Having given my qualified support to Steve Bruce, if only because sacking him three games into a season would be spectacularly bad timing, I now look forward to him issuing writs against those responsible for grossly libellous reports that he tried to sign Joey Barton. As for tonight’s e-mail, the D word – disappointing, not despise – gets another outing but it’s really just a routine response to a routine draw …
Dear Colin,
To put it into context, to come away from home in the Barclays Premier League and pick up something is always decent.
The disappointing thing is that we had enough chances to win two football matches.
Everything else was okay but putting chances away is vital in the Premier League. Away from home, you don’t usually get as many chances as we did today and we had to take one.
Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to do it.
We had John O’Shea hit the crossbar and Asamoah Gyan was through within the first 12 minutes.
We need to find that clinical touch in front of goal.
At our level we should be taking chances, but we’re not. We have to keep grinding on and stick with our beliefs, because there isn’t much wrong.
It was good to see John O’Shea back for us. His experience and know-how will make a big difference.
He’s a quality player. We know what we’ve bought there.
It would have been a wonderful debut for him if he’d scored, but overall it was a pleasing first game.
All the best,
Steve Bruce
Bill Taylor says:
“Your comprehension skills are about on a par with your logic, Phil.”
I found that to be a very interesting observation so, please, allow me to ask you to apply yours to the following statements.
1) “Which is why I’m getting off the roller-coaster. I’ll continue to follow the Black Cats, just as I’ll continue to read Salut! Sunderland. But I won’t attach life-or-death significance to each week’s result or individual players’ performances.”
Note the absence of the word “support”!
2) “If I’ve lost a lot of interest in the club it’s because I don’t think they’re nearly as interesting as they could or should be. “
I would be very interested to read your interpretations of those words; how you believe that I did not understand what you wrote and why I should regard a “follower” as part of “we”, when used in relation to SAFC supporters!
If I have misjudged your meaning then I must add I was not alone and must state that you did not receive one (not one) favourable response to the article!!
See link below.
https://safc.blog/2011/08/taylor-made-sunderland-and-me-is-this-the-last-kiss/#more-24358
Your comprehension skills are about on a par with your logic, Phil.
Bill Taylor says:
“I really thought we’d win today”.
What’s with the “we” Bill?
You made it very clear that you were no longer interested in SAFC.
Since then, though, you’ve been all over this board like a rash!
I wonder why that should be?
Until he scored one or two goals…
I do realise the reports about Bruce & Barton may well be true.
We can all have our own ideas on rehabilitation and reform. I believe in both, but not yet to the extent – as I said at Ready to Go tonight – that I wouldn’t have felt like vomiting at the thought of him joining SAFC.
Sorry. I shouldn’t say “disappointment.” SB has a stranglehold on the word. I meant today was a bigger let-down than Tuesday.
I’m not about to “like” Jachin’s comments but I can’t honestly click on “dislike” either because I think we are getting found out.
I really thought we’d win today. What was uppermost in my mind was what kind of win it would be – a ragged, scrambling, messy win would at least give us three points and a goal or two; a smoother, more controlled win would give us something even better – three points and a bit of confidence in the future. And then….this. Today was a bigger disappointment than Tuesday’s Carling Cup shambles.
Seems yr starting this season the same as you did last year. getting a few daft results and points to give you something to hang on to, then fortunately, hang on through the seccond half of the season and scrape home.
You were very fortunate you got enough early on to keep you up.! I think with yr collection of x manure crocks and cast -offs, you’ll get found out this year.
Steve Bruce missed his true calling (obviously). He should be selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door with his relentless phony optimism:
“…to come away from home in the Barclays Premier League and pick up something is always decent.”
No, we didn’t pick up something; we let two points go down the drain. Again. We failed to score a goal. Again. We didn’t take our chances. Again.
It would have been a “wonderful debut” for O’Shea if he’d scored? True enough. But he didn’t. Nobody did. Again.
“Everything else was okay.” Everything else was far from okay. “Grinding on” just about sums it up.
“Stick with our beliefs.” I’d love to know what it that Steve Bruce has been believing in for these past painful months. But he should have realized by now that Santa Claus isn’t coming.
“There isn’t much wrong.” Maybe not. But what is wrong is FUNDAMENTALLY wrong. And it’s sitting in the manager’s chair.
That’s putting things into their real context, not the rose-tinted (or would bloody-well-blind be more accurate?) context of SB, the perennially disappointed Kleen-Eze man.
A routine response to a routine draw? What a shame that this HAS become such a routine; that Colin seems resigned simply to yawning it off.
And let’s just see what Joey Barton does for QPR…
Where u lot r lucky is u have a decent board and owner – u can always try a new manager. We have fat mike…
Aye right. Like agent Brucie wouldn’t have tried to sign Barton.
He’s way to good to play for ur lot.
Even a lunatic like him isn’t that stupid.
Well done today btw! 😀