Fan Letters: “It’s no time to panic just yet!” says RR reader Thomas

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Dear Roker Report,

What’s people views on January?

I think this could be an important month because we now know we have some long term injuries that effect selection. Also, when is the club going to look at this injury problem as we have players always carrying issues and having injections and never fully fit.

This year its not a centre back issue its a full back. Do you get Andre Wisdom or some player of similar status in short term?

Winchester should be in midfield and with Evans in and out he has to be there with Neil, who is playing a lot of games for his age. So the question is with 0’Nien out and Evans, do we need another midfielder or bring Harrison Sohna in to first team plans?

Then there is width, with Geads out. Do we seriously look at this left hand side issue finally as Geads signed for a year and we should be using this time to find a replacement for next season or try Dyce out on left.

Gooch’s form is always in and out - one good game in three and Dajaku needs room on the right for me so we see what he brings. Or do we bring Diamond back?

Stewart and Broadhead need support they cant play all the games week in week out with niggles and if something happened who have we got. But the team can grind a result and play better football the I have seen them play in a long time.

Keep up good work!

George Heighton

Ed’s Note [Chris]: Cheers George! As you said, January is going to be huge and I’m sure the recruitment team have been working on that from the moment the last window closed. The priorities will be constantly shifting with our current injury list so it’s going to be interesting to see what they can get done.

There’s also eight games to play in December, so how we come out of next month might dictate how appealing we are as a prospect for potential targets.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images,

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Dear Roker Report,

I have to say I was a bit shocked at all the negativity and calls for Johnson to go recently.

After the terrific start we had, balancing the squad and getting rid of dead weight I thought fans would have more patience if a rough patch happened.

Sure we have been poor in the last 6 weeks but I’d much rather we all back the manager and the players to turn it round than jump on the manager merry go round when frankly I don’t know who out there is available who could do a better job.

With a growing injury list we still sit only 3 points behind first with a League Cup quarter final coming up. It’s no time to panic just yet. If in a couple of months it’s all gone Pete Tong I suggest we have a whip round to get Mrs Allardyce something nice. Until then, it’s Lee Johnson’s Red n White Army!

Thomas (@TJ_Hewitt)

Ed’s Note [Chris]: I think it’s safe to say the jury is still out on Lee Johnson as Sunderland manager, and I think for some there is still a hangover from missing out last season after getting into such a good position.

But this season we got into a great start and after picking up 7 out of 9 points last week we’re not in a bad position. Not spectacular, but we’re in the mix and for me there wasn’t a discussion to have in terms of changing the manager. If we fell completely out of contention and lost sight of the top six I’d understand, but being within touching distance of the automatic promotion places shouldn’t be considered a sackable position.

In the long term, who knows, but it’s far too soon in my opinion.

Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Dear Roker Report,

With last year’s injury problems continuing into this year, I’m beginning to believe more emphasis needs to be put on the health of players Sunderland recruit.

The knock on players like Evans, Prichard, Cirkin and Hume etc was their inability to stay healthy.

Obviously some of these individuals wouldn’t have been available with their talent if they had a history of being fit, but high end talent doesn’t mean much if you’re never on the pitch.

Here’s hoping the January window brings in more some less injury prone players!

Tim Lewis

Ed’s Note [Chris]: Yes, we’ve seen over the last few years that we seem to pick up more than our fair share of injuries. The problems we had last season were ridiculous and were arguably the reason we didn’t finish the job off and get promoted.

As you mentioned Tim, the players in League One are usually at that level for a reason and a lot of the time it’s because they pick up more injuries than others. I also think the summer window left us one or two short in terms of squad numbers.

We have a squad of around 21 senior players if you discount Willis and Xhemjli, and as we’re seeing, once you get a few on the treatment table you end up with some of the younger players on the bench.

Photo by Will Matthews/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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