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Who's Next For Sunderland?
So Royston has walked then....shame since it is not his fault that he could not attract half decent players to the dark hole. However can I start the campaign here for Fat Sam & Reidy to take over the reigns?
David (ok then if not both then I will settle for Fat Sam) Geordie in exile in Glasgow
Where Next For Keano?
I've just placed a fiver on Keano ending up Newcastle in May...
SDL, London
So, Sunderland Fans Are Angry...
After 6 years finally we can put the ghost of Roy Keane to bed.
Who was right in 2002? Was Roy right to walk away just before a World Cup cos he didnt get his way, or should he have taken it like a man and done the job then complained when he got back? All the questions posed at the time. As fantastic a player as he was, he left many a bitter taste in Irish fans mouths after "that" World Cup. True, he had those stick by him though for the main part they were from Cork or Man Utd fans to the core. The majority of unbiased fans weren't impressed.
And so we have him now, after spending over £100m on a variety of players (mostly gash may I add) jumping ship once again. Sunderland fans left wondering where they stand now, what might have been and what may be in the future. Either way, I think Sunderland are better off in the long run. They need a proven class manager (not player) to help them out of their current plight. Maybe Quinninho will deliver, who knows. There are not too many top quality managers in the current market - a move for Souness would not surprise me at all actually.
The expression used to always be cometh the hour, cometh the man. Well, not for the first time when the hour bell rung, the man walked away from the showdown.
Karl, Dublin
...Yet again he walks away from his responsibilities. Does this mean that everyone in Ireland will have to get off the Sunderland bandwagon?
James Quinn, Navan, Ireland
We Think He's Being Funny
Sunderland need a new manager. One to galvanise the city, to build team spirit, a great man manager with a passion for the North East.
There is one man to fill that role - recently out of a job.
Stand up Kevin Keegan.
Tom Davidson
Him Too
Surely the time has now come for Alan Shearer to step of the MotD sofa and take his 1st job in management?
Ben Smith
Perhaps Take Into Account Where This Chap Is From...
I'm a Liverpool fan & I'd take Roy as manager any day of the week.
Well done to Sunderland for getting rid of the best manager ye ever had.
Roy will have teams fighting over each other to get him as manager.
Every manager gets the sack at some stage,just goes to show what sort of clowns are in charge of that club.
Cork is still very proud of you Roy.
You were captain of the biggest club in the world during their most successful period ever & you have forgotten more about football then most people will ever know.
You are a legend & I hope you are back in football soon.
It is a poorer,more clichéd place without you.
Gussy,Cork
Him Too
Batten down the hatches if the rumours from Wearside are true. The anti keane brigade are coming out of the woodwork and coming up from the sewers!!
So Roy the Boy has stepped down as Sunderland coach. It's a pity and a big disappointment to all concerned. Roy has done this, not for his own benefit, but for the benefit of the club. Also, by stepping down, any cash payment will be minimal, unlike for a dismissal that can cost a club millions. Things werent working out. To be fair, he has left Sunderland in a relatively healthy state. He took them up from the the pits of the Championship. Kept them in the premier league. And at present, they're still only a win away from being mid table, and has left a bunch of players that should be good enough to stay up. He has spent a lot but bear in mind he inherited a squad of Sunday league footballers.
He joins a long list of great players who werent suited to management. No shame in that. No doubt the anti Keane brigade will call him a quitter and says he always walks out etc, saying he walked out on Ireland when they most needed them blah blah. Before they do this I'd like to point out yet again that Keane was sent home. The proof of this is the FACT that the FAI issued a statement saying Roy had been sent home. They put it in basic English so even Irish Liverpool fans would understand. Saying you quit you're job after being sacked, doesn't save you from the fact you were sacked in the first place. The anti Keane brigade will try and bend the truth, but facts speak for themselves. This is a man who put everything into every team he played for. People shouldn't forget that.
Bear in mind, the likes of Mourinho, Capello, and Hitzfield have all stepped down as well in the past. It's not exactly a new phenomenon. Now I want see Keane in punditry (proper stuff like RTE, not kak Sky, BBC etc).
