Malcolm Dawson writes….I was busy last night with what laughingly passes for the only work I do since retirement. Laughingly, because for 12 or so weeks of the year I get paid for what I might well be doing for nothing during the other 40. However, because I am getting paid and on a kind of contract, that has to take priority, so not only was I unable to attend last night’s fixture, I found it difficult to even follow the game on the interweb. When first I looked it was 0-0 with 42 minutes on the clock. Next glimpse showed us to be losing 1-0, then it was 2-2 and by the time I knew that we hadn’t needed to look for a bonus point via a penalty shoot out, Sixer’s Sevens was already posted and I expect that Pete himself had got past Houghton Cut.
I should make the next home tie, but Pete Sixsmith was there last night on another day of upheaval at the Stadium and Academy of Light. Let’s find out what he made of yesterday’s events.
ON THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY – WITHOUT A DRIVER.
The mood inside the Stadium was a sombre one.
The 6,953 supporters who came out on a chilly October night for a qualifying game in the EFL’s least loved competition, were proper Sunderland supporters. They were predominantly middle aged, with a smattering of youngsters taking advantage of the £1 ticket fee to have a night out, either as a reward for good behaviour or a punishment for being naughty.
The loud-mouthed blow hards who know everything and understand very little were absent. There were no overweight males, tanked up to the eyeballs on the products dispensed in the bars owned by Tim Martin. The word that rhymes with white was hardly used, (have had to resort to this to get past the Newsnow censors MD) in direct contrast to the number of times I hear it at away games, used to describe the tea, the sausage rolls, the manager, the owners, the players and those supporters who have unwillingly accepted that we are what we are – a third level club who have to rebuild after five ruinous years almost brought us to the brink of a total and utter financial collapse.
It must have been difficult for the players, many of whom had either been brought to the club or given their chances by Jack Ross. James Fowler was in charge, conducted the warm-up with the professionalism that one has come to associate with the Ross regime and supervised a victory before he went home to see if and when Pickfords were available to move his possessions back to a country where the political and footballing debate is not conducted in such a febrile atmosphere – although Craig Levein and Paul Heckingbottom may disagree with that.
There were starts for Bali Mumba at full back, Brandon Taylor alongside Joel Lynch and Duncan Watmore wide on the right and sometimes the left. Dobson and Leadbitter formed a midfield partnership and Grigg and McNulty played up front in an attempt to strike up a partnership that we hope would become as much loved as Morecambe and Wise, Quinn and Phillips and Stan and Ollie. But not Ant and Dec. Or Trump and Johnson.
Grimsby, who had a hardy bunch of travelling fans situated in the South Stand, lined up with former Sunderland player Jordan Cook pulling the strings in midfield. He was a permanent fixture for the Reserves a few years ago, making three substitute appearances in the Premier League and one in a pre-season game at Hoffenheim, where he showed some nice touches without actually producing much.
The first half was awful. Neither side seemed all that concerned. We moved the ball around, backwards, sideways and sometimes forwards while Grimsby played as so many teams do in the nether regions, in that they swarmed around, blocked balls and generally worked far harder than we did, simply because they had to.
The two large central defenders (there must be a factory that turns out bulky 6ft centre halves – I wish we could find out where it is) were not particularly troubled by our two forwards and our midfield, although having loads of possession, were unable to break down obdurate defenders. Duncan Watmore had a couple of promising runs but they came to naught and at half time, I commented that the prospects of a goal looked bleak.
So, what do I know?
Inspired by a James Fowler team talk (“Give him the job, Stewart”) we attacked and almost took the lead on a couple of occasions through Watmore and McNulty. However, in the 58th minute Matt Green, a player with more clubs than you could shake a stick at (including Darlington) was on the end of an incisive move to put the Mariners ahead. Alas, the 60 or so Mariners fans failed to wave their blow up Harry the Haddocks. (“Sack him Donald.”)
The lead lasted 10 minutes. Keeper and skipper James McKeown spilled a shot from McNulty and Watmore slammed the ball into his net. Ten minutes after that, a cross from the excellent O’Nien was thumped in by McNulty albeit with the aid of a deflection from a defender. (Give him the job back, Stewart”)
The support sat back and waited for more goals to arrive. They did but at the wrong end. Mattie Pollock, son of Jamie, a man who now looks as if he has swallowed an inflated beach ball, got down the left side and crossed for Elliott Whitehead to convert. (“Fowler’s ‘rhymes with white’ – see above. He doesn’t know what he’s doing”). Good for him; he missed all of last season after doing his anterior cruciate ligament. He and Duncan must have had some interesting conversations.
