Fan Letters: View from India, model from Wisconsin & will Sunderland need 51 points to stay up?

Dear Roker Report,

Just regarding the suggestion that Sunderland might consider moving to London in order to attract “better players” - this is yet another excuse put forth in order to help soothe our aching hearts.

Once again It is an attempt at hope.

If we only move - then it all turn around and we end the misery and pain. This is the panacea we hoped for! An easy fix.

Three words: Green Bay Packers.

The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, dating back to 1919, and is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States.

Green Bay isn’t exactly New York or Los Angeles - Wisconsin is cold.

I am talking about Iceland cold, not Sunderland cold.

Travel there can be tricky, there are no fancy shops for spouses. Green Bay has thrived in its recent history, with Championships and titles galore.

The club is owned by the community - there is no Ellis Short-figure to blame.

Most importantly, the free agent players go there to play and win. It’s not about location, I can assure you. It’s about tradition and the opportunity to wear the colours.

If you like clubs and shopping, don’t sign with Green Bay. If you are a professional, love the game and want an opportunity to win - that’s your team.

Sunderland aren’t suffering from a location problem, it’s more that we are just suffering from an identity crisis - we’re sick.

Moving our training base down south would be akin to taking an Asprin when you actually require a heart transplant.

John Ellington

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Dear Roker Report,

There is absolutely no chance we're staying up this season.

I’m not wanting to sound all pessimistic and doom and gloom, but I like be realistic.

Blackburn were relegated last season with 51 points... 51 points!

In the Premier League that's what, a decent 11th-13th place finish? Yet, 51 points isn't even enough to guarantee survival in the Championship.

Until Short and co. leave and we get some decent investment we're gonna struggle with survival. As awful as it is to think it, League 1 football next season is becoming a real possibility and it might not stop there - if things don't soon improve, this time in a couple of years we could well be playing local derbies on Tyneside again - but against Gateshead and South Shields (class excuse for those fans that have stopped watching us to come crawling back).

All in all, it’s an awful state of affairs.

Luke Huggan

Dear Roker Report,

I'm a die hard Sunderland fan, all the way from India.

It has been depressing watching the club in such an utter dismal situation. Gone are the days when watching a Cattermole tackle was better than a home win over Stoke City!

I think that the club should not panic buy in the January transfer window, but try to remove the deadwood and try for a mid-table finish and go for any young and hungry players available.

I think the team should be built around Oviedo, Ndong, McNair, Watmore and Gooch - everyone except Oviedo is young, but they have shown consistently that they feel for the club.

Only players who have a genuine sense of pride should be kept.

Players like O'Shea, Cattermole and Jones have been good servants to the club, but should be moved on at any cost as it seems like they are the rotten core at club.

Producing value for money transfers, like the ones that Simon Grayson completed, are the only possible way that I think that we can bring the club back to prosperity.

Hoping for better days.

Adarsh Dinesh