It was freezing today at the Stadium of Light but the boys put in a performance to warm the cockles.
Having said that, it was no walk over but from the moment we took the lead it was always comfortable. The squad is now showing what it is capable of and Martin O’Neill can enjoy his Saturday night, now that he has sent his personal message to M Salut.
Dear Colin,
It was a great performance from start to finish. We got started early and put them under pressure.
I think the players have had a lift with Alfred [N’Diaye] coming to the football club and they had a renewed energy.
I thought it was a terrific effort.
Seb’s was a magnificent strike and it was very important for us because we were dominating proceedings at that stage and just looking for the breakthrough and when it came it came in great fashion.
He lifted the game at that point and had a fantastic 15 minutes after that.
Our second goal was very important, we were 1-0 up at the break and I thought we should have had more. West Ham were looking dangerous.
[Adam] Johnson’s goal came at an important time and then the third one killed it off.
Four league wins out of seven is very good for us, we’ve a long way to go but there’s plenty to digest and enjoy after that result.
The team are buoyant and now we look to the game with Bolton, it’s a great chance for us to progress in the FA Cup and we’ll take it head on.
All the best,
Martin O’Neill
A very nice Birthday gift for me yesterday….West Ham were very lacklustre and we deserved the 3-0 win.Vaughan was excellent….where has he been?
Just like to add Nolan shook every Sunderland player by the hand and gave Bramble a huge bear hug….he got alot of stick for having the temerity to score against us,but didnt rush off the pitch in a huff….credit it where its due..Though the chants of “You’re chicken is dead” were very funny.
apparently Nolan had a big smile at himself when he missed a late chance and the South Stand gave him some stick. At least he’s man enough to accept that he’s not going to be popular on the banks of the Wear and doesn;t get upset about it, unlike some.
Well done the lads! All those players who’ve deserved criticism lately pulled their fingers out and played. Yes, West Ham were bad but we didn’t give them a chance to be anything other (apart from the customary last 10 minutes!).
Understated man-of-the-match: Vaughan.
I thought that what we saw from David Vaughan today was exemplary of a modern midfield player. He only gave the ball away once and that was from an intercepted header. Vaughan was simply magnificent. Colback too had a tremendous game and so did Larsson and Bramble. Fletcher’s contribution to link up play was also the best we’ve seen from him.
West Ham were a typical promoted team struggling in the second half of the season when all their opponents have had a look at them once. They were a very poor and disorganised bunch today who look like they could end up in trouble. The way it’s looking, half of this division could be involved to some extent in battling against the drop. Three points today and a genuine performance of quality suggest that it may become a little easier for us than we had thought previously. A great effort today.
We won this one quite easily. I was surprised. We looked like we wanted it more than WH. We started brightly and they started slowly. Normally its the other way around. Well done lads.
Thought Vaughn did well. And McClean doesn’t get enough credit for his defensive work, but he tracked back well today.
Sess played OK, and Larrson (who’s not had a good season) played well too.
All round good performance. Good luck Bramble wasn’t tested. He looks a bit unfit.
We weren’t really troubled today at all. Poor performance from WH to be honest. Could be another 3 points at Wigan next week…
We did but without wanting to pour cold water on things (though I notice the sprinklers were on for the first time in ages) we still seem to give the ball away needlessly too often and I’d rather see Mignolet looking for a decent pass than regularly hoofing the ball upfield, usually in search of Sessegnon’s head.
But I thought Larsson, McClean, Sess and Johnson are all now starting to put in decent performances. Gardner and Colback are playing more positive balls from the fullback position and getting forward. The team looked balanced and O’Shea and Bramble coped well with a fairly mediocre attack.
Sess’s break and pass to McClean in the build up to Johnson’s goal was excellent, Colback hit the bar and N’Daye had a great chance with his first touch.
And Fletcher finished really well for his offside goal. Much more encouraging performance all round.
Possession was much improved I thought, though it was a scrappy game at times you always felt we were one rub of the green away from winning comfortably, which in the end we did; Fancy Fletcher to start banging a few in now, but it was pleasing to see our midfielders notch. Great stuff lads.
A more balanced team, that trust and believe in each other, no ricketts and a well repected hammers team put to the sword. Many questions that others have asked were answered today. It is not only the prolific Fletcher who can score goals, we can have many shots coming from all areas of the team and if wee need to be we can be ruthless. Well Done lads Sunderland ARE BACK.
Good, too, that N’Diaye got on, if only for a few minutes. Now he knows what the SoL is like with 40,000 people in it.
Yes a decent crowd that will still no doubt have Bolton and Spurs’ fans telling us that our attendances are pathetic. A good turn out from the Hammers today.
We broke temperature records in Toronto today (15C) but I’d have been warm right through, anyway. If we can keep this up…