Kieran Lynch, Cork
Getting Desperate At Blackburn
As reluctant as I am to be negative about any Blackburn Rovers manager or player I have to say that Ince is not the man for the job at this moment in time and needs to be replaced pretty damn quick with either Big Sam or Curbs - the prospect of either fills me with dread but they would be a means to an end because otherwise, based on the evidence of the season so far, we are going down.
I understand Ince has had to cope with lots of injuries. He's lacking quality midfielders with Dunn and Reid long term injuries, plus we are still missing Bentley. However it is the manner of our recent run of form and tactics plus some of his transfer decisions. Keith Andrews is a decent, cheap squad player but he's no match winner. Grella would seem to have the pedigree after 10 years in Italy's Serie A and World Cup appearances, if he could stay or rather get fit. However there are very few Rovers fans who can understand the Robbie Fowler situation. Everyone knows he's been distinctly average since he left Liverpool for Leeds and probably before then, so why are we wasting precious wages on him??? It's baffling.
Our defensive play, which had been our bedrock under Hughes, is worse than woeful, it is non-existent. We used to defend from the front, now we look shambolic. Even Mokena (Captain of South Africa) who was another decent squad member and could do a job in front of the back four looks Sunday League, at the moment. Nigel Winterburn's situation as our defensive coach is an absolute joke. He needs to decide if he is a TV pundit or a coach but his two days per week is obviously not working! And what about these experienced coaches we have working alongside him in Knox and Matthias? What the f*ck are they doing?
The tactics seem non-existent, players are being played in the wrong position (left back in midfield, striker on the wing, defensive midfielder at right back) and their heads are starting to drop. Everyone says we have been punching above our weight and that may be true but this is pretty much the same team that has appeared in 3 semi-finals and qualified for Europe twice in the last three years so the coaching has to be the factor. We are never going to win the League but we should be comfortably mid table and above with this squad.
As I write this I hear that Keane may have gone from Sunderland (although we've been here before) so Rovers need to move quickly or Big Sam/Curbs may be off the market soon.
Anthony, A very worried Rovers fan
For Those That Rate The UEFA Cup Above The CL...
Tonight I will endure the pain of rushing home from work, bolting down a lukewarm dinner and sitting in 30 minutes of traffic all for the 'pleasure' of watching my beloved Aston Villa entertain another Eastern European team I had not heard of little over 12 weeks ago.
For 10 years us Villa fans have longed for a return to Europe, harbouring vivid memories of glorious nights against Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan. The truth is somewhat less glamorous, this bastardised version of the Uefa cup, Ajax at home aside, has provided us with little to get excited about thus far. It has however hit us firmly in the pocket, and I fear, done little for the stamina of our small squad.
Every team away from the top 4 dreams of getting into Europe, my experience suggests that if you are not competing with the big boys, then it is little to get excited about.
A seasonally miserable Ian O'Brien
Go For It
I completely agree with JB, Dublin, LFC - it will be great if Liverpool bought Duff.
CP, Dublin, NUFC
Testament Of Youth
Davie boy ( Dave )hoping we don't get Burnley in the semi( NZ - how clever are you turning the brackets round the other way?!), the last 2 years Arsenal's kids have made it to a final and a semi final...ultimately lost them both, but they got 'the opportunity for another two games of experience building at a higher level of pressure and prestige (the semi and potentially the final). Their development is accelerated and they improve and get more opportunities to play in the first team'.
Mark (I hate 'fans' with memory shorter tha...what was I saying) D AFC
...To Dave in NZ, but last year Man U got knocked out in the first round of the League Cup at home to QPR, and Arsenal got to the semi, work that into your theory. How about this alternative magic formula, Tevez played for Man U and Bendtner played for Arse. You do the math.
Dave, Pompey
Annoyed At Sir Over Tevez
I'm just wondering am I the only United fan profoundly annoyed with Sir for his current treatment of Carlos Tevez? Over the past 18 months Tevez has worked his way into the heart of every United fan I'd imagine. He works tirelessly every single game no matter what opposition we're playing or what competition it's in. In the semi-final of CL last year his display against Barca was magnificent, the man broke his balls chasing down every hopeless cause and wayward long ball, tackling and harrying the Barca back four constantly. This is just one example of why Sir should be treating Tevez with far more respect. Why is this great player being forced to the margins at Old Trafford?
