Malcolm Dawson writes….even this early in the season I had a feeling this game could be the defining one. The …
Gus Poyet accepts Sunderland made a poor start but is delighted that the goals finally came. Stoke at home in the next round sounds winnable, too. Here’s the boss’s post-match e-mail …
Gus Poyet, in his post-match e-mail, strikes a justifiably optimistic note. He also singles out a really bright positive to take from the game: the sparkling wing play of Will Buckley. Our new boy’s battle with Blackett was intriguing, but Buckley was its winner. Now let the boss speak for himself …
John McCormick writes: I was hoping to make this match but it was not to be and I had to make do with a dodgy feed. When we scored I thought ******, then they scored twice and I thought ****** again, but for different reasons. And then when hope was dying our Viking proved he was worth his new contract with a point-saving goal and I thought ****** once more, this time because two midfielders had scored and that’s a bit of a novelty.
Two forwards scoring would be a bit of a novelty, too, I think. It’s time Fletch and Jozy showed their worth.
That’s enough of my thoughts, what about the manager’s? Here they are, as sent directly to M Salut in his personal post-match e-mail:
It is the time of year when nervous fingers click between Twitter, safc.com and newsnow for updates on who we’ve bought or borrowed, who’s gone or going and what the boss may be thinking about his team selection.
Despite a nagging feeling that summer has been slow for Sunderland on the transfer front, there have been important comings and goings already.
Malcolm Dawson writes……Following his most recent visits to the O3 Arena, Peter Sixsmith has developed a liking for watching a team in red and white stripes at St James’ Park, so when the Football League fixtures were announced he got Pardew, his faithful manservant, to organise a suite at the Exeter Travelodge and a ticket to see The Grecians play Pompey in what to many of us, is still the old Fourth Division. It was all sorted before SAFC announced their final pre-season arrangements and Pete will be at The Hawthorns next week to bring his unique insight into the first game of the campaign proper, but it fell to me to make the ten minute trip to Heritage Park, home of the “Two Blues”, for the final warm up match…..
With the league campaign kicking off next week, this was Gus’s last chance to see his boys in pre-season. No …
John McCormick writes: Are you worried by our lack of goals to date? I must admit to concerns as it …
Last season, CD Nacional finished fifth in the Portuguese top flight,qualifying for the Europa League. So the win that looked for a long while like coming would have been an impressive second win in Sunderland’s short trip to the Algarve, Instead, a late goal brought defeat, Gus Poyet remained upbeat, as managers do when able to pass off pre-season reverses as essentially exercises in fitness and blending. Here’s his post-match e-mail from Portugal’s holiday playground …
Delighted to add another goal to my name! Hopefully many more to come.. So blessed ??????
— Mikael Mandron (@MikaelMandron) July 29, 2014
That was the tweet from Boulogne’s finest, Mikael Mandron. Great to see such desire from the 19-year-old forward whose penalty decided the first of an unfamiliar-looking Sunderland’s friendlies in Portugal. Here’s what the boss made of it in his customary post-match e-mail to Monsieur Salut and one or two others. Malcolm Dawson asks the delicate but pertinent question in Comments: what is the explanation for the boss’s repeated use of players most of us would have considered at best on the the fringe of his first-team squad? ….