joao Pedro etc

 

Like we didn't sign some cracking players when we were floating with relegation ffs 

[Kooiman]

3 hours ago, midds said:

Yeah it looks like they've stalled a bit too. But even a torrid West Ham season won't end up 18th or worse imo. I think Sunderland will make a decent fist of it but still come up short, losing all those players to the AFCON in January could wipe them out and they never recover and fall away as the season takes it's toll on the squad

I'd echo this re: West Ham. 

 

I remember last year thinking someone like Southampton might come up and cause problems, but even against ourselves, it was clear what the gap was and that even if you can pass it fairly well you need decisive players. Every team is quicker, smarter, and more technical and essentially the promoted teams are playing the equivalent of an in-form top three Championship team every week at a bare minimum.

 

I think we saw it really clearly in the last derby actually. Joelinton comfortably racing away from Trai Hume. Isak putting O'Nien on his arse. Gordon selling Ballard one for the penalty. For all the chaos and bluster it wasn't fight that beat them, it was three moments of quality. Even things like the high-press will be way more efficient and coordinated. 

 

I think it's never been harder to make the step up, and while I think Sunderland have picked up some solid lads from abroad, their season really hangs on their weakest links. 

[TK-421]

Here they go again, forcing one of their weird creepy club friendships. 

Need another since Bilbao turned 'Mag'.
 

  

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2025 by TK-421

[madras]

Mackem at work (good lad, we help each other out to get to games and we've always been honest about our teams), happy they are going for it but confused at all the midfielders as he sees their defence as being a massive weak spot. Would snap your hand off for 17th on GD.

[TK-421]

12 minutes ago, madras said:

Mackem at work (good lad, we help each other out to get to games and we've always been honest about our teams), happy they are going for it but confused at all the midfielders as he sees their defence as being a massive weak spot. Would snap your hand off for 17th on GD.

Big Dan Bollard for me, like.

[TheBrownBottle]

14 minutes ago, TK-421 said:

Here they go again, forcing one of their weird creepy club friendships. 

Need another since Bilbao turned 'Mag'.
 

  

 

 

 

 

I love the fakeness of their attempt to get foreign clubs to be their ‘friends’ - it’s never about positive interactions in previous matches (have to play in Europe for that), it’s about oddball self-aggrandisement.  It’s always a spurious myth they’ve made up to insert themselves into another club’s history (founding / colours / nickname / badge etc), which shows them how important they are despite all evidence to the contrary.   Which is why these ‘friendships’ aren’t formed with third tier Estonian clubs - they have to be reasonably ‘big’ clubs from major leagues. 

[Optimistic Nut]

5 hours ago, Coffee_Johnny said:

Signing as many players as they seem to be, must create a lot of hope and no doubt false confidence for their fans. As far as I can see most of their signings are unproven, can’t see that they have increased their goal scoring options as yet. They only scored 58 goals last year (joint 7th) and conceded 28 more than Burnley (who scored  69) and 14 more than Leeds (who scored 95). They also lost their last five league games. 
If their newbies make the step-up it might not be as grim a season for them, but (bias aside), I genuinely can’t see  them staying-up. If their new players (below) and any other additions (Xhaka would be a great signing in their position) don’t improve the picture then I reckon they will struggle to break the total points (24)  they managed 9 seasons ago when they last graced us with their presence. 
 

 

One or two if they're lucky might end up at someone like Everton, West Ham, Fulham for £30m when they go down. 

[et tu brute]

3 hours ago, Menace said:

 

Do you genuinely think this logic is sound?

 

If Caicedo was highly rated why was Brighton the only club in for him, same for Baleba, Joao Pedro etc

 

Like we didn't sign some cracking players when we were floating with relegation ffs 

I can't remember who or who wasn't in for them at the time as I don't have any interest in Brighton or Watford.
 

As for our relegation years (I presume you mean the period before the first relegation), the whole footballing world online was totally different then. However, again I can't remember who or who wasn't in for those players either. 
 

Edit: here is one quick Google search on the first player you mention:

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2025 by et tu brute

[Guybrush]

I'm not sure when their fans started appropriating 'Can't help falling in love', nor do I care to check, but one thing that brings me joy is asking a fan why they're so attached to an early 2000s track by the A-Teens:

 

 

It's even better when you can sell it as the original version of the song 

[et tu brute]

5 minutes ago, Guybrush said:

I'm not sure when their fans started appropriating 'Can't help falling in love', nor do I care to check, but one thing that brings me joy is asking a fan why they're so attached to an early 2000s track by the A-Teens:

 

 

It's even better when you can sell it as the original version of the song 

Am I being wooshed here? 

[Guybrush]

3 minutes ago, et tu brute said:

Am I being wooshed here? 

Maybe . The woosh is supposed to be aimed at any Sunderland fans in your life.