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16 minutes ago, DingleRed said:
Chronicle Live

Sunderland boss Alex Neil explains the stark choice he faces when selecting his starting XI

James Hunter  3 hrs ago
 
 
 
 
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Alex Neil admits he is between a rock and a hard place having to decide whether to field players who are jaded and need a break, or others who are not yet up to match fitness.

The new Sunderland head coach has walked into a storm on Wearside, taking over a side that had won just one of its last seven games and that had slipped way off the automatic promotion pace.

And after drawing his first game in charge at AFC Wimbledon and now losing 2-1 against MK Dons in his first home game at the helm, the crisis shows no sign of easing.

Go here for all the latest Sunderland AFC news

Sunderland have now lost four of their last five games and are seventh in the table - outside the play-off places on goal difference.

Neil spoke about the problems with the squad he has inherited after the game at Wimbledon and expanded on the theme following yesterday's defeat against MK Dons.

He has young players such as Dan Neil, Dennis Cirkin, Callum Doyle, and Ross Stewart who have been mainstays of the side but are clearly in need of a break, while January additions such as Patrick Roberts, Jack Clarke, Trai Hume, and Jermain Defoe are short of minutes and therefore match practice.

"I highlighted it last week and the last thing I want to do is start trying to find excuses and reasons," said Neil.

"The difficulty we have got is the fitness levels of some of the players.

"A lot of the lads haven't played enough gametime, and the problem I have in the limited amount of games we have left is to decide how much I expose them to minutes, because if they are not ready then they can't show their best and that affects the game in a negative way for us.

"We're running out of games, so that side of things is really difficult.

"But of course, you want to get as many of them out on the pitch [as you can] because they can make the difference.

"There are variables that make that much more challenging.

"If it was as straightforward as having everyone on the same level, everyone really fit, they're all ready to go, it's an easy decision, isn't it? I'd just pick who was firing on the day.

"Unfortunately, at the moment, we are not at that stage.

"There's a group of younger players who are in the team who have been playing all season and they need taking out - 100 percent.

"The problem is, what do you choose?

"Play people who are under in terms of minutes and who are not quite ready, or those over their minutes and who has been flogged to death and needs taking out?

"What do you choose?"

There were boos at the full-time whistle as Sunderland's dismal run extended to one win in nine since the turn of the year, and Neil was left trying to pick out what positives he could from another poor performance and worse result.

He said: "As a coach, what you have to do is try to take the result and the performance and try to separate them.

"We need to improve the performance, and what naturally then happens is that the results improve.

"Like the bulk of fans at every club, if you lose then you're cr*p, and if you win then you're alright.

"That's quite straightforward and I understand that.

"That's why in press conferences I'm running the risk of [saying] 'I thought we did well in the second half', and people saying 'he talks a lot of cr*p'.

"That's fine.

"What I have to do is try to balance the game and from a structural point of view large parts of the second half were good, but of course we got got done on the transition on the counter."

 

 

Basically, they're knackered! Exactly why LJ's teams consistently hit the wall at the same point in the season. Didn't we know it. 

Maybe not, it’s classic management to go in and claim something like the players aren’t fit enough, anything you can pin on the previous regime as to why you’re not starting well as it’s hard to put in on the players because you’ve got to work with them and you’re not going to say you got it wrong. 

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I think they’ll miss out on the play offs too you know. Seems a few teams with momentum heading in the opposite direction to Sunderland - Sheff Weds for instance.

Who knows, maybe Sunderland will do a turn of the century Bristol City and be stuck down there for 7, 8 seasons. That would seriously damage them as a club I think - a whole generation of kids growing up in the north east seeing Sunderland as a league one team.

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35 minutes ago, Robin101 said:

I think they’ll miss out on the play offs too you know. Seems a few teams with momentum heading in the opposite direction to Sunderland - Sheff Weds for instance.

Who knows, maybe Sunderland will do a turn of the century Bristol City and be stuck down there for 7, 8 seasons. That would seriously damage them as a club I think - a whole generation of kids growing up in the north east seeing Sunderland as a league one team.

Especially with Newcastle seemingly about to take off, and challenge the big boys in the P.L.

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14 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

I read that as sticking up for LJ not banter?

Yep, exactly the same. 
 

Fact is, it seemed a knee-jerk bizarre sacking at the time (and I know some don’t like Johnson, but he had the best record of any Sunderland manager since they hit that level despite losing his main striker), and the worse Sunderland do post the sacking, the more bizarre it looks. 
 

Put it this way, if they carry on bombing and don’t make the playoffs I’d bet, to the chagrin of some, LJs standing will have been enhanced as opposed to reduced by the time on Wearside and how it ended.

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25 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

I read that as sticking up for LJ not banter?

 

20 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

Me too.

Sunderland fans are delusional.

 

7 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Yep, exactly the same. 
 

Fact is, it seemed a knee-jerk bizarre sacking at the time (and I know some don’t like Johnson, but he had the best record of any Sunderland manager since they hit that level despite losing his main striker), and the worse Sunderland do post the sacking, the more bizarre it looks. 
 

