Fan Letters: “Sunderland fans moaning about selling Vito Mannone - BORE OFF! He was rubbish too”

Dear Roker Report,

As a die-hard Sunderland fan of over 50 years I live and breathe the club, and each and every piece of information that comes out from the likes of yourselves is like oxygen to me - I need it just to function on a day to day basis! My love for the club won’t ever waiver, and regardless of the owner, the players or our situation that will never, ever change.

Quite how people can claim to be a ‘supporter’ when they give up on the club during it’s darkest times is beyond me.

We may have lost our way but I just cannot get my head around why you’d give up on them now. They need us now more than ever I’d argue, and if people can’t see that then that makes me incredibly sad.

Chris Coleman is a good, well-intentioned man and we’re just starting to signs of what might be to come under his leadership. Get behind him and the players that are big enough to stick around and revitalise this club and we’ll all regroup together.

John Charlton

Ed’s note [Gav]: I can’t disagree with you John, though I will point out that some people simply cannot afford to stick by the club when they give so little back in return. I’ll be there in the trenches with you next season, and as I’ve said on countless occasions I won’t let these players or this regime define my support of the club. I’m Sunderland til I die, and every time I sing that I mean it.

Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

Am I the only person tired of hearing about how things would have been different if we still had Vito Mannone?

Have people just forgotten how utterly terrible he was for the final two years of his time at Sunderland? I know he had a good run when we got to the cup final, but how long ago was that?

For god sake people, stop trotting this ridiculous line out. Our keepers are terrible but I honestly don’t think Vito Mannone would have done any better. Just look at how crap Reading have done as proof - what difference has he made there? They were one penalty kick away from the Premier League last season. His presence in the side hasn’t made a blind bit of difference.

And just for comparison we had the current England number one in goal last season and he made f**k all difference, we went down with an absolutely pathetic points haul and conceded loads of goals.

So for anyone banging on about Mannone, just bore off - he was crap as well!

Kevin Magrs

Ed’s note [Gav]: I’m sorry Kevin, but I just cannot agree. I know Mannone wasn’t exactly flavour of the month when he left, but having watched him play 80 games for the club I can say quite comfortably that he’s head and shoulders above Camp and Steele, two players that have cost us more points than they’ve won us.

The biggest annoyance for most fans is that we sold £32m worth of goalkeepers in the summer and replaced them with Jason Steele - who was handed a four year deal, cost half a million quid and wasn’t even first choice for recently-relegated Blackburn - a freebie in Robbin Ruiter and then Lee Camp on loan, who is clearly nowhere near as good as he once was having suffered terribly from injuries.

I think it’s very fair for people to be annoyed by the decision made by Martin Bain to sell a player that would have most definitely contributed this season if we’d just held onto him.