Sunderland afc

[BluePeadar]

in english football everyone is a big club.

I'm an American and I can translate for you. You know when you go to 7-11 to get a fountain drink, the smallest size you can buy is a large? That's dunno, Tranmere, sure its a large and a big cup, but its still the littlest cup, they are just compensating for something. Then there is X-Large which is also big but bigger (Sunderland), then Big Gulp which bigger than XL (say SOTON). A double gulp which is bigger than Big Gulp (Everton), Then Double Gulp XL which is bigger than Double Gulp, we are talking like 96oz of soda w/ about an entire pound of sugar now (Man Utd). Finally there is just Diabetes in a cup (Liverpool).

Diarrhoea in a cup , thats Liverpool

 

[Albertini78]

Ellis Short sitting behind P*ssed up Charlie at the checkatrade final

If only in his time as owner he didn't surround himself with idiots that was his downfall

 

[dow1978]

That Charlie is one of the biggest n0bheads I have ever seen on anything. Ive worked with people like him and just wanted to spark them clean out. The way he speaks to his staff is disgraceful. "Yeah good idea but lets get back to my idea because were here to make money"

I'd have dragged him over the table.

 

[Mr. White]

That Charlie is one of the biggest n0bheads I have ever seen on anything. Ive worked with people like him and just wanted to spark them clean out. The way he speaks to his staff is disgraceful. "Yeah good idea but lets get back to my idea because were here to make money"

I'd have dragged him over the table.

Agree. Just finished watching it today and that Charlie guy was an obnoxious, condescending, snobbish tosser of the highest order. Talking down to others, making others make calls on his behalf while he sits back and relaxes. Even his own Mrs. has to restrain him from embarrassing her in public.

And yeah, he reminds me of someone at work. Everyone hates him!

That said, the owner Stu Donald, seems like a decent chap.

 

[Rook]

Another great series. The owner seems a good bloke but shows why they shouldn't be anywhere near the footballing side of the business. Felt sorry for the manager. He wanted Grigg but even said 1.25 million was too much for him yet the chairman had to play bertie big balls in his pursuit of him. His mate was even worse than the clown in the first series. Very entertaining.

they let Maja walk for what 1.5M? FFS just let him run out his contract, its cheaper than buying strikers.

 

[Albertini78]

they let Maja walk for what 1.5M? FFS just let him run out his contract, its cheaper than buying strikers.

I'm sure we owed Bordeaux another £1.5m from the Khazri transfer so they wrote that off with getting Josh for that price so you could say he went for £3m really

Losing him knacked us saying that only Sunderland could sign a lethal L1 striker and he cant hit a barn door for us

 

[Zatara]

Just finished watching it. I think the overriding feeling I have is this is what organisations who have had prolonged failure look like. It's actually very difficult to turn the ship around and you can end up compounding poor decisions with further bad ones.

I think the chairman is well out of his depth. Apparently made his money at Eastleigh. Fair play to him, but Sunderland is a world away from Eastleigh. It's like running a successful restaurant in Eastleigh, and thinking you can turn around Wimpy. I mean the two things are vastly different. He's not ruthless enough, he's not clever enough, not self aware of his weaknesses enough and isn't logical enough to perform the role he is.

The other fella Charlie what's his name is ok, but he's nowhere near as good as he thinks he is (but then who would be). You find this a lot if you meet alumni of Eton (and equivalent schools) they are blessed with an enormous confidence, most of which is wholly unfounded. He knew how to talk the language, but actually in the minutiae of ideas he was also really lacking. You meet lots of people like him in business who talk a great game but when it comes to specifics are quite lacking.

I also have to say his pitch to his employees seemed completely out. It's fine saying they deserve it, but it's your job as a leader to pitch the ideas in a way that gains a positive reaction from the staff. Doing a Gordon Gecko impression is not going to do that is not the right pitch for employees at Sunderland. In terms of specifics, the day of Boxing Day where he swore at the woman and told her to essentially lie about figures seemed poor as well. If it was essential to get a number, he should have made that really clear to the team counting and the woman in question beforehand, and rather than having her fetching his beer she should have been helping to count.

Overall there just seemed to be a lack of a clear strategy for the big plan. I mean what was the recruitment strategy? Who were they buying and who were they selling? Was their an acknowledgment that they needed to sell players to help sustain the business? Did anyone think to try and get Maja tied down in the summer? That ought to have been a priority. When it was clear he wouldn't sign, he should have been getting offered to PL clubs (Spurs in particular) for the highest fee possible. Plans should also have been in place to find 6-8 potential replacements from League 1 down to the NL as players who could come in. There didn't seem to be a list much beyond Will Griggs. I mean anyone could have suggested Will Griggs, you don't need a scouting department to do that.

So yes, you'd hope to see from any leaders how Sunderland could capitalise on the edge they have on many teams in that division. Instead the size and history of the club seems to be utilised against them and is a weakness as much as a strength. They just need better people in charge.

Another great series. The owner seems a good bloke but shows why they shouldn't be anywhere near the footballing side of the business. Felt sorry for the manager. He wanted Grigg but even said 1.25 million was too much for him yet the chairman had to play bertie big balls in his pursuit of him. His mate was even worse than the clown in the first series. Very entertaining.

Didn't quite understand how it went from 1.25m to 3m.
1 goal in 20 league games this season

wut? and wasn't it 3.5M?

they let Maja walk for what 1.5M? FFS just let him run out his contract, its cheaper than buying strikers.

