The Fish

You say he doesn't get into the right position, but how often does the cross come across at 6'-7'? It makes sense but the crosses are mostly for a striker like Gayle, low, fast and to the near post, or a pull back. Last time we were down here we were forever putting in high crosses from deep for Ameobi, Best, Carroll, Harewood et al. I'm never going to convince people, but I've seen enough in him to think he'll become a decent striker. I also will take into account the lack of game time, the style of play and so on. I honestly think the excessive criticism he gets is a direct reaction to the only semi-serious adulation he gets from the young fans. Just like older fans used to go spare because Ameobi's name got sung a lot.

Asoro, Gooch (no seriously), Honeyman, Maja are the ones people seem most excited about.

I know you didn't say he was 28, my point was that you have written off a 22yr old, not called time on a 28yr old. It's not that you've been disappointed with his progress, not frustrated with his immaturity, you've plain old written him off at 22. I do know that loads don't make it, Ranger is a perfect example. But I can see the foundations for a decent player and, just as importantly imo, I can see the right application and eagerness to learn. Mitrovic can finish, despite you saying he can't, he links up well despite not playing much, he needs to mature on the pitch, but that's only going to happen if he's actually getting on the pitch. This isn't a lazy but talented Sissoko, Mitrovic has potential and the desire to strive towards it. The biggest negatives in his game will be softened by age/experience.

Welp, that's the youtube compilation of choice to accompany my lunch now, isn't it?

There's currently a few highly rated youngsters on the fringe.

It's not 1 in 6 though, not really now is it? He's mostly getting around 10 minutes at the end of games. Of course age has something to do with it. Ameobi was nothing but gangly legs and energy, but became a decent targetman when he matured. Crouch has improved as time's gone on and the majority of young strikers are farmed out on loan to get game time to improve their understanding of their role and professional football. time that has justifiably not been afforded to Mitrovic. No he won't develop pace, but he'll get stronger, he'll learn about movement, how and when to use this strength, he'll improve his finishing and develop his control. All assets vital for a target man. Oh and he's 22, not 28, so over time he'll develop football experience and while he'll never pick out a runner on his blind side with a 40yd no-look pass, he will pull 2 defenders to the back post so his mate gets a tap in. But this may just be one of Parky's bold declarations that is soon forgotten, so I've probably already wasted too much time on replying

I totally agree that in this fixture, Murphy is a the better option. However, it's mental that people are writing off a 22yr old striker, despite evidence that he can finish (4 goals), he can provide (3 assists) and he can keep his head. He has 3 yellows in the league, which is the same as Gayle and Gouffran, and no red cards.

He's played 808 minutes but 41% of his 22 appearances have been for less than 12 minutes. Shola was an experienced pro (29) who'd played pretty much his entire career in the top flight of English football. Bit harsh to grade Mitro against him, no?

Ra-ther

That's why they should give the job, I'd tell him what's what. (Mind I would be sorely tempted to sabotage the whole club in a petulant rage)

If it was a team lower down the division, I'd agree. Reading aren't Rotherham, so I'm happy enough Rafa's using the squad to deal with the rigours of the season. After Reading we've 4 very winnable games and I'd not be surprised to see Mitrovic and Murphy swapping the spot on the bench across them.

Finished. I've not written him off yet. He's scored in the Premier League, he's scored in the Championship and while he hasn't set the division alight he's nowhere near as shit as some people are making out. He's just a victim of failing to meet the exaggerated expectations and is now the scape goat du jour. Soon enough it'll be back to Perez, or Diame, or Gouffran. People forget he's just a kid (22). He's younger than Atsu(25), Perez(23) or Sammy (24), but because of his size and reputation people seem to expect him to be the finished article.

Aside from the unlikely intervention of a billionaire Sunderland fan, their best hope is to strip the club back. They've a decent academy, by all accounts, and we've been shite at bringing through local kids, so focus on that. Get rid of the likes of Borini, Januzaj, Khazri, Kone, Manquillo, N'Dong. Phase out Cattermole, Larsson, O'Shea, etc. Loan some kids from Premier League title chasers (Tammy Abraham), add experienced Championship stalwarts (Jordan Rhodes). Strengthen with Premier League quality in January if promotion looks very likely, buy promising youngster (Tom Cairney) if it's not assured. If they're promoted they should have a strong core which only needs a few additions, if they're not, they'd be odds-on for the following season. Build bridges with the fans through community work, encourage "involvement" in decision making process, keep ticket prices reasonable etc. If they can get fans to turn up in similar numbers in the Championship as they have in the Premier League, that's a steady source of income. If I couldn't get Rowett, or convince another promising coach to go to the Stadium of Light, I'd keep Moyes as I think he's a decent manager who was dealt a bum hand, let him build a club focussed on young local talent. Make plans for his long term replacement, a manager that can build on the defensive strength he's renowned for and add guile and adventure. Fucking easy.

Absolutely. The only reason Villa weren't below Burnley, Middlesbrough and Hull last season is that they literally couldn't because of the nature of a fixed table. If the table was 44 teams strong, I don't think that Villa side would have been top half. Burnley haven't overhauled their 1st team this season (I think there's 1 regular first team player that's new?) and they've been top half for much of the season. They weren't inoculated against Championship Cooties once their promotion was confirmed. They didn't get hit by cosmic rays and become the mythical Premier League Players.

