With one potential bananaskin avoided we find there’s another one to come. Was today’s game as comfortable as the Radio Newcastle commentary suggested and how did our debutants do? Pete Sixsmith is the man to tell us. Here’s his immediate post-match, seven-word verdict on a day when one North-East team kept the region’s cup hopes alive.
Jan 5 2014 Sunderland (1) 3 Carlisle Utd (1) 1 Comfortable in the end. Two youngsters sparkled
January 1 2014 Sunderland (0) 0 Aston Villa (1) 1 Dismal as our Premier place slips away
December 28 2013 Cardiff City (1) 2 Sunderland (0) 2 Dragged a vital point out of that
December 26 2013 Everton (0) 0 Sunderland (1) 1 Hung on after interval but massive result
December 21 2013 SAFC (0) 0 Norwich City (0) 0 As stodgy as last year’s Christmas pud
December 17 2013 Capital One Cup 5th Round: SAFC (0) 2 Chelsea (0) 1 AET Ki seals comeback; didn’t see that coming
December 14 2013 West Ham Utd (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 0 Better side by miles – couldn’t finish it
December 8 2013 SAFC (1) 1 Tottenham Hotspur (1) 2 Score flatters us as task gets harder
December 4 2013 SAFC (1) 3 Chelsea (2) 4 Pushed a strong side all the way
November 30 2013 Aston Villa (0) 0 SAFC (0) 0 *Villa almost undone by cream soda performance
November 23 2013 Stoke City (1) 2 SAFC (0) 0 Ridiculous red gave us an impossible task
November 10 2013 SAFC (1) 1 Manchester City (0) 0 A wonderfully disciplined performance. Real hope now
November 6 2013 Capital One Cup 4th Round: SAFC (0) 2 Southampton (0) 1 A tidy second half brings Wembley closer
November 2 2013 Hull City (1) SAFC (0) Damage limitation after appalling first half performance
October 27 2013 SAFC (1) 2 Newcastle United (0) 1 Bragging rights and a win. Good combination/ or Perfect Poyet puts another one over Pardew
October 19 2013 Swansea City 4 (0) SAFC 0 (0) No Poyet magic cure for abject failure*
October 5 2013 SAFC (1) 1 Manchester United (0) 2 Better side first half, outclassed in second
September 30 2013 SAFC (0) 1 Liverpool (2) 3 Spirit in abundance, undone by shoddy defending
September 24 2013 Capital One Cup 3rd Round: SAFC (1) 2 Peterborough United (0) 0 A solid performance without any touchline histrionics
September 21 2013 West Bromwich Albion 3 (1) SAFC 0 (0) Coach looks completely out of his depth
September 14 2013 SAFC (0) 1 Arsenal (1) 3 Performance far better than the result suggests
August 31 2013 Crystal Palace (1) 3 SAFC (0) 1 Nowhere near good enough for this league
August 27 2013 Capital One Cup 2nd Round: SAFC (0) 4 MK Dons (1) 2Outplayed, outclassed, somehow got out of jail
August 24 2013 Southampton (0) 1 SAFC (1) 1 The point was better than the performance
August 17 2013 SAFC (0) 0 Fulham (0) 1 Ultimately little difference from previous two seasons
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Honestly by what I’ve seen, Graham is overall a better footballer than Altidore , neither score , so take your pick. We should persevere with Wickham .
Graham. No thank you
vince – What puzzles me most is how Altidore has managed to score so many international goals? [ the goals in Holland were in a much lower standard league, but even then, you still have to put them away ]
To me, he looks static, and has a very poor first touch. He dosen’t actually win many headers either – what did our scouts see in him? [ Did they actually watch him? ]
Unless Poyet can bring a decent CF in, I think he should recall Wickham and Danny Graham – by no means world beaters, but surely the offer more than Josy?
Confidence is the missing factor for Altidore. I would recall Wickham and have him play in place of Altidore (but not Fletcher). As for Graham, I think it was a wise move to send him to Hull (a potential relegation rival) where he’d not score many.
Gardner is a great lad but I don’t think we’ll see much more of him in a Sunderland shirt. And Dossena too hopefully.
Watmore was very lively when he came on and got a subdued crowd buzzing.The only time I saw Poyet get off the bench and applaud was after his run into the box from where he very nearly scored.
A Fairly comfortable afteroon all round.Though Dossena gave the ball away too often and Ji was poor.As to Altidore ,well if he cannot score against that lot we really need to be saying goodbye….soon
It sounds like a couple of the fringe players have done themselves a power of good in this display.