Phileas Fogg

Sounds like Joshua vs Fury could be announced officially this week. Apparently either Saudi or Qatar. Big shame, but given the covid situation sadly inevitable. The rematch must be Wembley. Would be an absolute travesty if the pair never fight in the UK.

Enjoyed that, good episode. Another local band that have a couple of City supporting members are these guys https://open.spotify.com/artist/24s02YIeoztDshwkv7XcRu?si=ntJyQCvaRp6C5-xN9phNQQ Saw them play in Swansea a couple of years ago - really good.

Yep. He's probably top 10 but will always lose against the top guys. He was winning the first Povetkin fight fairly comfortably so I wouldn't be surprised if he wins this. I think him vs Wilder would be fun though. I just don't want Hearn to try and use Whyte to fight Usyk (who really should be eventually fighting the winner of Joshua vs Fury provided he beats Joyce)

Should be an interesting one. I make Whyte the favourite as Povetkin suffered with covid for ages. He may have had some 'help' recovering though. I'd like Povetkin to win really because then Whyte will be shoehorned into conversations concerning the top guys when he isn't really at that level.

I think it would ultimately be good news for clubs like ours. We have the opportunity for decent backing, but FFP clips our wings and hands the advantage to parachute payment clubs or those that overspend. The risk though is it enables the giant clubs to leave others eating dust with no way to make up ground. I think FFP has helped clubs like Leicester for example.

? ? CALLING @Mr Popodopolous !!!!! ? ?

All of that is fine, people are allowed not to rate him, that's not the point really. The only thing I'd object to in your post is why you've felt the need to shoehorn in that you couldn't 'stand him' as a player - it's irrelevant to him as a manager. The aspect people are objecting to is the way people seemed gleeful that in early Feb it seemed he was irritating the fans, but haven't said anything since Sunderland have turned it round. That's the point where it feels a bit personal and weird. If you can dish it out, and it's not a personal thing, surely you can give a bit of credit where it's due.

Arguably that's exactly what he's done. Sunderland were going through a couple of sticky results before this run relative to a club of their size in league 1 (hence the thread). His managerial honeymoon grace period period was over and a few fans were starting to get a bit frustrated after losing to Shrewsbury. Since then their form has been fantastic.

And those posters who on page one were taking great delight in the negative comments seem to have gone very quiet on this thread! If you can give it out, as they did, it’s just good grace if they can return to the thread - admit they were probably a little hasty and acknowledge that he’s actually doing a good job so far.

I had completely forgotten about this story after the last year we've had. Shows how quickly the news cycle moves.

I always thought it would be interesting to see what Johnson could do if he had (as far as I know) more autonomy over transfers and had to work with what he had. I think he can clearly spot a good player and improve them. The job here was probably too early for him really so all things considered he did a decent job.

You'd think so. I'd like to see it. It's very feasible they could win the League 1 double as we did. They're 5 points off Hull in 1st but have two games in hand.

Based on his career history he's always favoured Northern clubs so perhaps has family from the area. I could see him going to a northern club like Stoke, Huddersfield or Sheffield United if they come down. The reason I like him is because I've always enjoyed his style of forward. I liked Adebola, Brooker, Djuric, Wilbraham etc. Always something so satisfying about a headed goal. I think Sunderland probably will go up as they have momentum at the moment, it'll be interesting to see whether Johnson has learned how to manage any blips.

No, he's had several good seasons in the lower leagues. An over a 1 in 3 goalscoring record at his last 3 clubs which is very solid. Whether that can translate to Championship is a different question - but he looks the part to me.

Completely different comparison because Wyke is 29 next month.

Wyke looks great. I know it's at L1 level, but he looks like a very good potential Diedhiou replacement. Fun to watch too, I like an old school centre forward like him.

Yeah doing really well. Seeing as this thread started with negative comments from Sunderland fans.. lots of ones like this now. It’ll be interesting to see if Johnson can maintain it. They look to have a really good side there. Charlie Wyke scoring almost every game and Aidan McGeady performing really well too.

That's an interesting article. Reading that, it makes sense. I think people's instinct is to see it as patronising - but after reading that rationale it's actually fairly logical.

I think it's fairly futile comparing Women and Men's football. It's clear that Men's football is of a higher standard and that shouldn't be a surprise. If you judge women's football against men's football you'll always think it's a poor product. If you judge Bristol City Ladies against other women's teams then it's a fairer comparison and you'll probably enjoy the sport more. Personally I don't really enjoy women's football as much as men's football so don't take much of an interest. But I recognise the pointlessness of making a direct comparison between the two.

Please don't do that on our behalf, you'll give us all a bad name!

Yeah he could be quite grating sometimes. I think he’s learning on the job and finding his feet. We were a big learning opportunity for him and his future clubs will benefit from the time (and lots of it!) he had here. The thing I really didn’t like was his tendency to throw young players under the bus. I remember this happening with Magnússon and Moore amongst others. If you think back to being a new employee in any organisation - getting publicly criticised by your boss would wreck the confidence of most people. I thought this went beyond grating and was quite nasty. I appreciate in the heat of the moment people say the wrong thing.. but part of management is controlling your emotions.

I think there’s a lot of bitterness about how LJ was backed and SC wasn’t to the same extent - especially when you factor in the rumours of Cotterill’s negotiated deals being scuppered in 2015. I have sympathy with that point of view, but do not understand how it extends to a bizarre personal dislike of LJ. He couldn’t help that situation and had no involvement in it. Was he backed inordinately? Probably. Should he have been sacked earlier? Yes. Did he give his all and ultimately leave us stronger? Yes. Unless the manager has an impact like Pulis, I don’t see why you wouldn’t want our former managers to do well in the future. Same as our former players - it’s great to see Reid, Bryan, Brownhill and Webster doing well.

That’s great. Regardless whether they’re punching below their weight for a club of their size, you can see how delighted the Sunderland fans are after the time they’ve had over the last few years. They’d definitely sell their end of Wembley and more if fans were able to go.

Exactly, me too. There’s plenty to criticise about him - and it was right to sack him. But I cannot fathom the stick he still gets and some people hoping he fails at Sunderland, just seems odd and personal.

I get the impression some people are a bit miffed that LJ had the balls to take the Sunderland job. People who dislike him were fond of the idea that he benefitted from his relationship with the Lansdown family (true) and wouldn’t get another ‘big job’ from his own merit. I find it a bit odd how there are some who’d love him to fail at Sunderland. I appreciate his personality is a bit grating, but he gave his all for us and ultimately left the club in a stronger position than he found it. In my opinion we should be happy for him to do well - same way we should be for Cotterill. Both good men who gave this job their all and improved the club’s situation.