Put it this way, if they carry on bombing and don’t make the playoffs I’d bet, to the chagrin of some, LJs standing will have been enhanced as opposed to reduced by the time on Wearside and how it ended.

OK, that would makes sense - the clapping hands being sarcastic and pointing at Sunderland's decision to sack LJ.

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5 hours ago, DingleRed said:
Chronicle Live

Sunderland boss Alex Neil explains the stark choice he faces when selecting his starting XI

James Hunter  3 hrs ago
 
 
 
 
LikeComments

Alex Neil admits he is between a rock and a hard place having to decide whether to field players who are jaded and need a break, or others who are not yet up to match fitness.

The new Sunderland head coach has walked into a storm on Wearside, taking over a side that had won just one of its last seven games and that had slipped way off the automatic promotion pace.

And after drawing his first game in charge at AFC Wimbledon and now losing 2-1 against MK Dons in his first home game at the helm, the crisis shows no sign of easing.

Go here for all the latest Sunderland AFC news

Sunderland have now lost four of their last five games and are seventh in the table - outside the play-off places on goal difference.

Neil spoke about the problems with the squad he has inherited after the game at Wimbledon and expanded on the theme following yesterday's defeat against MK Dons.

He has young players such as Dan Neil, Dennis Cirkin, Callum Doyle, and Ross Stewart who have been mainstays of the side but are clearly in need of a break, while January additions such as Patrick Roberts, Jack Clarke, Trai Hume, and Jermain Defoe are short of minutes and therefore match practice.

"I highlighted it last week and the last thing I want to do is start trying to find excuses and reasons," said Neil.

"The difficulty we have got is the fitness levels of some of the players.

"A lot of the lads haven't played enough gametime, and the problem I have in the limited amount of games we have left is to decide how much I expose them to minutes, because if they are not ready then they can't show their best and that affects the game in a negative way for us.

"We're running out of games, so that side of things is really difficult.

"But of course, you want to get as many of them out on the pitch [as you can] because they can make the difference.

"There are variables that make that much more challenging.

"If it was as straightforward as having everyone on the same level, everyone really fit, they're all ready to go, it's an easy decision, isn't it? I'd just pick who was firing on the day.

"Unfortunately, at the moment, we are not at that stage.

"There's a group of younger players who are in the team who have been playing all season and they need taking out - 100 percent.

"The problem is, what do you choose?

"Play people who are under in terms of minutes and who are not quite ready, or those over their minutes and who has been flogged to death and needs taking out?

"What do you choose?"

There were boos at the full-time whistle as Sunderland's dismal run extended to one win in nine since the turn of the year, and Neil was left trying to pick out what positives he could from another poor performance and worse result.

He said: "As a coach, what you have to do is try to take the result and the performance and try to separate them.

"We need to improve the performance, and what naturally then happens is that the results improve.

"Like the bulk of fans at every club, if you lose then you're cr*p, and if you win then you're alright.

"That's quite straightforward and I understand that.

"That's why in press conferences I'm running the risk of [saying] 'I thought we did well in the second half', and people saying 'he talks a lot of cr*p'.

"That's fine.

"What I have to do is try to balance the game and from a structural point of view large parts of the second half were good, but of course we got got done on the transition on the counter."

 

 

Basically, they're knackered! Exactly why LJ's teams consistently hit the wall at the same point in the season. Didn't we know it. 

Always a convenient excuse for a new manager saying “these players aren’t fit enough”. And that they are too tired. 
Until you realise that their 10 outfield players have played a total of 22,034 minutes this season but the opposition had played 22,880. 
Then the excuse doesn’t wear. 

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1 hour ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

 

 

OK, that would makes sense - the clapping hands being sarcastic and pointing at Sunderland's decision to sack LJ.

Yep. It’s clearly BT saying what a ridiculous decision it was to sack LJ. 
As others have said on here, I am really enjoying their demise. 

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4 hours ago, Lrrr said:

Maybe not, it’s classic management to go in and claim something like the players aren’t fit enough, anything you can pin on the previous regime as to why you’re not starting well as it’s hard to put in on the players because you’ve got to work with them and you’re not going to say you got it wrong. 

Exactly. 
A lot of times, when a manger is sacked, it’s because a team is really struggling, the players aren’t playing for the boss, lack of confidence etc. 

A new man coming in can light a fire and reinstill confidence, hence you often get a brief turnaround of results. 
 

When a manager is sacked when the team are 2nd in the league having just won a manager of the month, I’d imagine the players are more befuddled than lacking confidence and it’s likely more difficult for the new manager to reignite something that hadn’t been lost. Hence they need to make excuses. 

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Always a convenient excuse for a new manager saying “these players aren’t fit enough”. And that they are too tired. 
Until you realise that their 10 outfield players have played a total of 22,034 minutes this season but the opposition had played 22,880. 
Then the excuse doesn’t wear. 

 

Maybe, but then look at the kilometres run as well as minutes on field

Edited by DingleRed
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15 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

Correct me if I’m wrong, but is this the same LJ Sunderland that were getting spanked by four and six goals whilst he was still their manager ?. The rot had kicked in, that’s why they sacked him. 

