Pure Poyetry: knowing the value of beating Newcastle

Last season when things were looking bleak a certain Italian manager ruined his suit celebrating a victory that would ultimately prove vital in the fight for Premiership survival. This year a certain Uruguayan manager decided to save himself a trip to Sketchley’s but was no less delighted in an identical scoreline which has continued the improvement we have seen since his appointment. A point would have been good but three is massive. Of course there’s still a way to go but with the players’ self belief growing all the time things are on the up. What is needed now is positive performances in the remaining home games against those teams around us but today Gus Poyet can revel in an excellent display, reflect on the importance to Sunderland fans everywhere and even see a positive in his players squabbling amongst themselves.

Jake captures the Bard, with thanks to Owen Lennox
Jake captures the Bard, with thanks to Owen Lennox

Dear Colin,

I know how important it is to the club to beat their local rivals, my first victory here at the club was against Newcastle. We have been under pressure to get back-to-back wins – this is an unbelievable weekend for everybody close to Sunderland football club.

The fans know what we are trying to achieve here and the players have been fantastic. The way we were set up was good. It was important to have Liam [Bridcutt] in place as we knew Lee [Cattermole] was going to miss the game and we needed some stability in midfield to let the rest of the players to get forward.

As the game went on Ki [Sung Yueng] was more and more influential and then Jack [Colback] went on to get his goal. Every time we were under pressure we were able to regain control of the game.

Jake: 'no live Magpies were hurt in the making of this image'
Jake: ‘no live Magpies were hurt in the making of this image’

The good thing about the penalty was that so many of the players wanted to take it – they were fighting over the ball at one point! Fabio [Borini] missed out on taking one at Old Trafford and it was a great feeling for him to take the penalty today. You need to take those chances when you come somewhere like St James’ Park – if you get a penalty you must score it, Fabio did just that and gave us the platform to go on and win the game.

Newcastle started pushing players forward and we had to make the most of that space. We were getting forward and taking advantage of that.

Adam [Johnson] is on fire at the moment, scoring another goal – the team are in good shape. I’m very happy for Jack too; it was an important goal at 2-0 up and it sealed the game for us.

All the best,

Gus Poyet


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7 thoughts on “Pure Poyetry: knowing the value of beating Newcastle”

  1. Let’s keep the champagne on ice in the fridge for the moment. The Hull game is extremely important, because after it we’ve got three unhelpful fixtures AWAY at Man C, Arsenal and Liverpool. We need that margin.
    Totally agree with Jeremy, – lets treat Hull with respect and approach it like we would a Man U semi-cup final with a tireless work rate, pressing and concentration. Hull is not a side we can simply roll over.
    If anyone wants to get carried away they should have another look at the Stoke game which was just a few days ago.
    Sorry to be a wet blanket, but we need the SOL not to be a place of nervousness.

    • “Sorry to be a wet blanket, but we need the SOL not to be a place of nervousness.”

      Dead right Ian and I don’t think anyone is getting carried away yet. We could still easily end up in the bottom three and Gus and the team know that. All our away games are tough but in theory our home games are all winnable and are where taking the points is most important because, apart from Everton are against other teams in the bottom half.

      But it’s at home where the side has disappointed most often. Fulham, Villa, Spurs, Kidderminster, Norwich, Peterborough, Stoke and the league game with Southampton were all frustrating to watch and although we won some and some were cup games, we could expect to have been 9 points better off from the League games.

      But the signs are positive and on Saturday hopefully those in the ground will transmit a sense of optimism and support to the players. A couple of early goals as on Saturday and that should happen. If that doesn’t happen and the crowd tense up then it could be another nailbiter.

      • I think (and hope) the nervousness will get better since we’re out of the bottom three. But Hull will play on that and try and frustrate us in the opening period. What the crowd needs to do is get behind the lads and be very vocal in their support, otherwise the nervousness of the crowd transmits to the players and you get a tense performance. Thats the reason why we do better away from home. The crowd needs to be the 12th man, – I don’t think they realse the importance of their role.

  2. Complete agreement here CSB. Wonderful judgement and man management, tactical nous and a great communicator.

    The mark of Poyet as a manager was the courage to play Liam Bridcutt today. He just arrived yesterday and was thrown into his first top flight game. What a start for him. A courageous move by him but Bridcutt responded with what I thought was an absolutely superb debut to show why he was wanted by the manager. We are in safe hands. We are far from out of the woods yet but with the team playing so confidently and assuredly we need not worry quite so much as in recent months. The Hull game will be a challenge with their new strike force developing an immediate understanding.

    We need to treat Hull City with respect even if we have little if any tolerance left for their manager.

    • I was shocked Bridcutt was in the starting lineup. But, fair do’s, he did a very good job. He did give a couple of free kicks away in dangerous area but, all things considering (he’s had injuries, not played for a few weeks etc), performed well. A bold move by Poyet.

  3. All we have to do is show Gus how much we appreciate him because he has worked miracles.

    Relegation certainties to cup final and PL survivalists……what a turn around. In Gus we trust and believe and have absolute confidence.

    Tactically he got every thing spot on. We should try to keep Borini and Ki, we could just be an the verge of very good things.

    • I agree, and Gus needs a song from us to show our appreciation. He has to be the current favourite to be manager of the year? Hopefully the club will get under his skin and he’ll stick around for a long time.

      I think everyone has felt like Pete at some point, questioning the sanity of witnessing serial disappointment, but still we go. Maybe this season and going forward on the Gus bus, will actually start to galvanise our fan base, and a full SoL will be seen again more often. It’s amazing to see this season unfold, just six weeks ago we were all Barry Rodgerson, ‘avin a mare, now we’re all buzzing!

      I think the Villa game was a turning point for Poyet, he was fed up and acted. His management of AJ, and hopefully Altidore, has been top class. We kept a lot of players that will be valuable going forward too, and have a squad now that looks strong. Hull won’t be easy but confidence will be high among our lads; three points and we can say we’re well on the way to completing the great escape. Such a relief to write that!

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