Fan Letters: “Forget Sunderland’s owner and workshy players - let’s bring back the Roker Roar!”

Dear Roker Report,

So it would appear that the cull has started. Young players such as Ledger, Josh Robson, Allan (and I’m sure there’ll be many more) are being advised their contracts will not be renewed.

Talented, committed, and relatively cheap, kids are being allowed to leave whilst overpaid mercenaries (yeah, you Rodwell) are being paid millions per year for nothing.

How many of these kids could we keep if Rodwell’s wages were off the books?

How many of them will rock up at the SOL in years to come and play us off the park a la Hourihane, Egan? Will this club ever learn?

The kids are our future and we are giving them away. Shameful.

Eric Bowers

Ed’s note: Whilst we can’t expect every young player to be good enough or make it, we can be doing more to ensure their development path is as clear as it possibly can be. The reason so many players have gone by the wayside in recent years is because it’s obvious that there isn’t a proper structure in place to ensure they’re going out at the age of 17 and 18 to play ‘men’s football’, which I think it’s integral to any progression they might make.

Our own Tom Atkinson wrote this fantastic article today about this very subject - I urge you to go ahead and read it if you haven’t already.

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

Like a huge majority of fans I am struggling to drag myself along to games these days. This is for reasons that have been long discussed in the media, in online posts, in taxis, down the pub and everywhere else football is talked about.

I don’t want to ramble on repeating what Peter and Paul have said.

I just want to sing!

If we are heading for League One why not go down with some pride and passion and a voice? Not for the players or the board or a billionaire but for ourselves - for a city we represent.

We are Wearside after all, so let’s show everyone that even though the men in red and white on the pitch don’t or won’t show passion for this great city there are thousands with a ROKER ROAR who will.

Anthony Iley

Ed’s note: I admire your enthusiasm! Encouraging anyone to come along and blindly sing and cheer might be difficult though unless they’ve had a good drink. There’s just not that much to cheer, and unless the players give us something worth getting behind it’ll be hard to get a good atmosphere going.