I have two big problems with him being frozen out like this. Firstly, Berbatov, why did Ferguson need to spend £30 million on him during the summer? He's 28 (I think, I could be wrong on that), to me he's too old to be thought good habits. He's lazy he doesn't run for the team, he won't chase a lost cause down a la Tevez or Rooney. Tevez doesn't need anyone to teach him good habits he already has them by the bucket load. Berbatov is a bit of a whinge bag, we've enough of those in the team with Ronaldo (much as I love the way he annoys opposition fans). And I'm not saying that Berbatov isn't a fantastic striker because he is, but I just don't think that he suits the United team. Last season United were magnificent without him, was he an absolutely necessary purchase?! I don't think so at all, I think Ferguson had the idea in his head from the previous season when he failed to sign him, another example of Sir's stubbornness. Simply put Berbatov reminds me of Ruud back in the day, a lethal finisher with a great touch should the chance present itself, but ask him to go make his own goals...no Sir not happening.
Ruud was sold because he didn't fit in with the style of play Ferguson was trying to cultivate at the time, I just see the signing of Berbatov as a regression towards the whole team being built around one player. I hate the thoughts of this kind of regression, last season with Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo playing together United terrorised teams. This was because the movement of these players opened up holes everywhere in the opposition's defence, and they created their own goals and goals for everyone else around them.
Tevez, Rooney, and Ronaldo probably created at least half the amount of goals they scored themselves for other players in the side. This has taken me away from my point about the shoddy treatment of Tevez. From what I've said above it is clear that United were a better team with Tevez starting every game last season than they are this season with him getting splinters from the bench. Either attacking or defending himself and Rooney terrorised the entire opposition defence, even if it meant chasing back 20 yards into their own half to get the ball and launch another attack, this is lacking in United's play to an extent this season.
My second problem is that Rooney and Berba simply haven't been in good form. Rooney had a lovely run during October, banging them in for fun, but this seems to happen too often with Rooney, he hits a purple patch then suddenly doesn't score and that form is gone (thankfully he scored against City though). Berbatov's form simply hasn't justified the fee paid for him, and it certainly hasn't justified Tevez being left out of the side for him. Tevez outlined last night exactly why at the minute he is a better option than Berba he creates goals for others and himself, and he's in better form than Rooney too if we go on last night. So please Sir Alex start him this weekend and every weekend from now on, and if you were willing to spend £30 million on Berba then Tevez must be worth £50 million, so open the cheque book quickly and sign him before Real get their filthy mits into him.
Just in case anyone thinks I'm saying Berbatov is a bad striker I'm not I just don't see that he fits the United style of play, and represents a regression as a signing towards the style of play built around Ruud Van Nistlerooy a few years ago. I do think he would make a very useful player in the squad if he was sprung from the bench as a replacement for Tevez or Rooney to alter the focus of United's attack.
D. O'Brien, (So annoyed with Fergie that I can only use an inordinate amount of question marks, and attack Berba even though I don't really have a problem with the lazy git), Dublin.
Worst Of The 'Best'
Keeping in theme with the recent best XI from the top/bottom teams etc I thought I'd compile a worst XI from the "big 4". Not just using any old dross from the squads but players who actually get first team playing time! Check it out:
GK - Almunia
RB - Ferreira
CB - Toure
CB - O'Shea
LB - Dossena
RW- Eboue
CM- Leiva Lucas
CM- Fletcher (probably the best player here, which says a lot really)
LW- Denilson
CF- Ngog (doesn't get much first team action to be fair - substitute for Kalou or Keane if you please)
CF- Bentner
Relegation fodder surely.
Anybody think they can do better?
Stuart (that was more fun than working for sure) Knox
He's Here All Week
Whilst flicking between 'I'm a celebrity...' and the Liverpool v West Ham match on Monday night, I stumbled across the an idea for a shampoo endorsed by one of the "celebrities" and a Liverpool "centre forward". The name? Swash N'Gog (although I must admit, it only works if you say it out loud, and even then it isn't very funny)
Marc Spitty