We assumed that penalties were on the cards, meaning a late night, unwelcome for newspaper delivery operatives. But Denver Hume, who had not had a great game, put over an absolute gem of a cross and Will Grigg planted a fine header to win the game. (“Great manager, Stewart. Give him a 10-year contract”)
The Jack Ross era ended with a win. He picked this team and it kind of summed him up in that the defending left much to be desired and there was insufficient pace in the team. But the quality of the likes of O’Nien (we will do well to keep hold of him as Championship clubs will already be considering a bid), Watmore, Leadbitter, McNulty and Grigg saw us home and put us in a good position in the group. Leicester City Babes in Arms next on Bonfire Night so we’ll be looking for a few sparklers…..
And now we await the next chapter in the long running and rather tired soap opera that is Sunderland AFC. New ownership is looking less likely but I may be way off on that. A new manager is needed asap and I have no preferences as to who I do want. I do, however, have a list of who I don’t want. Here goes;
Sam Allardyce, Roy Keane, Tony Pulis, Chris Hughton, Wee Willie Harris, Michael Gove, Nigel Pearson, Joey Barton, Katy Hopkins, Phil Parkinson nor his dad Michael.
At time of writing, Gareth Ainsworth is favourite followed by Paul Cook.
We shall see.
And now the real embarrassment starts as reported targets turn us down, it beggars belief that they sacked Jack, that they sacked him without having a replacement teed up, and what yardstick is his predecessor (probably not first choice) to be measured against.
This is an unbelievable mess and if the powers that be think this is improving our promotion push then god help us.
Only Sunderland!!!
My comment at Twitter after James Hunter, the Chron’s excellent writer on SAFC, praised the dignity and class of Jack Ross …
Without having met him, my impression of Jack Ross is much as James Hunter describes him. It will take an exceptional appointment, and hugely impressive results with the same limited resources, to convince me this was the right or necessary decision. Over to you @stewartdonald3
Normally i seek to accentuate the positive however this decision has denuded all positivity
Gutless
Short term
Cowardly
All of the great boxers knew how to recover…in football the idiot owners bottle it every time things get tough
Our so called fans….
2 losses FFS….still in top 6…still in cup competitions….more academy players than ever before getting 1st team football….away allocations sold out
Ross showed dignity in his leaving statement
Not sure we deserved him
Look forward to Coco the Clown….and years in the 3rd Division
Well done trolls
Fantastic post Neil.
You can add Ian Holloway to that list as well. It needs to be someone with positive ideas and a positive way of playing. Jack was cautious (he would probably say prudent) but it led to too many draws and not enough wins. To be dismissed for losing so few games would have been unknown years ago. But the whole world has changed and I fail to understand huge chunks of what is going on around me. Isn’t that so, Nurse…..
Excellent article and I agree with the names I do not want as the next manager, but I’m racking my brains to think of anyone we can reasonably expect to take us forward.
So the big question is was Jack Ross the sacrificial goat in order to bring about the takeover?
The majority of comments regarding the sacking mostly underline the unjustified decision on the quality social media sites (some clown has been posting thumbs down on posts echoing this sentiment with no counter comment forthcoming) and I would endorse this point of view.
However the noises coming out of Donald and Co is that the takeover deal is still on, so was Jack’s sacking the price that had to be paid to the new potential owners?
If so then the potential new owners are displaying alarming Ellis Shortisims in their understanding of the game, lost two out of eleven.
The plot thickens……..or as in this case the thick ones plot!!!!!!
I think you are almost certainly correct [ sacrificial goat ] If so, IMO it is a big mistake.
Of course Jack Ross is not a new Brian Clough. Who is?
He was however, the best manager we have had in a very long time.
He took over a club in total meltdown and from all accounts he has transformed the place, and was very well liked and respected by both players and staff.
His record is pretty good – far better that anyone else we have had in recent years.
It takes a while to turn an organisation round. I think he has achieved that in a very quick and professional way.
I also think he would have gained us promotion this season.
I wish whoever takes his place success. But I am really sorry that we have lost a talented and very decent man.
Thanks for everything Jack. I’m confident you will go on to great things, and to prove that we made a big mistake.
His recruitment record wasn’t great . Accept that he had limited funds , but loan signings didn’t contribute much .
A fair point, but makes what he did achieve all the more creditable as he was always dealing with limited resources,
Amusing, entertaining and informative, Sixer. As always.
“The word that rhymes with white was hardly used, (have had to resort to this to get past the Newsnow censors MD.)”
How do Sc*nthorpe get on with these aforementioned censors?
(Asterisk used, in case these censors block the whole article.)
Someone else remembers….”if Typhoo put the T in Britain who put the …. into S……….?”