Dear Roker Report,
Hiya, I am viewing whats happening with the info coming out of the club, PP says we need 7 or 8 more players.
Now I’m not a fan of the owners, but unfortunately we have what we have, until we get new ones. Watching what Phil is saying about who he wants, all being he has his cards close to his chest, we can only hope he gets it together. We have really got to back him up and hopefully he’ll turn it round.
I have followed SAFC since the late 60s and seen some crap, but there was some spark in the team after the initial games when he took over. I am remembering, that referees also said sorry for the woeful decisions that they made, that cost us points that would have got us into the top spots.
Looking forward to seeing good football with decent players.
All the best to who ever we get in.
Tom English
Ed’s Note [Rich]: Thanks for your letter Tom. That run we put together after Boxing Day was definitely encouraging at the time and Sunderland looked like we could have had a chance to push further up the table if it had been possible to finish the season on the pitch. I am also strangely hopeful about what next term might bring on the pitch, as the squads of every team in the league will be changing a lot over the next few weeks. I personally hope Parky is given the chance to bring in a good few exciting young players who are looking to make a name for themselves and that we see some good football when League One eventually returns.
Dear Roker Report,
First time ever to bare my soul about my club. At 68 years old, having followed Sunderland since the day I first went to junior school and had to make the decision - red or black and white - I am genuinely frightened that my club will disappear into obscurity, or worse.
I’m angry. Angry that too many so-called great managers turned out to be wide boys; too many big players turned out to be has-beens; too many backroom staff whose training and strategies proved wayward; an absurd amount of money wasted over the years by appalling decision making at board level; the UEFA governance, which not only proved to be financially dubious but promoted unsustainable levels of transfer and wages costs; the FA for turning away from one broadcaster to multiple without any consideration of cost to the football family; the cost of those contracts, which has fed the top clubs and player bank accounts, whilst starving the lower clubs; and last, but not least, the fickle Sunderland supporters who accelerated the loss of many good players long before their due date.
As you may assume, our club’s demise is not just because of the present ownership but a terrible web of total mismanagement at club as well as its governance.
I have no faith in the current ownership, or manager. When we sank into League 1 I believe the club should have had a total clear-out - a clean start to get a young manager, preferably Kevin Phillips, to build from the bottom using young unproven talent from around the world, and a new revitalised Academy.
Instead, we will continued to dredge up anything that has a faded reputation and is cheap.
Championship dream! We are miles away. League 1! Watch what’s coming down at the end of this campaign, we won’t stand a chance.
Unless there is a seismic change at SAFC we will continue die slowly, by a thousand cuts.
Jeffrey Ledger
Ed’s Note [Rich]: There’s so much wrong with both Sunderland and football in general at the minute, Jeffrey, you’re absolutely right. I don’t think we need despair though - there’s one constant, and that’s the fans. We moan, we cry, we sing - some of us boo. But we’ll always be there, we always have. As you will remember, we’ve been down here in the third tier before. It took a while, a good Chairman, a couple of good managers and some great players, but we made up the leagues together. I’ve not given up hope that we can get ourselves back where we belong, but some big things certainly do need to change in the months ahead.