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Kelvin Beattie says...
Two Up...
Having gone a goal down and barely had a credible touch up to that point, we came back reasonably well. McGeady rose well for his goal which Diamond worked hard to fashion. I was pleased at our response and the fact that despite not getting to much joy down his wing Diamond persisted in attempting to go past his man on both outside and inside.
I would urge again patience where Diamond is concerned. He is going to choose the wrong option and will lose the ball, he challenges defenders to tackle him. We need to patiently mould this lad in to what I believe will become a more than capable attacking option for us.
I have not been that impressed with Max Power so far this season but credit where credit is due, he did a very capable job once moved back to right-back. He got up in support and overlapped Diamond and Maguire after the substitution and did his defensive work reasonably well. I would not mind seeing him have another go in this position.
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Two Down...
This was a very frustrating game to watch in terms of the number of balls played up to our forward line that were won back far to quickly. Now a percentage of those balls will have been mishit or just plain bad passes, but a number were not and I feel this has been a difficulty all season that nothing sticks.
Wyke obviously has to shoulder some of the responsibility here. This particular area of his game has not developed at all in his time with us and stands out as a deficit in his game. We have to be able to hold the ball up and bring in to play the increasing numbers of players driving forwards.
There was a number of occasions when we had four or five players in the box and Hull were driving into the open space of our vacated midfield. Wyke was not the only guilty party, but he stands out because of the position he plays.
Lee Burge’s part in Hull’s goal was unfortunate and easily could have been avoided. He did not look right when he resumed his position after his blow to his head and even wor lass spotted this. Having removed him from the fray at half time, there clearly was a concern.
Burge himself, medics and management share some responsibility here. That is not to ignore his save and his dart out to get the ball when he incurred his injury. Given the number of subs allowed, this was a risk we did not need to take.
Was this a point won or two lost? Given Hull’s position and results I would say we gained a point and shaded the second half. It is going to take a little bit of time to get the team to play in the style that Big Lee is looking for, there is still time to make the play off’s.
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Malcolm Dugdale says...
Two Up...
We didn’t lose a game some say we should have. That one point against a rival who is highly likely to be in the mix in May/June could well prove vital. McGeady proved his worth by scoring with a header too, when many players a good foot taller than him didn’t win much in the air at all. His hunger is great to see back in the side and once fully match fit he will continue to be an asset we wish Parky hadn’t ever fallen out with.
Matthews looked OK when he came on for Burge, and we get a chance in the cup and maybe next weekend to see if he or Patterson deserves a go as that error for me suggests we have to try something. I cannot fathom why the head injury assessment type rule wasn’t used to take off Burge as soon as he said he had been kicked in the head.
Had that happened maybe we may have nicked that 1-0 though pretty undeservedly. I’d rather have Patterson in nets based on errors Matthews has shown in the past, and we may need an on-loan goalie if Patterson goes on loan, but we need to reduce keeper errors somehow and so maybe a dip in the market is worthwhile.
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Two Down...
We are creating little or nothing in terms of clear scoring openings while at our end we are making errors to allow teams in. The one goal we got was OK, and not as fortunate as Hull’s opener, but Hull should have done better.
We only created a couple more half chances outside that, and while we may have ground the game out and “won ugly”, we could have lost that 3-0 and not really complained. Chance creation has to step up several levels, against all opponents. There was no bus parked this time but we still didn’t deliver the opportunity to win well.
Wyke needs a rest. He did nothing all game and was made to look very average by his equivalent in the Hull side who thankfully went off injured or I am sure we would have lost the match. Give him a rest and please get him hungry again? He was slow, had the touch of an elephant and couldn’t hold up a lighter at an Elton John concert. Rotate and investigate in both the cup and league Johnson, that’s what squads are for.
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Philip Butler says...
Two Up...
A decent result in isolation, for a team looking to get promoted games against the top two sides are must not lose encounters rather than must wins, and that’s exactly what Sunderland did on Saturday evening.
A signal of how close Sunderland are to the top sides in the division, even if this is because of the poor standard of the division rather than any quality possessed by this Sunderland squad, came with the performance. Hull City didn’t really threaten after the Aiden McGeady equaliser, and if the Tigers are one of the best sides in the division Lee Johnson’s side has nothing to fear.
Aiden McGeady’s goal - after being brought back in from the cold under Lee Johnson, Aiden McGeady’s equaliser is a monkey off the back of the Republic of Ireland international. After getting his first goal back, McGeady will be keen to cement his position in the side and show he can recapture the form shown in Sunderland’s first season in League One.
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Two Down...
More points dropped - Although on paper a draw against one of the division’s top two sides is a decent result, after Sunderland have stumbled against more defensive opposition these are the games we must win.
A more long term problem for Lee Johnson’s side will be to break down deep defences, but in the mean time games against attacking opponents must be won if Sunderland are to rise slowly up the table.
Changes needed - remove Aiden McGeady from the team that started on Saturday evening and you could be forgive to think that Phil Parkinson has never really left. In midfield especially, the trio of Power, Leadbitter and Scowen simply don’t offer enough going forward, and Sunderland don’t have the wing backs to make up for these weaknesses.
The signing of Winchester will hopefully make a difference in this department, but even he is unlikely to become a regular goalscorer. Sunderland desperately need one of those.
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Joseph Tulip says...
Two Up...
Jack Diamond demonstrated exactly what he can offer the team with a high energy performance, adding much needed quality in the final third to run onto Leadbitter’s threaded pass from a free kick and lay on the cross for McGeady to score.
A much more open game of football. Hull came at us with attacking intent but we quickly got into our stride to recover from an early setback. It seemed to suit us playing against a team not willing to just sit back and defend.
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Two Down...
Lee Burge’s nasty eye injury followed by a costly error is an obvious one. Let’s hope our number one, who made some crucial saves before going off, makes a swift recovery.
Also a lack of cutting edge up front. Charlie Wyke has chipped in with goals this season but the former Carlisle man looks isolated at times and the jury remains out on whether he has the quality to fire us to promotion.