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Dear Roker Report,
It’s funny, isn’t it?
Fans have been asking the club to bring in more experienced players but some are now calling to bring in a less experienced, albeit ‘progressive’, head coach.
This could be someone like Carlos Corberan, although most West Brom fans want him gone, or maybe Michael Carrick, who was being ‘lined up’ as Tottenham’s coach but has only won league match this season.
We lost to Cardiff, were very unlucky to do so, and we also lost to them by the same score last season when Mowbray was barely two months into his tenure. However, the difference was stark.
Last season, Cardiff scored early before sitting back, and we appeared to have no clue how to cope. They also sat back on Sunday but for the most part we tore into them and poor finishing ultimately did for us.
Mowbray is now a year into the job and he knew precisely what to do in this situation, but he can’t be held responsible for Alex Pritchard missing two sitters.
Under his stewardship, we’ve seen some of the most attractive football from Lads in many a year. It’s true that we need to improve at home (although we already have more points from fewer matches) but my view is that we will.
Whether it’s good enough to better last year’s ‘overachievement’ remains to be seen.
The league is far stronger this year but wherever we finish, I’m sure that Mowbray will continue to oversee some fabulous play.
David Johnston
Dear Roker Report,
Regarding the letter from SAFCSoCal, I can’t believe the naivety of the comments he’s made about our head coach and staff .
He’s totally wrong in his opinion and I firmly believe that Tony Mowbray and his coaches are doing a cracking job.
He has the team playing some of the best football for years and his footballing knowledge is the best we’ve seen since Peter Reid, even surpassing Roy Keane.
Malcolm Donnison
Ed’s Note [Phil] Hi David and Malcolm. Thanks for your responses to a letter we published on Thursday. It’s clearly stirred up some strong feelings!
In my opinion, there’s little to no doubt at all that Tony Mowbray retains the support of the majority of the Sunderland fan base.
The mood at games is always a more accurate barometer than some of the things you read on social media, and even after the full time whistle on Sunday, there was no booing or jeering being aimed in his direction.
Instead, there was frustration at the loss, but no anti-Mowbray sentiment, and after the work he’s done for us, that’s fair.
The reality is that there’s no need for every loss to equal a crisis, and it certainly shouldn’t lead to speculation over Mowbray’s position.
He’s a vastly experienced boss and he’ll know exactly what needed to be done during the week. With that in mind, I fully expect to see a strong response from the players when we kick off at Hillsborough tonight.
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Dear Roker Report,
I’m writing in about Elliot Embleton’s new ’freak’ injury.
The poor lad has no luck whatsoever. He tries, remains patient, stays mentally strong and fights to regain his health but it always happens again.
I wish I could say I couldn’t see this coming but if we’re honest with ourselves, we all saw it coming. There are some people who are more prone to injury than others. It’s clear Elliot is one of those people.
Unfortunately with people like that, the next injury is a matter of when, not if.
Now that he’s back after another 8 or so months of being out, he’s re-injured, and faces yet more months on the shelf, we should think about releasing him once he’s fully healed.
Listen, no one loves Embleton more than me, he’s got an insanely high ceiling based on his talent, but he’s going nowhere in his career as his body can’t stop betraying him.
I think it’s just time to move on from Elliot once he’s healed. Frustrating and harsh as this may seem.
Thank you.
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