Sunderland v Rovers

[bring back the cowshed!]

Just blow the whistle, ref!

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Thankfully. Dons, Southend and Wimbledon all losing too, but only by the odd goal.

 

[Ian]

Dont think it would make a difference. They are too good for us. Three down, zero threat in attack, same old story. Make changes at half time and try and rescue some pride.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

We played decent football but were picked off when we turned over possession in midfield. The defending was not good, the absence of a third man in midfield showed and Ray was poor. However, there were still some positives.

 

[Ian]

Not sure how your pick any positives from that. Defending was awful, attack weak and midfield failed to hold the ball. Where was the decent football? We might have pinged it around a bit, but there was absolutely no substance to any of it. The back four were poor not just Ray.

 

[Boz]

While the result not unexpected, the size of this heavy defeat is a concern. Arguably Micky could have shuffled the pack a bit more despite the injuries; Perkins nowhere near fit for example. Next up Doncaster, who put 7 past Southend. Admittedly the Shrimpers were down to 9 men.but it puts last Friday into context.

 

[Sparky]

Very painful and not just because I was in the home end. I actually thought up to the goal we had edged it. Neat and tidy and a few half chances. But then one thru ball and they score. A few minutes later a free kick from the edge of the box that looked poorly defended by Scottie or the wall left an uphill battle. Another thru ball split the defence and at 3-0 it was game over. Second half again we did ok and hit the post. But switched off late on and had given up at the end.

Once again some of the players were just not good enjoy. We had plenty of crosses Into the box but Payne and Mullin are just not sharp enough at this level. Jennings and Perkins were poor as was ridehalgh.

Caprice had a decent game and my MOM was Morris but half of the players out there tonight are not league one standard. I feel for Micky as injuries are an issue but we were toothless whereas they were clinical.

5 conceded with Saturday’s visitors Doncaster scoring 7 at Southend who we were poor against last week. Difficult times.

 

[drwhoman]

Let us hope that sufficient new blood can be introduced in January to keep us in L1 but not looking good at present. Gloom I know but maybe two promotions on the bounce was too much particularly when we then lost our talisman and key goal scorer.

 

[Ian]

It's got to be very frustrating for Micky as he knows he does not have the quality in the team. We have seen this too many times now but a combination of poor defending and a weak forward line is never going to end well. I just hope we have enough in the tank this season.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Not sure how your pick any positives from that. Defending was awful, attack weak and midfield failed to hold the ball. Where was the decent football? We might have pinged it around a bit, but there was absolutely no substance to any of it. The back four were poor not just Ray.

The positives were decent performances from Morris, Caprice and Ridehalgh and a lot of decent possession football. The midfield did retain the ball well a lot of the time, but we could not compete with Sunderland in both boxes. But then we knew that before kick off. As Sparky says, there was an almost laughable gulf in resources in the final third; they start with Grigg, Maguire and Whatmore and bring McNulty off the bench. By contrast, we have Payne, who is moderate at this level, and Mullin, who could not score in the division below.

 

[rossb07]

As Sparky says, there was an almost laughable gulf in resources in the final third; they start with Grigg, Maguire and Whatmore and bring McNulty off the bench. By contrast, we have Payne, who is moderate at this level, and Mullin, who could not score in the division below.

It obviously has no reflection on the score line but the frontline 4 they had is on more a week than all of our squad combined. I’d even wager more than our squad in a month if you add Power and McGeady into the list. Puts things into perspective a little bit when I see people (luckily not on here) who think we should be up the top end of the table and anything less is a disaster.

On the game, I too saw some positives and you could see that we weren’t content with sitting off Sunderland like we did a week ago but it came down to individual errors mixed into some clinical play that have undone us at key points in the game.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

While the result not unexpected, the size of this heavy defeat is a concern. Arguably Micky could have shuffled the pack a bit more despite the injuries; Perkins nowhere near fit for example. Next up Doncaster, who put 7 past Southend. Admittedly the Shrimpers were down to 9 men.but it puts last Friday into context.

Not really sure who could have played other than Perkins. Danns was the only other fit midfielder. We needed three in midfield tonight, with a genuine holding player, but the players were not available. The injuries are killing us at the moment.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Not really sure who could have played other than Perkins. Danns was the only other fit midfielder. We needed three in midfield tonight, with a genuine holding player, but the players were not available. The injuries are killing us at the moment.

We also needed a better centre half than Ray..... I am not one for singling players out, but he was so poor tonight. I think he played a big part in two or three of the goals.

 

[drwhoman]

Sunderland have come down from the PL so quickly that they must still be on parachute payments vastly in excess of our total budget? There is a huge gap in financial resources between the top and bottom of L1. This will be more pronounced than in L2 I am sure.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Interesting interview with MM, where he effectively admits that the squad is not good enough. Seems to be asking MP to back him, rather than requiring him to operate on shoestring budgets and produce miracles......

 

[Boz]

As Sparky says, there was an almost laughable gulf in resources in the final third; they start with Grigg, Maguire and Whatmore and bring McNulty off the bench. By contrast, we have Payne, who is moderate at this level, and Mullin, who could not score in the division below.

Bit harsh on Mullin, who's strike rate was reasonable last season, given he only played in about half the games. He seems out of his depth at this level though and Ferrier's scoring record at Walsall suggests he may not be the answer either, when fit.

On midfield options, given Perkins wasn't fully fit, I'd have played a back 3 with Caprice at RWB and moved Morris into midfield with Danns and Jennings, though very makeshift.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I am not singling out Mullin, but he never managed double figures in several seasons in League Two playing forty odd games, so no reason to think he would better that performance at a higher level. I was using him as an example of the general deficiencies in the squad.

 

[Sparky]

Interesting interview with MM, where he effectively admits that the squad is not good enough. Seems to be asking MP to back him, rather than requiring him to operate on shoestring budgets and produce miracles......

yes I got that impression. Making the point that can some of these players can no longer be improved. You think of ridehalgh who hasn’t impressed overall this season and Jennings. Connors game summed up by a late dwelling on the ball and being disposed and giving a free kick away - similar to his second yellow card And sending off recently.
Since Wembley I’ve always preferred manny and Nelson. Ray started the season and didn’t impress but was excellent against Coventry. Arguably after last night, Sid deserved a chance

 

[MancunianWhite]

Since the season 2016-2017 Sunderland have probably generated over £100 million in revenue/TV money only two years ago they had a squad containing Jermaine Defoe, Jordan Pickford and John O Shea.

During the same period Tranmere i would estimate have probably earned maybe £4-5million in Revenue, so being realistic although we are in the same Division we shouldn`t really be able to compete.

On a positive note Tranmere are on the up were as Sunderland are at rock bottom by their standards.

 

[rossb07]

Since the season 2016-2017 Sunderland have probably generated over £100 million in revenue/TV money only two years ago they had a squad containing Jermaine Defoe, Jordan Pickford and John O Shea.

During the same period Tranmere i would estimate have probably earned maybe £4-5million in Revenue, so being realistic although we are in the same Division we shouldn`t really be able to compete.

On a positive note Tranmere are on the up were as Sunderland are at rock bottom by their standards.

I always find it amusing when my Leeds supporting boss' talk about the 'dark days of being down in L1'. They have no idea what dark days are really like, it's all Disney Land for them!