The Fish

I'm not making it out to be a huge draw or anything, but Player A is more likely to want to join Sunderland over, say, Burton or Ipswich etc. Certainly if Sunderland are offering more money. Which I think Short has to. You think I'm voicing an unpopular opinion to avoid criticism from Sunderland fans? If they don't sign anyone they're in deep shit and will surely be in a relegation battle for the rest of the season at best. That alone should force Short's hand. Don't get me wrong I'm enjoying their troubles, I just don't think it's done and dusted.

I know Aston Villa weren't in as bad a situation (obviously), but they spent in the January window last season, didn't they? At least that wouldn't cost much.

Plenty of players who'll be good enough to keep them in that league will take the chance to go play for one of the biggest clubs in that league. Just like people still get excited about joining Leeds. They need to sign players like Daryl Murphy, Grant Hanley.. experienced Championship players who can turn draws to wins and losses to draws.

I always enjoy our little chats Quiffy.

Well that's the dream.

They could still get money for Ndong, Kone, Khazri (is he still there)? There might be some of their young lads that clubs higher up the league might fancy taking a chance on. Say they pull £10m from player sales, and Short ponies up another £5-£10m, that £15m-£20m would be 10x what the other sides around the Championship relegation spots could spend. Sunderland shouldn't be in this shit, even though their team is crap and their manager is average. They're still better than Burton Albion on paper, ditto Bolton and Birmingham. Their problem is they didn't overhaul the squad enough, they didn't use the relegation as an opportunity to clean the slate. I want to be clear Sunderland are a shitshow, but if those responsible make all but the stupidest decisions, they should survive.

No idea, if Grabban does go? We spent £15m on Gayle in a less inflated market. Don't think they need someone as good as Gayle, but a reliable Championship striker like Daryl Murphy could do a job for what, £6m? They need a CB, some pace on the flanks... I am literally grabbing numbers, but £20-£30m? Money talks, and has always been a decisive bargaining chip for teams who're a bit more remote. If Short doesn't spend, the club won't be worth £60m because it will be in League 1, with Jack Rodwell still pulling £50k or whatever it is. So while throwing £30m at the club may seem to be putting 50% of his asking price on a gamble of staying up, failing to guarantees their relegation and the evaporation of any hope of getting close to his asking price.

Seasons with Sociedad, and his stint as Wales manager returned about 1.4 PpG Even his runs with Fulham in the Premier League returned about 1.25PpG

Aye, when you get to that stratospheric level of deal it doesn't really make a difference, does it? Especially when it's a bit of saga, see Coutinho too. To be honest, the VVD transfer should have been sorted in the summer. Similar to De Gea and Coutinho's moves to Spain. The margins aren't as important to those transfers as they are to teams like us.

If it were to keep them in the Premier League I'd agree that it's unlikely that Short would stump up his own cash. But realistically League 1 is football oblivion, Blackburn, Leeds and Portsmouth have never really recovered. Those warnings should surely convince Short to stump up the tens of millions it'd require to plug the gaps in that Sunderland side?

Coleman has it in him to get a side onto about 1.4PpG which should be enough for survival.

He's significantly improved their PpG and GA, although they're scoring fewer. If Short backs him in the window, as I anticipate he'll feel forced to, I think they'll see a further up tick.

c50pts has been enough for survival, which means they'll need about 7pts from every 5 games. 2 wins and a draw and two losses, or 1 win and 4 draws. The former is more likely of the two, and neither is likely. However, I cannot imagine Short failing to put enough into the club to keep them up. Selling a struggling Championship club is one thing, selling a League 1 club is a whole other barrel of fish. That's got to be terrifying enough to force his hand?

It's not ridiculous Ginger Quim, I said if Coleman does things then they should survive. If he doesn't, then they won't.

I've said it all season. Don't get me wrong, they're in the shit, but if the logical steps are taken they should survive. If, however, the squad isn't significantly improved (and should Grabban rejoin his parent club), then they're fucked.

The selling teams are likely focussed on what they need too. Ings might not be in Klopp's immediate plans, but it's prudent to wait for the window to open before allowing a player to begin negotiations. Plus there'll be a few teams interested in him, won't there? I'm guessing that'd be true of most if not all of the players on our RADAR. Elliot may well be a player that a few Championship clubs are interested in, but until we've got a replacement it makes sense to hold onto him. Add to that desperation would surely drive the price up, even if that price is just a loan deal that's more in your favour.

I just think they'll do enough to survive this season. If Coleman can get a tune out of the like Grabban, O'Shea and the younger players they should have enough to cling to their place in the second tier. However, that they're even in the conversation is shocking. They should have offloaded Kone, Ndong, Khazri et al, reduced the wage bill and overhauled the squad. They've bought mostly shite, and kept mostly shite, no wonder they're mostly shite. That said, I expect them to cling to the bowl like a stubborn shit stain. They won't miss an opportunity to "brag" about being the Premier League for 10yrs, but what has it given them? No European football, no silverware, few star players, few memorable games. A decade of turgid football, mostly at the wrong end of the league and the only thing that gave them joy were the results against us.

I take it back, going off Andrews last few posts, Aaron’s is on fire

Man of the Match thus far

Anyone seen a decent copy of the Justice League film?

A run of the mill victory for them, a decent performance from us and a late goal to get our hopes up. 2-1

You want to stop

Aye, I don’t see the kicks, nips, trips and playacting from Alli or Bergkamp or Cabaye as a sign of “competitiveness”, it just shows me that they’re snidey cunts.

From Football365 “Pardew has now won one of his last 16 Premier League games, and just six of his last 41; West Brom have won three of their last 30. But the Baggies already pressed the panic button to part ways with his predecessor. Who do you call when the firefighter uses the flames to come in from the managerial cold, but fails to actually solve the problem?”

Free hit against Man City, then aim to keep pace with the rest of the bottom half. Gulp