I'm sure we owed Bordeaux another £1.5m from the Khazri transfer so they wrote that off with getting Josh for that price so you could say he went for £3m really

Losing him knacked us saying that only Sunderland could sign a lethal L1 striker and he cant hit a barn door for us

I can see the logic of signing Grigg as hes knocked in 20 odd goals in his league 1 games before. 27 years old and has experience so is an older head to get Sunderland over the finish line.

One thing i wonder is if they told the manager they were going to be payimg £3mil for Grigg (after he said £1.25mil tops) then would he have a different target in mind?

If they had looked at league 2 every outfield player in the top 20 biggest transfers ever went for £700k+ to a championship or premier league team.

Surely they could have signed 2 players from league 2 up front and had cash left over.

 

[paultheblue]

I can see the logic of signing Grigg as hes knocked in 20 odd goals in his league 1 games before. 27 years old and has experience so is an older head to get Sunderland over the finish line.

One thing i wonder is if they told the manager they were going to be payimg £3mil for Grigg (after he said £1.25mil tops) then would he have a different target in mind?

If they had looked at league 2 every outfield player in the top 20 biggest transfers ever went for £700k+ to a championship or premier league team.

Surely they could have signed 2 players from league 2 up front and had cash left over.

It really is compulsive watching though mate.
They missed a trick when they changed the pre kick off music they should have gone for Billy Smarts Circus

 

[Zatara]

It really is compulsive watching though mate.
They missed a trick when they changed the pre kick off music they should have gone for Billy Smarts Circus

The staff were horrific werent they? Not one of them in the non-football side seemed to have any idea of what was going on around them or what their jobs were.

Id have booted them all.

The sort of money at risk they need to be hiring less people but on big money who can bring something to the table.

None of them seemed to have a clue.

 

[paultheblue]

The staff were horrific werent they? Not one of them in the non-football side seemed to have any idea of what was going on around them or what their jobs were.

Id have booted them all.

The sort of money at risk they need to be hiring less people but on big money who can bring something to the table.

None of them seemed to have a clue.

I agree mate, the right hand man asked them early after saying they were losing 30m a year what the interest repayments were bearing in mind he had put it in a presentation he had given them , none of them had a clue they hadn't even read it.

 

[ClausThomsen]

Came across as a bit of a nob that Charlie fella but in his defence who the hell hired that team that was working under him?

Every time he asked for questions or ideas they all just looked blankly at him. There was one point where there must have been over 20 people sat there and not one of them had a single word to say.

When he said he wanted to get a big gate for Boxing Day the first reaction of the Irish woman (who I think was in charge of either ticketing or marketing?) was complete defeat and saying to someone else that there wasn't a chance of it happening.

I was appalled as anyone when I heard about them laying off backroom staff left right and centre but if the finances are that bad and that's the calibre of people working there, people who are supposed to be coming up with ideas and taking responsibility, then it's no wonder. There were a lot of people putting less effort into their Sunderland workday than Jack Rodwell with a hangover.

I really must emphasise though that he came across as a prime nobhead who couldn't deal with things not being how he wanted them. Certainly petulant.

 

[Zatara]

I agree mate, the right hand man asked them early after saying they were losing 30m a year what the interest repayments were bearing in mind he had put it in a presentation he had given them , none of them had a clue they hadn't even read it.

Id have asked them to write down 3 reasons why they should keep their jobs and what ideas they have....go off for an hour and read them aloud.

Then no doubt they would have all been sacked lol

Imagine working with those empty heads.

 

[Zatara]

Came across as a bit of a nob that Charlie fella but in his defence who the hell hired that team that was working under him?

Every time he asked for questions or ideas they all just looked blankly at him. There was one point where there must have been over 20 people sat there and not one of them had a single word to say.

When he said he wanted to get a big gate for Boxing Day the first reaction of the Irish woman (who I think was in charge of either ticketing or marketing?) was complete defeat and saying to someone else that there wasn't a chance of it happening.

I was appalled as anyone when I heard about them laying off backroom staff left right and centre but if the finances are that bad and that's the calibre of people working there, people who are supposed to be coming up with ideas and taking responsibility, then it's no wonder. There were a lot of people putting less effort into their Sunderland workday than Jack Rodwell with a hangover.

I really must emphasise though that he came across as a prime nobhead who couldn't deal with things not being how he wanted them. Certainly petulant.

I had no problem with him on the marketing side of things.

Honestly if that was me i reckon id be hated right now as id have binned off all the non football staff.

They should have sacked them all and got some high calibre university grads in + 3 senior experienced people to oversee them.

Anyone decent walking into that place with those dummies would be back out the door quick.

 

[Connor]

Hang on, they've furloughed FIRST TEAM PLAYERS?

 

[catcherintherye]

I can see the logic of signing Grigg as hes knocked in 20 odd goals in his league 1 games before. 27 years old and has experience so is an older head to get Sunderland over the finish line.

One thing i wonder is if they told the manager they were going to be payimg £3mil for Grigg (after he said £1.25mil tops) then would he have a different target in mind?

If they had looked at league 2 every outfield player in the top 20 biggest transfers ever went for £700k+ to a championship or premier league team.

Surely they could have signed 2 players from league 2 up front and had cash left over.

I don't think the manager really suggested other names and didn't seem to be massively involved in the recruitment side of the club.

The issue for me, was they didn't seem to have generated a list of targets from the recruitment side.