100%...ie, Cattermole...Why?...although we know he was not to be bullied, he had so much close control skills according to Jordan Henderson. Many years back, I overheard a conversation with Henderson and Bruce, just before he left us for Liverpool.. He said when the squad trained non contact 5-a-side fitness sessions, nobody could get the ball off Catts....he took the piss.
Like a centre forward who drops deep. Messi, Tevez, De Bruyne have all played that role. The idea is often to get on the ball away from the opposing centre backs. In this case Johnson played two forwards in that role to congest the centre of the pitch against Man Utd, and then they had to break from deep when Bristol City were attacking.
I know it’s been asked before without a definite reply, but just how much input does LJ have on the signing of players? If it’s a case of “you can have A or B but not the one you asked for” then I have sympathy for him. And when he stated that there were no expectations for this season, was he talking about the fans or himself and those at the centre of the club? Maybe the back room staff weren’t happy with the signings? I’m just speculating of course.
Me neither really, apart from wondering at Johnsons losing runs here and elsewhere. But he also has hot streaks, so..... The other factor at play here is perception from the outside. Maybe we appointed the wrong people all the time, or got shot of them all at the right time. But others aren't interested in Sunderland as we are. They will just see a club with a succession of owners for years now, getting rid of managers after months rather than years. We could be looked on, if we aren't already, as a club to avoid
It is interesting to talk to other fans sometimes and see what they think of us. I know some who think we are a basket case club and cant understand what our approach is / has been. I often wonder what other managers think of us. Mercenaries wont pay attention, they will sign a contract knowing failure = money. We will still attract those sorts. Young managers with a career plan? Who knows, they too may think we are a basket case that will damage your career prospects. For sure at some point an owner has to give a coach a chance to build and build and build, otherwise we will forever be seen as short-term.
Yes, I think that's right. Even if we don't go up, the long term damage of sacking another manager, after about a year into the job and less than a year after a new owner had indicated a new, sable strategy, could be pretty bad. Maybe, if at this time next year, we are clearly not making progress, then this might not matter so much. I can see why many would disagree with this. I too can see Johnsons faults, but he is not hopeless, and given the circumstances, and our record of short termism, we might well struggle to get better, and certainly I doubt we'd get the long term type of man the owner's stated aims requires. So, as much as I share the frustration of everyone who is as sick as I am with our loitering in League One, I think the vest policy would be to stick with Johnson, assume he will get the team going again, and see if we can get up.
Watched the game and must give Alves credit for a 6 out of 10 performance, I was expecting far worse. I'd have him behind Younger as our center half options.
Fans saying we have a cat 1 academy why dont we use it but when we do people dont want to use it kld is best owner we have had in yeeeeears he is the dream get promoted and sky is the limit next summer johnson hasnt been given money? Its league one when does a team spend 10-20 mill ? Cirkin Huggins Stewart Hoffmann Dajaku and other players all come with a fee so stfu about kld Johnson is the problem a good manager should be able to work with this players get them up for games of there low on confidence thats managers fault has Johnson ever Turned it around at any of his past clubs ? Only way his bad runs have ended is because of the season ending like u cant slate kld ect but then want Johnson in for the long term planing
Why would you LOVE roy back ? When did he last manage? What is his style of play? Does he bring youth through? Has he worked under a dof and data analytics ect?
Hes here for very long time so get used to him being our owner cant wait he’s amazing just needs to get Johnson out asap but atm I understand he will be reluctant to do it just yet
Theres no long term damage thats what people dont get and need to start to understand if we sack him tomorrow the structure snd set up all stays in place the only thing that goes is the manager and his staff in past we lived in the past snd brought a manager in and then sacked him and the next manager has to try to implement his style of football ect thats not gonna be the case now
We'll only know if Johnson is sacked. But you have to take the emotion out of this, if you're thinking about it from an outsider's viewpoint. Can you really imagine a serious candidate, not one who will just turn up for a pay off, wanting to come here, after yet another manager has gone four months into a new season? And this one the first of a new owners tenure who has voiced a categorical and public declaration of a long term approach, and has agreed to the current manager ? Maybe, but I can't. Not unless it gets a lot worse.
I go along with this, another season of L1 might be the result but its not the end of the world, as long as the club keeps visibly improving at all levels, the vast majority with stick it out imo. And on top of that we have plenty of time to turn it around this season, another decent transfer window will probably address many of the current issues, if it is as well planned as the last.
3 of those 6 being in cup competitions. We can’t sack a manager every time we have a bad run of results. Your jumping the gun here. As bad as them up the road.