Tag: Sunderland

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Playing Out From The Back: A Case For The Defence 

Sunderland 0 – Newcastle 3

Dreams of a potential FA Cup upset in the first Tyne-Wear derby in almost 8 years were dashed yesterday on the 46th minute, when Newcastle stretched their lead to two goals via some kamikaze defending by Sunderland.

The more passive football fan may be forgiven for pointing to the obvious financial and resource disparity between Sunderland and Newcastle as the primary reason for the damning final scoreline. Those who took the time to take in the match will know that the Black Cats threw the tie away by foolishly attempting to play the ball out from the back, when they (like so many other sides) simply don’t have the technical ability in the side to execute such a move proficiently. This begs the question: why attempt it at all then?

With the game finely poised at 1-0, and a raucous atmosphere in a packed out Stadium of Light, the FA Cup 3rd round tie was far from a foregone conclusion in the first half. That is until a moment of madness from Pierre Ekwah consigned The Black Cats to their fate.

Under pressure from the Newcastle high press, Sunderland goalkeeper, Anthony Patterson, received the ball in to his feet, and executed a short pass to Ekwah on the edge of his own penalty area. Instead of clearing the obvious danger, and with no defensive players behind him to reinforce, he attempted to dribble around Aleksander Isak. He was caught in possession, which presented the striker with the simplest of finishes.

Sunderland 0-3 Newcastle: match highlights

Like the Panenka penalty, the flip-flap, or the rabona flick; attempting to pass the ball out from the back can look incredible when it’s executed to perfection. However, these elaborate maneuvers require a high degree of technical skill. When you factor this on top of the fact that a poorly executed pass out from the back sequence often presents the opposition with a clear goal scoring opportunity, the stakes are raised even further.

The famous tiki-taka style bequeathed to us by the Spanish national sides of Luis Aragones and Vincente del Bosque, and subsequently adapted by the club sides of Pep Guardiola, have been a joy to behold. They harness a combination of fast-paced football executed by master technicians of the game, distilled down to simple short passes, and movement which can seldom be matched by an often bewildered opposition.

However, attempting a pass in the style of a Manchester City player does not actually grant you the powers of one of Pep’s starting XI. Not every boxer is Muhammed Ali, and not every sprinter is Usain Bolt. Some players are just, well, Sunderland, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Football is a simple game. 11 players executing the simple responsibilities of their position on the pitch efficiently can make a good side. It’s unclear how this notion that every player in a side must have the technical ability of Andreas Iniesta has hemorrhaged into the modern game.

At its most basic level, goalkeepers and defenders are required to keep the ball out of their own net. Midfielders are nuanced in that they can be asked to win or keep possession, or create goalscoring opportunities. Forwards are expected to score, or contribute to their side’s goal scoring efforts. It really is that simple. Anything over and above that is a bonus.

Some positions and responsibilities are undoubtedly more glamorous than others, it still takes most if not all of the 11 on the pitch to be executing their roles well to result in a win on the day.

Those who truly enjoy the game see beauty in all aspects of it. The last ditch header off the line, the long ball to the striker knocking it down for a tap in, and the bullish kicky Sean Dyche 1-0 away win all spark joy in their own way. Of course it looks great when a series of sharp passing interchanges from goalkeepers and defenders result in an attacking move, but I’d argue that the euphoria from an unexpected long ball counter attack goal from a side under sustained pressure has as much beauty and joy emanating from it as the contrasting modern short passing style, despite the latter being the one you’re now told to pay homage to.

Football is wonderful because of the sheer variety of it. The game resonates with people across the world because it’s forever in flux. Styles change, players come and go, sides will boom and bust. For coaches to be so stubborn and myopic as to think there’s one way of playing the game will ultimately see them hoist on their own petard. There’s always another way, and no team is infallible.

The fluidity and adaptability of football tactics is what makes the game beautiful. Play with the hand you’re dealt, utilise your strengths, and innovate past the incumbent broadly accepted ‘way of playing’. There are no points in football for artistic impression; win the match any way you can, and give the fans the moments of joy they deserve.

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Why Celts Shouldn’t Be So Keane on Roy

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By Johnny Connelly

So Neil Lennon’s reign at Celtic is already a distant memory, and with the Champions League qualifiers just weeks away, the Parkhead faithful nervously await the announcement to unveil his successor.

Several names have been batted around – Owen Coyle, Henrik Larsson, David Moyes, Malky Mackay, and Michael Laudrup to name a few. There seems to be no obvious choice lying in wait to take over from Lennon. It looks like even the bookies are somewhat in the dark on this one, but if their current favourite, Roy Keane ends up landing the job, I fear that the Celtic board may have made a grave error.

There have been few more fiery and controversial characters in British football than Roy Keane over the past 20 years. Undoubtedly a world-beater of a player at his peak; but the Irishman became a figure of ridicule throughout the twilight of his playing days, and arguably more so into his management career.

Celtic pride themselves on cultural acceptance, sportsmanship, and a positive moral flamboyancy from the support. Does Keane fit the mould to carry on these traditions? His well-documented instances of emotional spontaneous combustion would indicate that he doesn’t.

Amongst other things, Keane walked out on his country during the World Cup, walked out on Manchester United after a disagreement with the man who made him, and ended Alf Inge Haaland’s career with a tackle that can only be described as savage.

Do Celtic really want a man who condones this thuggish behaviour to be calling the shots at the club?

I’ll give Keane his due. During his first season as manager at Sunderland as manager, he did well. He took the club from 2nd bottom in the Championship, to end up winning the league, all in one season. Just as things were looking good for the current Republic of Ireland Assistant, he continued on a phenomenal spending spree from the previous season, assembling a huge squad in a less than frugal manner.

