Fan Letters: ‘There’s something special about this team right now!’ says RR reader Tom

Dear Roker Report,

There’s something special about this team right now and can’t put my finger on it. Do you think that it’s cos they have had to galvanise each other and fill in various positions to get the job done? Seeing their mates drop out injured so a strong team spirit is carrying them through? Credit has to go to this manager who was on the receiving end of scathing criticism when we went through a bad patch, I just hope the people who wanted rid of Lee Johnson back then have learned not to be so hasty in future, because we are only half way through the season as I write this and there will be many more twists and turns to come.

Keep the faith lads n lasses,

Tom in Sherburn Village

Ed’s Note [Martin]: I think we’ve got a nice combination of youth and experience, together with some local talent in the form of Dan Neil, and they clearly believe in their manager. In some respects the injuries have helped produced a tighter squad and probably helped team spirit, and it sets us up nicely for the rest of the season. There are always going to be people throwing their toys out of the pram after a bad result, but as far as I’m concerned we’re going to be better long term if we stick with Lee Johnson through the inevitable twists and turns that will come our way.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

---

Dear Roker Report,

Hope you all had a great Christmas. We certainly had a great bonus from the team with great results. However, my euphoria was let down by seeing the photo of Charlie Methven at the Doncaster game. He certainly does not support the team. We were told that neither SD/Satori or CM would have any involvement in the club after KLD buy out but rumours keep coming. Since then we’ve had total secrecy on who really owns our club and more importantly who makes the decisions. We certainly have had no investment from our double billionaire owner, KLD.

Only a fool would not smell a rat with SD still on the scene. It is my belief that SD set this whole buy out up and is pulling the strings through KLD. All the hard work done by the manager, players and all back room staff will be undone if it turns out I’m right. Openness and transparency would bury this if I’m wrong.

Sam Lucas

Ed’s Note [Martin]: Thanks Sam, hope you had a great Christmas too. The vast majority of us would agree we would like transparency with regards to the ownership of the club. For the moment, my view is we need to have a certain amount of cautious trust in KLD. He’s said he’s contractually not able to reveal exact percentages at present, but will be able to in future, and that he makes the decisions at the club. This ‘KLD is some sort of puppet for Donald’ view just doesn’t stack up at all – how could a minor insurance business man exert such control over the billionaire son of a global business family to do his bidding? Sorry, but in my view that’s nonsensical. Logically, Donald and Methven have retained a business stake in a venture they expect to increase in value over the coming years. Yes, we’d all prefer them to have nothing to do with the club after what went on, but I’d take the current situation over what we had 15 months ago. To say KLD hasn’t invested in the club too is simply incorrect – there’s been significant off-field investment in the footballing structure, for example. Yes, we would like clarity on the ownership structure, and it’s an important long-term issue to be resolved, but it needs to be dealt with proportionately – and, personally, there’s no way in the world I would let a picture of Methven attending the game detract from my enjoyment of what was a superb performance!

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

---

Dear Roker Report,

Re: Jack Rodwell’s interview. Lazy idle bastard - also a constant sick note!

Doug Raine

Ed’s Note [Martin]: There’s always two sides to things Doug, but I do think he was portrayed as the ‘villain’ by Netflix – not without good reason. Best off forgetting about him!

---