Fan Letters: MORE letters from new fans who had their hearts stolen by ‘Sunderland Til I Die’

Hello Roker Report,

My name is Hans and I’m from the Netherlands. Actually since Dick Advocaat was manager for a (little) while, I was following Sunderland. I wouldn’t call me a big fan yet, though I did realise Sunderland is really really big.

These days I’m watching the docu “Sunderland’ til I die”, and I have to say that I’m really impressed how much impact this beautiful club has on the community in Sunderland. Somehow I feel like becoming a fan and I really hope Sunderland will reach the Championship again in 2019 and in the future the Premier League again. That’s the level where the club belongs and especially the supporters deserve all the best.

Yes, I can say that I’m a fan now and I hope to visit the Stadium of Light one day.

Wish you all the best for the new year, take care and cheers!

Sunderland AFC is great.

Hans Zondag

Ed’s Note [Gav]: Nice one Hans. It’s been great hearing from people like yourself who have taken the club to heart having watched the series. It’s nice that despite the embarrassment of what happened to our club, people can see through that and recognise that the fans are the ones that were left hurting the most during last season.

Stay with us for the journey!

Sunderland AFC

Dear Roker Report,

Being in the US I hear lots of comments about how Americans don’t understand soccer (the real football!). They say that English fans are boring, or that their is no passion like American Football....they obviously need to watch Sunderland Til I Die and gain appreciation for the players, fans, and true passion that is exhibited. I have been coaching football for over 25 years and I loved this Netflix show, I hated that it ever ended!

It was heartbreaking to see that Martin Bain and Chris Coleman were let go at the end of the show. I do believe that they had SAFC at heart in everything they did to help the club. I guess too much drama just surrounded them for the new club owners to keep them on.

I was not a Sunderland fan prior to watching, but I will definitely be pulling for the Black Cats now! Unfortunately we don’t get the televised games here unless it’s the Premier League but I’ll keep up with them online and through the Roker Report.

My wish is to travel to Sunderland, attend a match, tour all of the club’s facilities, and soak up the love that the city has for its team. Thanks for allowing me to share my comments.

Happy New Year and Cheers!

Andy Brannigan

Ed’s Note [Gav]: Welcome to the club, Andy! Stick around - it’s never boring.

Sunderland AFC

Dear Roker Report,

Sunderland are now officially halfway through their season so I thought it would be good to do a half term report. In summary, it’s 7/10 for attitude and effort, but must do better if they want to pass their final exam of automatic promotion.

Firstly Sunderland as a club is now a breath of fresh air. The new headteachers aka Mr Donald and Mr Methven have come in and changed the ethos of the club. It’s now part of the community again which has recently been strengthened due to the Sunderland till I Die documentary. Also getting rid of lazy workers such as Rodwell and Ndong means Sunderland have a more positive attitude to their work. So how can they improve?

Firstly, strengthening at the back is a priority for me, too many mistakes are made and I would like to see another more composed centre back just to try and help the side keep more clean sheets.

Next I would love for more depth in an attacking midfielder. For me we need variation and not just use the wings all of the time. It is apparent that we’ve missed Honeyman - having that creative central midfielder would give us another dimension and would split the well organised defensive teams coming to the SOL. I also think this would give Maja (if he stays at time of writing) more options as he isn’t getting service from the wings all of the time. Of course things will change with Watmore and Wyke well on the road to playing full games but again they would benefit from a creative midfielder.

Where are we heading with this side, on current performances I would say play offs but with that bit extra effort then automatic promotion is definitely there but as that old school saying says “Must try a bit harder on occasions.”

Half term mark 7/10.

@Sportmad72

Ed’s Note [Gav]: I think long term we need more height and pace to call upon in our squad, but for the next window I’d focus on signing a defender or two, and possibly another winger.