Once again, Salut! Sunderland’s Pete Sixsmith was asked to sum up the match for The Observer. Why couldn’t he have had something cheerful to say? Abject, dismal, appalling – those are the words that spring to mind for many Sunderland fans when contemplating our second-half descent into unnecessary defeat at Burnley. Here is Pete’s more considered view …
The word for that is “disappointing”. It was a meek surrender. There was no fight. The defending was awful, it was a stupid penalty and the marking for the second goal was poor.
Owen Coyle out-thought Steve Bruce today – I though Chris Eagles was the difference when he came on, He ran at McCartney and gave us problems. Our sub, Jones, couldn’t get into the game. Bruce is still developing our team and he would have learnt some important things about the players today.
And Pete’s – surprisingly generous – ratings:
Gordon 7, Bardsley 7, Turner 7, Ferdinand 4, McCartney 5, Malbranque 6 (Jones 5), Cana 6, Richardson 5, Reid 7, Campbell 6 (Henderson 6), Bent 7. Subs not used: Carson, Da Silva, Mensah, Nosworthy, Healy.
What is it about Sunderland and live televised matches? Despite so many poor experiences, I still look forward to these games and I thought the Burnley game could/should have been 3 pts sorted.
I caught the 1st half on the web commentary and rushed round my eldest son’s for the 2nd half – all because my psychic Sky box looked into the future and decided to stop receiving a signal 15 mins before KO.
Rhetorical questions: why does Jones so often appear to be off the pace – I almost expected to see Cisse alongside him on Saturday as they were for the latter half of last season; why is Rico so moody – he can be lightning fast and turn a game or just sulky and not involved; why do we so often fail on live TV??
Thanks again for a brilliant and insightful analysis, Pete. You’ve missed your vocation – but there is still time. I must start getting the Observer.
Looking at the marks, I have been too generous. Bardsley 6, Campbell 5 and Turner 6 would be more accurate. When I give marks, I don’t want to spoil the players weekends by marking them down; they are such sensitive souls and they may get upset and think about asking for a transfer.