Match Day Thread Sunderland v Lincoln City – Saturday 22nd May 2021 - KO 15:30

I'll be there with the bairn and the old fart. Looking forward to it. KTF.

 

I'd rather be in our position with our owner and future plan than scraping 17th in the Prem. Been there, done that and guess what.......it bites you on the arse big style one day motherfucker.

 

Don’t think I can remember the last time we had 3 fit defenders! Don’t honestly think he’s had 3 central defenders fit since he joined. Flanagan injured, Wright injured, Willis injured. I can’t honestly remember when they were all fit at the same time. Add McLaughlin to that mix too.

if he stays as coach and we sign players with him having no say then what’s the point? A guy who picks the side has no say in the players he’s getting? I know we disagree a lot but that is dumbfounding to me.

 

Disagree. I think the fact that we very nearly got promoted is down to LJ's good decisions.
I also disagree about Younger. There is no logical reason for him not to play him if he was good enough/ready. As he didn't play him he was either not good enough or not ready.
As for his tactics on Wednesday and the second half today, he's not working in a vacuum. There's another team and another manager playing against them and they want to win too. Appleton clearly shaded him on those occasions.
Its important to remember that a manager is limited by the limitations of his players. Johnson got a tune out of McGeady and Wyke and had players playing sufficiently well out of position to win games. With a different set of players, Appleton may not have shaded him.
You're probably right that if we're not top by September that call for his sacking will increase. But that will be to our shame.

 

I'm sure we did play 3 at the back on at least a couple of occasions, didn't we?

 

I disagree.
He hadn't been here long but got us on a 14 game unbeaten run then
he had to juggle an injury ravaged squad with games coming thick and fast.
He turned wyke into a top scorer.
We had the best defence.
The most possession.
The most passes.
The most shots.
Etc etc.
Shìt happens.
We go again next season.

 

But you can roll a turd in glitter - that's what has happened at SAFC for too bloody long now!

 

Johnson has admitted that Flanagan was put on because of his height, and a potential chance of a set piece.

 

The reason behind it was that he thought Flanagan at 6' 4" would be a bigger threat if we got a set piece.

 

He didn't play Sanderson until we had injuries, so maybe he's not such a great judge of central defenders as we think he is.

 

****e thinking if that was the case. Supposing we equalised, we then faced 30 minutes of extra time (and possibly penalties) with diminished attacking threat and a ****e central defender instead of a pacey forward.

 

KLD - I suspect you are a nerd like me and may well read this board - I want a team that will win this league because we need to. The fact that the best I got from my family tonight is 'at least we didn't lose at Wembley' says it all. Dear god we are so much better than this.

 

KLD has a plan and Johnson appears to be part of that so I'm 100% behind him.

For the first time I have total faith in the owner of the club who I'm sure will back the manager with the right players.

I'm not inclined to say 'Thanks for buying the club, creating a proper structure and bringing in good people to run it ...

... but these are the things I want changing'.

I've seen many claims that the keeper, defenders, midfield, forwards aren't good enough, which may well be true, but the same people also blame the manager for everything when those players fail. Demands were made that certain 'vital' players, such as Jones, should be brought in to win promotion but they've let us down. I've no doubt he, and others, have the ability but obviously not the right attitude. We need a team, not a collection of players.

The first thing on my list would be a real captain who the whole team respects, even fears ...

... we haven't had one for years and it shows.

 

absolutely spot on this.

yesterday was the end of a **** era. Today KLD, Speakman and Johnson will begin building the new one.

 

This is what we need as the core of our team; it's what Lincoln had in Bridcutt, we need a Kevin Ball mk 2

 

This is the one I'm struggling with when thinking of new players.

 

I have some concerns about LJ coach- as he is not the manager of the football club - so do not think its fair to appraise him as a manager.

When we are allowed to play the game in the top 2/3rd of the pitch we are okay and can create chances - Mcgeady is able to get the ball in the final third and deliver the service that Wyke needs. We can only seem to play in the final 2/3rd consistently early in games when we press high and at home away teams sit back or when other teams score to either equalise or take a lead.

It is noticeable that once we get a lead we sit back - we did not do this yesterday as we needed to score again.

I think this comes down that I do not think the squad are not fit enough to play the style of football that works for us for a sustained period of time to create chances.
The manager said in his interview after the game yesterday that by not scoring the third goal and effectively taking the lead in the tie we were not able to rest in possession.

This is a coaching point - can he have the players fitter so they can press more consistently and once they get a lead do not have to rest in possession.

Once the game is played in our final third we are poor defensively as a team in that everything is last ditch, needless freekicks not keeping the ball better giving the opposition a momentum, this is where Wyke and O'Brien as the front 2 need to be able to hold up the ball or be able to run beyond the defensive line to get the whole team up the pitch and we get McGeady playing in the final third rather than on the half way line.

These again are coaching points.

The approach to subs is very strange as it seems to confuse the players on what they are now trying to do.

To counter the concerns it's not his squad - Speakman is setting a structure of how the new regime want Sunderland to play winning football in the current era - so the squad has to be built to fit this structure and the LJ has to coach the squad to deliver this.

Although I have concerns about him- he has to be given time to build the squad to implement the the football that they club want to play not just next season but for the next 3-5 seasons.

 

Which Moron do you mean and who would you attract to replace him?

 

3 at the back with Sanderson and 2 makeshift defenders we were doing well. Very few goals conceded and 15 games unbeaten and automatic looking good. Sanderson got injured and we have been rubbish at the back since then.

 

and maybe Sanderson could be the captain we're looking for?