Or.. viewed another way, the same LJ Sunderland that were top of league going into that last loss. Pretty hard to make the case that 'rot had sent in' when you're top of the league.

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1 hour ago, Harry said:

Always a convenient excuse for a new manager saying “these players aren’t fit enough”. And that they are too tired. 
Until you realise that their 10 outfield players have played a total of 22,034 minutes this season but the opposition had played 22,880. 
Then the excuse doesn’t wear. 

Yep, a lazy rhetoric.

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On 20/02/2022 at 14:59, Portland Bill said:

Correct me if I’m wrong, but is this the same LJ Sunderland that were getting spanked by four and six goals whilst he was still their manager ?. The rot had kicked in, that’s why they sacked him. 

Can you imagine Pearson getting us up into the top 3 with 15 games remaining and getting the sack?

You wouldn't believe it

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11 hours ago, RedLionLad said:

Can you imagine Pearson getting us up into the top 3 with 15 games remaining and getting the sack?

You wouldn't believe it

Can you imagine Pearson blaming everyone else every time his team loses a game ??. Nor can I.

But LJ did, and was doing it at Sunderland as well. Perhaps they realised earlier than our owner, that he’s just not good enough as a coach/ manager.

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4 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

Can you imagine Pearson blaming everyone else every time his team loses a game ??. Nor can I.

But LJ did, and was doing it at Sunderland as well. Perhaps they realised earlier than our owner, that he’s just not good enough as a coach/ manager.

We are a long way off 3rd place. Has the rot set in here too?

LJ was actually doing a fantastic job ……especially as he was (and still is) not deemed to be good enough by many armchair supporters. Sunderland’s results since his sacking would suggest it wasn’t LJ himself that was the problem.

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7 minutes ago, RedLionLad said:

We are a long way off 3rd place. Has the rot set in here too?

LJ was actually doing a fantastic job ……especially as he was (and still is) not deemed to be good enough by many armchair supporters. Sunderland’s results since his sacking would suggest it wasn’t LJ himself that was the problem.

It’s a clear trait of any LJ side that they go into a steady decline during the second half of a season.

The proof is there for all to see!.

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5 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

It’s a clear trait of any LJ side that they go into a steady decline during the second half of a season.

The proof is there for all to see!.

Actually, facts say different. LJ improved us year on year.

2015/16 : Won 13 : Pts 52 : Pos 18th
2016/17 : Won 15 : Pts 54 : Pos 17th
2017/18 : Won 17 : Pts 67 : Pos 11th
2018/19 : Won 19 : Pts 70 : Pos 8th  (19 winning games in a season is the highest since 2007/08 since his father won 20, albeit in League One}

We've not improved on those figures since he was dismissed, and neither have Sunderland since his dismissal there.

The facts are there for all to see......except for those who choose not to.

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32 minutes ago, RedLionLad said:

Actually, facts say different. LJ improved us year on year.

2015/16 : Won 13 : Pts 52 : Pos 18th
2016/17 : Won 15 : Pts 54 : Pos 17th
2017/18 : Won 17 : Pts 67 : Pos 11th
2018/19 : Won 19 : Pts 70 : Pos 8th  (19 winning games in a season is the highest since 2007/08 since his father won 20, albeit in League One}

We've not improved on those figures since he was dismissed, and neither have Sunderland since his dismissal there.

The facts are there for all to see......except for those who choose not to.

In fairness you didn’t reply to the comment posed…that you bolded!

Season 16/17 Pts after 23 games - 27 pts

Points 24-46 - 27 pts ▶️ ?

Season 17/18 Pts after 23 games - 44 pts

Points 24-46 - 23 pts ⬇️ ?

Season 18/19 Pts after 23 games - 31 pts

Points 24-46 - 39 pts ⬆️ ✅
 

Totals over 3 full seasons: 1st half of season - 102 pts

2nd half of season - 89 pts

 

Edited by Davefevs
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1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

In fairness you didn’t reply to the comment posed…that you bolded!

Season 16/17 Pts after 23 games - 27 pts

Points 24-46 - 25 pts ⬇️ ?

Season 17/18 Pts after 23 games - 44 pts

Points 24-46 - 23 pts ⬇️ ?

Season 18/19 Pts after 23 games - 31 pts

Points 24-46 - 39 pts ⬆️ ✅
 

Totals over 3 full seasons: 1st half of season - 102 pts

2nd half of season - 87 pts

 

Ok, fair point......but the final points total remains the same irrespective to which part of the season they were gained.

There are other factors to consider, such as injuries, stronger teams dropping down from the Prem, teams strengthening their squads in January and mid-table teams with not much to play for. We also sold a fair number of players during that period,

 

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7 minutes ago, RedLionLad said:

Ok, fair point......but the final points total remains the same irrespective to which part of the season they were gained.

There are other factors to consider, such as injuries, stronger teams dropping down from the Prem, teams strengthening their squads in January and mid-table teams with not much to play for. We also sold a fair number of players during that period,

 

I’m not gonna start another LJ debate. ???
 

I realised a mistake….I’ve edited my initial post.

Edited by Davefevs
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