Fan Letters: “Can FIFA not step in to help Sunderland rid themselves of Jack Rodwell?”

Dear Roker Report,

Our club is in a shite position at the moment but the lads need us more than ever.

As fans we cannot control who owns us sadly, but we do not support Ellis Short, we support whoever is wearing the red and white on the day.

Whilst we need to oust Short, the players need to know the fans have their back. Once the Wolves game is done we need to switch to a positive mind frame (I know, easier said than done) and focus on getting back into the Championship at the first attempt.

Having a look to next season, I feel that we need to flood away days with our own supporters. Barely any of the stadiums we will play at meet the 30,000 capacity to give SAFC a 3,000 away support allocation we regularly sell-out. We should instead arrange for our fans to buy home allocation tickets close to our official supporters in an attempt to create the feel of a home game. I know our home form is awful, and our away in not much better, but we do pick up more points away from home.

My theory is if we can give the home game feel to away games, hopefully our players will get used to the pressure and therefore make the SOL a fortress again whilst also diminishing the impact of the home supporters at our away games.

In previous promotion seasons we’ve taken thousands to away each game; I remember Wigan away in 2005 when there was a full 49-seater coach with only 7 people who had tickets on it, and we had sold out a whole main stand of our promotion rivals!

No team in League One will come close to that level of support. Lets give next season’s lads the chance to hit the ground running so they can become the Gabbiadini, Phillips or Sleeves Elliott of this generation.

Keep the faith.

Jimmy McCullough

Ed’s Note [JN]: The only saving grace of next season is the away games. I cannot wait to be sauntering through some cockney’s living room to get to the Kenilworth Road away end. Trust me, give it a Google, it’s amazing.

Then we have the away cage at Accrington Stanley, terraces of AFC Wimbledon and 9,000-ticket away end at MK Dons - if they stay up. No doubt the majority of away games will sell out due to the reduced attendances, and I’d agree we need to get as many tickets as possible.

I think home games are a major problem right now, it is an eerie place to be.

Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

What other industry would put up with a permanently sick (injured) member of staff?

I’m talking about Jack Rodwell, of course.

When working a number of years ago (I’m now retired) I suffered a recurring illness. My Doctor tried treating it with various pills to no avail and I ended up having an operation in the hope that it would cure my problems.

It did for a while but the point I’m trying to make is that I was given two warnings over my sick leave and the second came just after my op. Had the op not worked as it did I would’ve been out on my a**e.

Rodwell has not played since November last year and Coleman admits that he doesn’t even know where he (Rodders) is. The club have tried to pay up his contract but he won’t have it.

If Rodwell worked in any other industry he’d have been shown the door without any kind of pay off. Surely players’ contracts need re-vamping. Agents hold far too much sway.

This is something that FIFA should be looking at. To have to pay out such huge amounts of money to someone who can’t (or won’t) work for it is sheer stupidity.

Hans Mooney

Ed’s Note [Gav]: I think that if there was any possible way to legally cancel Rodwell’s contract without there being financial implications we’d have done it. The problem is that whilst he’s draining the club of money, he’s technically doing nothing wrong. By all accounts he’s training with the U23s.

It’s a sore one and I think any new owner might want to consider taking it on the chin and paying up his deal. Ellis Short just isn’t willing to do it because of the unbelievable cost.