How can this club be saved?

[davek]

Safe right now. But for how much longer? We are deep in a relegation fight. The RS impending title success is bad enough, but us getting relegated in the same season doesn’t even bare thinking about.

I have loyalty ultimately to Everton.

If I thought Dyche was taking us down Ild be demanding his head.

But we've been in worse positions than this much later in the season than this and got out of it under Dyche.

We just have to accept that along with his desire to keep things tight that necessitates us taking any chances we do create in games.

We can take a gamble and go more open with a different manager, but can you imagine the catastrophic defeats we'd suffer with these group of players?

Their heads would go down and Dycheball would seem like a very safe haven to be docked in.

 

[Noisy noise annoys]

Before I say this, I appreciate the situation with your new owner and stadium, and your proud history. And I'm going to speak in a long post about my team, which I hope isn't too annoying for everyone.

But speaking from my own experience as a Sunderland fan, I'm an advocate for relegation being a tough medicine but also still helpful in the long run. I think it's really the only way to properly sort yourselves out, and you'll come back stronger.

Having said that I'm a fan who goes home and away, and quite frankly I only care about watching Sunderland. So the opposition doesn't matter so much anyway, be it Chelsea or Cheltenham. So I come with biases etc. if you live abroad and really like PL football, obviously you'll think differently.

But since being relegated we've been able to drop our wage bill completely, shift off the dead wood, implement long term changes to our recruitment and analysis (impossible to do in the PL where everything is short term) and bring through a host of home grown talent from the academy. As it stands we have the youngest squad in the football league, and plenty of talent that will go on to play top level football in the future. We've also won a minor trophy (behind closed doors because of Covid), been to wembley four times, a had a special day in which we won at Wembley for the first time since 1973 in front of 60k of our own fans. Ask a Sunderland fan there and it'll of been one of the best days of their lives, even if it was League One playoffs.

The upshot as a fan is you actually see your team win games, absolutely loads of them to be honest. And even when you do lose, you don't expect to lose every week. The psyche of the supporters base (and the city) has changed as a result. You can be optimistic and happy, and there's so much pride and good will. The games are class too, it's normally end to end exciting football - no drab sitting 11 behind the ball hoping for a 0-0 at the Emirates or whatever (been there, done that!)

The away atmosphere is class these days, and everyone is desperate for tickets. There's new songs about players and people are enjoying it. There were times going away was a slog, now it feels like a proper day out.

It's taken some years of misery, but we have sorted out our club and I think our fans are as happy as they have been since the 2001 era. I just don't forsee a way we could have ever had the same fun, memories or pride without going down and rebuilding.

I think Sunderland did it the wrong way, far too long in the doldrums and still not back in the top tier. I’m hoping we can rebuild AND stay up

 

[davek]

Southampton were safe 19 games ago... we have 19 to go anything can happen between now and then. The worst thing we can do is hope there are 3 worst teams than us or Dyche can turn this mess round.

Yes, we have 19 games left and if we do what we've done in the first half of the season - that is, to take points in 11 of them - we should be ok.

But this manager has a January window to help him out. We have new owners and they need to step up and take some responsibility here rather than looking at Dyche and passing on the odd comment about how 'competent' he is.

They need to get their hands in their pockets and do some of the heavy lifting.

If we get decent players in we'll survive with ease regardless of who's in charge.

 

[Lob]

Yes, we have 19 games left and if we do what we've done in the first half of the season - that is, to take points in 11 of them - we should be ok.

If we do the same in the second half as we have done in the first half then we will probably be relegated as 34 points sends you done the majority of the time.

 

[hallamblue]

The answer is development of young players. Thanks to Masters and his employers at Man Utd and the rs it's now impossible to spend money on bringing in players, so the only thing we can do is keep the likes of Branthwaite and hope to uncover 4 or 5 more of them. The immediate future is to employ a manager with more modern ideas so we can stabilise the club.

 

[stamullenblue]

We need a manager who tactics are not to play for a 0-0 draw and then has no plan B when the other team score . Add 2 new strikers and I honestly believe things will improve quickly .

 

[SAFCInPeace]

I think Sunderland did it the wrong way, far too long in the doldrums and still not back in the top tier. I’m hoping we can rebuild AND stay up

Of course that's the ideal I suppose but I don't see how that is possible though? How do you ever really make the long term changes to the club without clearing house first and being at a level whereby you don't have to spend your entire budget to keep still? And how do you ever get the fans onside while you do it.

We did go about it the wrong way, but thats because we had an owner who refused to put a penny more into the club and then he sold it to crooks for owners who stole our parachute payments. It's highly unrealistic that Everton would face anything other then a Burnley, Leeds etc. and be competitive within a season or two in the Championship. You're far too big for owt else.

Also, we might have been to the doldrums, but as a supporter I had far far more fun then had we stayed in the PL, and the club are certainly better for it. That's kind of my point.

 

[Drico]

Water levels at Bramley-Moore Dock to rise with climate change and sink us finally.

Rejoice!

 

[davek]

If we do the same in the second half as we have done in the first half then we will probably be relegated as 34 points sends you done the majority of the time.

Wins into draws and we'll be ok. There's some tat below us.

 

[hallamblue]

Wins into draws and we'll be ok. There's some tat below us.

You need to score to turn draws into wins.

 

[rochdaleblue]

I have loyalty ultimately to Everton.

If I thought Dyche was taking us down Ild be demanding his head.

But we've been in worse positions than this much later in the season than this and got out of it under Dyche.

We just have to accept that along with his desire to keep things tight that necessitates us taking any chances we do create in games.

We can take a gamble and go more open with a different manager, but can you imagine the catastrophic defeats we'd suffer with these group of players?

Their heads would go down and Dycheball would seem like a very safe haven to be docked in.

I admire your optimism, but the stats are damning. 15 goals in half a season (4 in one game). 2 games in the last 11 since we when we have scored and only 1 from open play. I m not one normally for knee jerk reactions, but the squad is arguably stronger than last season and we’ve regressed (particularly in the offensive third) at an alarming rate.

 

[ETID]

New manager
New striker
New full backs

 

[chrismpw]

I struggle to see a path out of this mess, the club are in. New stadium and new ownership should be more than enough for us to be optimistic, but the squad and management is so poor, that i have no words to describe how poor it is.

So blues.. What needs to happend?

Hi Mr Friedkin - thanks for buying the club, joining the forum and asking for our help.

Honestly we're clueless, nobody agrees on anything. Might I introduce you to the bomb shelter thread instead?

 

[tonka1878]

Dollar Dollar bills Y'all!!

$$$ £££ $$$ £££

That and a whole lot of Prayer to a helpful deity!!

 

[Lob]

Wins into draws and we'll be ok. There's some tat below us.

So you meant we need to do better than the first half of the season then. Cheers for that amazing insight.
You sound just like Dyche. On paper if we win most of our remaining games we will have gone on a good run and be fine.