Fan Letters: “The only man capable of saving Sunderland is Nigel Pearson!” apparently...

Dear Roker Report,

Ellis Short is a typical business man - and, sadly, that is what is wrong with football today. He is a money man and if his business is not making money he will try to sell.

In the mean time he will cut his cloth accordingly in order to limit damage financially.

Sadly, no one wants to buy us, so his options are limited. He can take a gamble and invest more heavily to stop the rot - if he does this, we would risk receiving massive penalties under the financial fair play rule.

Option two is that we carry on as we are, where another relegation seems a certainty.

Option three is that Short walks away - if this happens it won’t be administration we face; the club would simply die.

I seriously fear that option three is the most likely possibility.

Andrew Thompson

ed’s note: It’s the uncertainty of it all that worries me most. We hear absolutely nothing from the owner unless its a very rare appearance in front of a camera for the club website, and Martin Bain’s appearances aren’t much more frequent either. Short had no choice but to face the music when they sacked Simon Grayson and some of the stuff he said about his commitment to the club are tough to take now that we are sat bottom of the Championship with apparently no money to spend.

Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

If we pay up or Rodwell sees out his contract and he doesn’t play for us again, he will have made 76 appearances for us, which works out at £236,842.10 per game.

I didn’t want to work out minutes played to pounds earned as it might have tipped me over the edge. No the wonder Ellis Short isn’t putting anymore money in.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Bare in mind this is only one contract - is this only a Sunderland problem?

Steve Wyatt

ed’s note: There are many other examples of Premier League clubs spunking money up the wall on average players - sadly for us the tales of their demise in the subsequent years following relegation from the top flight are worrying. QPR and Portsmouth are the two main examples that I can think of off the top of my head.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

Like all Sunderland fans, I am in utter despair at what is happening to this great club under these pretentious clowns who continue to go on as if everything in the garden is rosy.

However, we need to be completely honest with ourselves.

It is not since Peter Reid’s reign that we have had anything that resembles a successful team that is on a parallel with these wonderful fans.

I will get shot down in flames for saying this, but as much as I admire the honesty of Chris Coleman and I just love his optimism, he will fail at this job.

Why? Because these players do not need a comforting arm round them. They do not need telling that they are doing their best under difficult circumstances. No, what they need is a huge steel toe capped boot up the backside. They need shaking out of the pampered lifestyles they enjoy and made to understand they are so very fortunate and privileged.

There is one man and one man only, who is the modern day equivalent of Peter Reid, and that man is Nigel Pearson. Sadly, the modern game entrepreneurs are too frightened of his no-nonsense approach to employ him, as they are all frightened he might actually make these “footballers” take off their gloves and tights, and get out there and sweat blood.

That is what we need up here.

The SOL was a terrifying place to visit under Peter Reid for opposing teams. It could be again, but we must realize that these so called players really believe in the fluffy cloud world they live in. They need a massive wake up call and Pearson is the only one out there who has the credentials for it.

Hughie

ed’s note: Just... no. No thanks. Chris Coleman is 100% the man for the job and he needs to be given time to restructure, build and impart his own style and vision upon the squad here. He’s proven with Wales that with time he’s capable of achieving results. The worry should be that he grows tired of this shit-show and moves on elsewhere of his own accord, not about replacing him with a complete idiot like Pearson.

Photo by Owen Humphreys - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

Near the end of last year me, my mate mick and several others went the Stadium of Light to see the launch of the book named ‘Tales From The Red & Whites’.

This was a very enjoyable evening, I’m sure anyone who attended would agree, and players from the past told stories from their time at Sunderland.

Another of the speakers was former Sunderland Echo Argus Graeme Anderson. Graeme spoke about meeting with Stefan Schwarz, who had told him about a possible takeover of the club, which Anderson informed him not to do at that time as he understood it would be better to wait until after Christmas.

Well, Mr Schwarz, the time is here - please buy us!

Mal Patterson

ed’s note: Interesting - Schwarz has long been rumoured with returning to Sunderland in some capacity, though bringing together a bunch of wealthy investors capable of taking on this basket case of a football club would be no mean feat. Actions speak louder than words!