Red-Robbo

Remind me. Why are we supposed to hate Cunningham?

I was going to make the same point as YCbrs, but didn't really want to get pulled into the thread just to show I'm a 58-year-old music nerd. Oh shit. I just have.

It's worth a punt at that. Why didn't we get him down the Gate? Even City could spare two twenties.

Love the skills he shows in that video as a tiny lad. Head-and-shoulders above his little team mates. You occasionally encounter kids that stand out like that at school. We had one in our year. Unfortunately, although he signed papers for some half-arsed North Bristol outfit [I forget their name... ] a serious ankle injury curtailed his career before it had got started. Ayman has the skills to be quite some player. He thoroughly deserved his breakthrough this season.

Huge as in they have been big in the past and still have a decent fanbase - let's face it, what the **** else is there to do in Sunderland - but not huge in that they've not been successful for some time and if size of stadium determined your finish, we'd be above Fulham and Boro would win the Championship.

At the same time, if we'd released Pearson after 6 months - as a number of fans were asking for - it would've been a big mistake.

Some obviously aren't, but I know a couple who are, although they recognise his limitations.

To be fair, Fammy's lot should always beat Equatorial Guinea , one of the poorest countries in the world and with less than a tenth of the population of Senegal. Equatorial Guinea did very well to progress in the competition as far as they did.

I'd not phrase it quite like that. Most of his ex-players seem quite fond of him. But he isn't a motivator. When the going gets tough, I think he panics and the last thing you want to pick up on as a player is a boss panicking.

You'd probably taser yourself in the head if he came back as manager, @Fordy62

Ahem. The correct thing to say is vertically challenged list.

Literally never had a problem with Johnson's interviews. All football managers come out with cliched crap at times and on some occasions use a lot of words to not say anything other than the obvious: even Mr Pearson does. My problem came with what he did, rather than how he sounded.

As Churchill said of Stanley Baldwin in the late 30s: "Not quite dead yet, no, but the light has gone out in the great turnip."

Happened in Paris didn't it? French police have an unfortunately laissez faire approach to what we used to call "domestics". Over here Collymore was prosecuted but found not guilty of assaulting his first wife.

Quite right. My best wishes to Mrs VR. I've been through cancer and come out the other side. It's a ******* shitshow.

He's here. He's there. He's got enormous hair. HNM. HNM. [Better chant IMO. No way does Han drink vodka and cider]

I think everyone who has played the game knows there's nothing more dispiriting than trying to face up to an opponent who ties you in knots and can move the ball effortlessly around you. That was Massengo today. Never mind the ground he made for us and the goal assist, he must've made them feel like mugs.

Only by the terminally stupid. He's had some poor games in the past, but his innate talent was obvious from day one. Under Pearson and Fleming this season, he's really started to look a star in the making.

Well he did nothing much wrong, so anyone.

Klose... to perfection! ?

This (as folk always used to post) Plus, as I always say, one player doesn't lose points. Chances missed, possession surrendered elsewhere, gaps not covered, and (of course) the earlier goal all put us to where we were in the 95th minute. The lad will be disappointed with himself, but so will others as well.

The first has pros and cons, the second there was a definite push on AS. Antoine does fall very easily and it's easier to see these things in slow-mo than real time, so I'm not going bonkers about this, but a VAR official would definitely have given that second. You can't push a striker with the ball at his feet in the box.

We're playing some very good football at the moment. When was the last time we could say that? Consistency will come, but as everyone says, it's a rebuild project. Pearson didn't come here to just paper over the cracks. He has a 'Grand Design'.

Their defender played the man, not the ball. Penalty.

We keep fewer clean sheets than a tramps' hostel.