It appears the manager’s personal e-mails to M. Salut are getting shorter as the weeks go by, but fair play to him he continues to send them. As ever he finds the positives from a game where the outcome was anything but.
What’s to be said? Another defeat leaves us in desperate trouble unless – how often do we say that? – Chelsea and Reading at home produce 4-6 points. Martin O’Neill is paid to put the best gloss he can on the same old undercoating …
Don’t worry, we’ll win 3-1. That was one pre-match thought. In the event, they – QPR – won 0-0. Awful result for Sunderland and Martin O’Neill‘s e-mail looks shorter than usual. There’s no elaborate attempt to present it in any better light. Just the customary assertion that another “big game” looms. Oh dear …
There were those of us who thought we may have turned a corner at Craven Cottage, but today that corner only took us into a cul de sac. To me – Malcolm Dawson – it seemed as if nothing much had changed from previous home games and the first half was another dose of “Groundhog Day”. The midfield was static, the team lacked purpose going sideways rather than forwards and it was only after we were two – nil behind that we showed any attacking threat. Was it a penalty? I’ll watch the replays tonight but it was certainly a needless one (M Salut, watching on TV, saw in Liam Ridgewell an accomplished diver at work). Those around me were less than happy but the manager remains upbeat.
Martin O’Neill needed a win and got one. Monsieur Salut hes written elsewhere – click here for the ESPN piece – that even when Simon Mignolet was making his saves, 4-1 somehow seemed more likely than 3-3. The boss’s post-match e-mail picks out the Adam Johnson pass for Fletch’s opener. In my humble view, AJ was immense in the second half after an anonymous start…
Martin O’Neill saw the same match as us and correctly identified a massive improvement in confidence and also some bad luck. How well we played and how unlucky we were are both open to debate. The simple truth is that we should not have allowed a lead to be overturned as it was – and we should have taken more than one of the four clear first-half chances …
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Many of those there today thought this was a better performance – abject as opposed to pathetic. We attacked more and both Johnson and Sessegnon showed an improvement, being disappointing as opposed to very disappointing. We know that the club looks at and reacts to this website as there was a total absence of pre match and half time sprinklers popping up so we are grateful that the manager should take time out of his busy day to send us a personal message.
What follows is his positive spin on what was another frustrating day for those in the stands.
Disapppointed, it is fair to say, was a word heard often on Steve Bruce’s lips. It annoyed many supporters no end. And it somehow seems entirely the wrong response to this latest setback in the fortunes of Sunderland AFC, implying as it does that we would have progressed further in this uncommonly winnable of competitions if only all our flair, sense of adventure and endeavour had paid off. As opposed to the reason for the exit being, as Pete Sixsmith called, is ‘the most inept performance since the last most inept performance, clueless and brainless’. Let us hear what the boss had to say in the knowledge that sterner analysis is in the minds of others …
Martin O’Neill was cautious again with his starting line-up, Sess on the bench and Catts in the team with just Fletcher forward. The radio reactions were predictable perhaps, Gary Bennett happy with the point, praising the defence and Colback in particular, some supporters happy with another point, but just as many critical with the lack of creativity and attacking ambition. “This was the worst ever Premier League game I’ve seen,” said one. “Don’t wait up for MOTD” our own Pete Sixsmith advises. The manager explains his thinking in his regular post match e-mail……
Martin O’Neill highlights Cuellar’s challenge as the turning point of the game. That it came after only three minutes in such a dangerous position, is something no doubt he and his backroom staff will discuss with the team. Whether or not it was necessary at all will also be considered. Of just as much concern will surely be the ineffectiveness of the midfield and the lack of goalscoring opportunities created. Manchester City have strength in depth and a wealth of talent at their disposal but despite the endeavours of the Lads on the pitch in red and white, City were worthy winners. In his personal letter to Monsieur Salut the manager expresses his post match feelings …