This is the essential piece on Gus Poyet’s dismissal. Over to a gloomy Pete Sixsmith …
And so the deed has been done. The general consensus here in the North East is that it had to be after that performance on Saturday and that the club and the former Head Coach can now move on and achieve success with someone else.
Rob Hutchison’s about to indulge in a flight. But before he does he has time for a little flight of …
That’s the question Monsieur Salut poses at ESPN:
http://www.espnfc.com/club/sunderland/366/blog/post/2350925/who-would-want-the-sunderland-job
This will be short and to the point. Gus Poyet, as the world and perhaps even Roy Keane’s doing, now knows, has gone.
Have your say below on who should come in, on what basis and with what hope. Let’s pray an early announcement makes that exercise academic … there is no time to lose.
Hate to say it but one of the best pieces of analysis Pete Sixsmith has produced on these pages is his devastating assessment of SAFC vs Villa at https://safc.blog/2015/03/sixers-villa-soapbox-some-constructive-criticism-and-please-go-gus/. Where do we go from here? Today may bring part of the answer …
There’s speculation galore that Gus Poyet has taken charge of his last match and will be out of the SoL doors before this week, maybe as quickly as today.
John McCormick writes: In his e-mail carrying this account Pete Sixsmith said he’s addressing his remarks to Colin, Nic and myself as Malcolm had the misfortune to sit through this live. What remarks? Just the three headlines below:
ABSOLUTE RUBBISH FROM BEGINNING TO END.
YET ANOTHER CHANGE NEEDED.
NO MORE AWAY GAMES AND SEASON TICKET IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY.Are you ready?
John McCormick writes: I wouldn’t have been surprised if our manager’s post-match missive was a letter of resignation, that first …
John McCormick writes: If we stay up this season it will be only because there are worse teams in the premiership. The worrying thing is that, on today’s performance, there are no worse teams.
That’s what I think, but what about Pete Sixsmith?
While I was awaiting his text, which went to France instead of Liverpool, I posted my own summary: *A dire display from players and manager. Does Pete disagree? I think not from his own seven words, which now appear below:
Some things matter more than football. Howard Hodgson, a man with of impeccable credentials* as a Villan, almost gave Aston Villa’s the midweek Premier game vs WBA a miss because his faithful friend, an Agbonlahorish hound named Bozzie after a certain ex-Villa goalie, was put down that day.
He went anyway but is sure he knows who Tim Sherwood must have had in mind when saying someone in heaven had looked down kindly on Villa that night. Bozzie was up there in the clouds, willing on his master’s team to win the game in the 92nd minute of stoppage time. Howard was back at Villa Park for the WBA cup game in time to duck the flying Albion seats and keep out of the way of pitch-invading idiots. He answered our questions, admirably, before that match so the relevant sections have been tweaked accordingly …
When there’s proper football to be had in the flesh, Pete Sixsmith isn’t likely to stay in to watch Man Utd vs Arsenal on the box, with United fans incensed at Michael Oliver’s application of relatively simple laws of the game. He took himself off to Hetton to see Sunderland’s Under 21s in winning action. The opposition, West Ham, are also the first team’s opponents for the next away game. Could it be an occasion for trying out one or two of the brighter sparks among the young ‘uns, if only because the seniors have repeatedly let us down? Maybe not, but who knows what a hungry Mandron or Watmore might do …