Podcast Notes: Sunderland’s horrendous goalkeepers are a big reason why we are struggling so bad

I’ve been bleating on about the shocking standard of goalkeeping at Sunderland all season and what occurred this past weekend was the icing on top of a horrible cake.

Jason Steele looks like he’d struggle to play for the Dog & Duck on a Sunday morning, never mind professionally in a Sunderland shirt. On Saturday he dropped the clanger of the century and yet again we lost points due to a ridiculous mistake by the man between the sticks.

What was worse - Steele’s decision to punch the ball so obviously that the referee had no choice but to send him off, or the fact he misjudged such a simple long ball? One of my Roker Report colleagues often jokingly compares Sunderland goalkeepers to STD’s. He is right - you would rather not have any of them.

Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images

But I digress - this past weekend we went down to a poor QPR side and lost 1-0. The team tried hard enough, but as we often see there is a lack of talent and cohesion in this hapless side.

This was a game I felt we could get something from. QPR are pretty much safe in mid-table and Sunderland - by our manager’s admission - prefer to play away. We probably would have got a point until Steele’s error cost us yet again.

In a bizarre way, the former Middlesbrough keeper’s shocker leads us on to the wider question of how badly run the club actually is.

Martin Bain patted himself on the back as he sold Vito Mannone for £2 million to current relegation rivals Reading. Mannone is a solid goalie who may have made a few mistakes, but he represents a far better option than all three of our current senior ‘stoppers’.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Anyway, back to the matters at hand. This week we welcome George Caulkin into the studio and I am thrilled he has agreed to join us. George is, arguably, the best North East football journalist putting pen to paper at the minute and I always look out for what he has to say in the Times.

By his own admission he has not seen Sunderland much this season, but he still knows far more than me about football and Sunderland, so it will be interesting to pick his brain about the situation at the club.

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