His splurges at Sunderland included:

  • £8m on Anton Ferdinand
  • £9m on Craig Gordon
  • £6m on Kenwyne Jones
  • £5.5m on Kieran Richardson
  • £2.5m on El-Hadji Diouf
  • £4m on Andy Reed
  • £4.5m on George McCartney
  • £5m on Michael Chopra

In total, he spent over £75m in just over two seasons, adding 39 players to the Sunderland roster. How would a manager that spends so recklessly cope with stringent budget of around £5/6m per season at Celtic, bearing in mind that a £3m outlay on a player that doesn’t turn out to be a first team regular is considered as a catastrophe?

Keane’s demise at Sunderland came about thanks to a 7-1 skelping at the hands of Everton, a 4-1 trouncing by Bolton, a 2-2 draw with Northampton, and a run of five losses from six Premiership games. Keane managed to shoe-horn in a spat with the FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, (calling him “a clown”), a fall out with club chairman Niall Quinn, and a war of words with majority shareholder Ellis Short, before eventually resigning, leaving Sunderland languishing in 18th position in the Premiership.

The Irishman was out of the game for just two months before taking over as manager of Ipswich with a view to guiding them back to the Premiership. A series of weak signings, including Martin Fulop, Grant Leadbitter, David Healy, and Daryl Murphy scuppered any hopes of the Tractor Boys making it back to the big time. Keane’s side managed to draw an astounding 20 matches in the league, which saw them finish in 15th place. His next (and final) season saw things go from bad to worse. In a season where the club were expected to challenge for promotion, Keane guided them to a lowly 21st place, sitting behind the likes of Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley, before he was sacked in December of 2011.

Keane had been out in the managerial wilderness since then, before Martin O’Neill appointed him as Republic of Ireland’s Assistant Manager. In his only two experiences as a club manager, his record compares unfavourably against the likes of Steve Bruce, and Peter Reid at Sunderland (Premiership), as well as Joe Royle, and Jim Magilton at Ipswich.

He has no experience managing in Scotland. He has no experience managing in Europe. He has no experience working on a tight budget. When we factor in all these things, it’s hard to imagine how his name is in contention for any job, let alone the Celtic hotseat.

Who knows which way Celtic will turn as they seek Neil Lennon’s successor. They have plenty of options at their disposal, but if they want to continue a tradition of success, financial prudence, and universal appeal, then surely Roy shouldn’t be the bhoy for them.

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Fletch Appeal

Strach saves the day, and Fletch could take us above and beyond

by Johnny Connelly

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If ever the influence of a single man was to be illustrated in the modern game of football, you’d need to go a fair distance to find a better example than the exhilarating start Gordon Strachan has made to the Scotland national squad. 

A matter of months ago, Strachan took over a Scotland side that was unquestionably on the ropes, with an apathetic support and a team verging on the dreaded ‘pot 5’ seeding position. Now, with a modest number of personnel changes, Scotland are resurgent, thanks to that insatiable, nippy belief Strachan has injected into the squad. 

In our last four competitive matches, we’ve won three (two of which were against the top seed in the group), and narrowly lost one. Strachan’s injection of belief into an ailing squad has shown just exactly what one man can do. This leads us to wonder, how much farther could we go with a top English Premiership striker firing on all cylinders. Enter, Steven Fletcher.

The big target man is now just days away from making his domestic return for Sunderland, and what a shot in the arm for Strachan’s men he’ll be if he stays injury free, and on top form for the national side. 

It’s forever been a complaint of the long suffering Tartan Army that we don’t have a world class striker (with the physical stature of Fletcher at least). The former Hibee’s Scotland career has been stunted due to disagreements with former managers, and long-term injuries, but we’re now ready to forget about all that, and get behind him, as he could be the man to fire us to Euro 2016. 

Throughout Fletcher’s career, he’s always been a goalscorer, and since his move to England, his rate has improved gradually, despite playing against increasingly difficult opposition.

Hibs – 156 apps, 43 goals (Goal every 3.6 games)

Burnley – 35 apps, 8 goals (Goal every 4.3 games)

Wolves – 61 apps, 22 goals (Goal every 2.7 games)

Sunderland – 31 apps, 12 goals (Goal every 2.5 games)

Scotland fans will be hoping and praying that this trend continues and transfers over to International level. 

His physical prowess and intelligence to read the game in that position will fill a void for Scotland that’s been there for over a generation. The introduction of that type of player gives us a threat in the air from set pieces, someone who can hold the ball up well, and someone who can bring other players into the game. 

The absence of that type of player has forced us to play pacey players as lone strikers, without any real physical dimension to our attacking play in the last third. Even against Croatia on Tuesday night, Strachan played a 5ft 10in Steven Naismith as something of a target man. Naismith, to give him his due, did incredibly well (as you’d expect with such a tenacious attitude to his play), but his talents in the side would ideally be utilised elsewhere. 

With Fletcher as the target man striker, players like Naismith, Jordan Rhodes and Shaun Maloney would ultimately feel the benefit. His ability to hold the ball up, and feed into a smaller, pacey striker/winger, could be the key to forging a successful striking partnership (something else we’ve lacked for a significant number of years).

At only 26, Fletcher’s best years are ahead of him. He’ll hopefully be coming to the peak of his powers for the next qualification campaign. He’s looking better all the time scoring more and more goals, and learning from experience in one of the best leagues in the world. He could be the key to our qualification hopes.

There’s much in the way of patience and hard work to follow for Scotland. It’ll be almost a year before we play another competitive match, but we all know, for Gordon Strachan, there’s no such thing as a Friendly. 

The fiery Scot will have his players pumped up to play USA in November, and whoever comes along before the Euro 2016 campaign kicks off. The Tartan Army will be in strong voice, the enthusiasm is brewing once more, and we could have a star striker to make all the difference.

Over to you Fletch.