There's a consensus that because a player/team is lower in the pyramid he/they must be inferior. But I'd fancy Brighton's first team to go toe-to-toe with the bottom 4-5 of the Premier League and I'd suggest that the Aston Villa team from 15/16 would struggle to do much better than mid-table in the Championship. There's also that misconception that if a team doesn't dominate possession and shots, they've nicked a win. Given Benitez is a pragmatic manager whose successes are built on a solid defence, it's no surprise a fair amount of our games have seen the opposition having more of the ball. I won't be surprised when they grind out a win away to Brentford they'll laugh off any accusations of a struggle. "Lucky 1-0"s will become "professional away performances", this Sunday league will become a competitive league, these pub teams will become difficult opponents, and so on. Revisionism and outright denials will be the order of the day. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if RTG cleared it's history, to eradicate evidence that some of their posters looked at the Championship with scorn and derision. They have a problem we didn't. They're crippled by debt to outside parties. Any money they make by selling Kone and Pickford won't necessarily go towards new players and may just be used to pay off their creditors. Relegation means no TV money and that could​ mean rack and ruin. Teams like Villa and us can take a season or two away from the Premier League trough. Norwich, Burnley, and the like can afford to yo-yo between the leagues because they spend within their means. Sunderland spend like a top half team and have nothing to show for it. Should they drop, they've little in terms of saleable assets like us, they don't have a benefactor like Villa, they don't have a bottom Prem/Top Champ team like Norwich or Burnley. They'll need to spend tens of millions on a squad if they want to bounce back at the first time of asking. They won't raise that through player sales. They can't get it from Short. If thousands of fans are fucking off on 60minutes when they're only 2-0 down, I'd predict their attendances will plummet in the 2nd tier, so there's less cash coming in on match day. Relegation can be a chance to burn down a rotten mess and start again, but for Sunderland, it could lead to the kind of financial strife that did for Portsmouth as a top club.

To be honest, we take the piss out of them, but they haven't half been through the shit.

If that kind of deal was possible I'd do it all the time. "Here, Dortmund, I'll give you £80m over 8yrs for Aubameyang in £10m instalments? Deal? Ausgezeichnet" "Hi, PSG, Newcastle here, wanna buy Aubameyang for £50m? Deal? Parfait!" "Hi, Dortmund, bad news, sold Aubameyang. Entschuldigungen. Byeeeee"

Wouldn't be surprised. Atsu has done well, but I'm not sure if Rafa really wants to risk playing him 3 games in a row.

That's fine on an individual basis, was looking for a term that referenced the shared nature of the delusion. No biggy.

FAKE NEWS I'm still trying to find a good term to describe the acceptance of a unprovable falsehood (or rejection of an provable truth) by the masses in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary. Mass Hysteria is the closest, but it implies a frantic lunacy, rather than shared self-delusion on a massive scale. Folie à plusieurs (Lasègue-Falret Syndrome) is a psychiatric condition that shares some qualities, but it's probably too fancy a term to use on the terraces. Also, it doesn't scan with Sloop John B or Seven Nation Army so,

Some of them are all right, but there is a decent number who are incapable of being objective about us, even when we're not in the same league. Had Villa sold Amavi for £30m they'd all be pissing themselves at Spurs, but as it's us, there must be a way to spin it as a negative. "Ahhh, they only get £6m a year so if he's sold this year that's their lot." On what world is that a likelihood?

Me too, and if the fixtures were the other way round and we were facing Huddersfield now instead of Reading, I'd expect the Yorkshire club to take advantage of that complacency. As it stands I think We're more than capable of beating Reading, even with the shadow of complacency looming large. Gayle will be keen to get amongst the goals and Yedlin, Gouffran will want to get their 1st team spots back too.

Who're you kidding? The sun setting and subsequently rising would have you spending all your time in your masturbatorium until 2020

NUFC to Score 0 - 1 - Kevin Carr's Gloves, ewerk, StoneColdStephenIreland, Renton, wykikitoon, Holden McGroin 2 - The Fish, Rayvin, David Kelly, Dr Gloom, rogerbarton, Dougle, Anorthernsoul, strawb, Ant, Lackie92, OTF, LooneyToony, Kitman, barnabox 3 - Howay, TheGingerQuiff, Andrew, Tom, tooner, Happy Face, acrossthepond, MiddleAgeCool, ohhh_yeah, scoobos 4+ - adios, zico martin NUFC to Concede 0 - The Fish, Kevin Carr's Gloves, David Kelly, Howay, Dr Gloom, rogerbarton, TheGingerQuiff, ewerk, Dougle, Anorthernsoul, Tom, tooner, Happy Face, strawb, wykikitoon, OTF, LooneyToony, MiddleAgeCool, scoobos, zico martin 1 - Rayvin, adios, Andrew, StoneColdStephenIreland, Ant, Lackie92, acrossthepond, Kitman, Holden McGroin, ohhh_yeah 2 - Renton, barnabox 3 - 4+ -