Bolton match thoughts

I'm not going to do much of a match summary today, I'm more going to focus on my reactions to the match today. I certainly expected more out of Sunderland today but I'm glad we at least found the back of the net and showed some fighting spirit after going down 1-0 early. For a proper match summary check out www.rokerreport.com, they always have a cracking article up soon after the match. So here are my initial match reactions...

• Very interesting to see Craig Gordon start in goal. Is O'Neill considering resigning the veteran keeper? Still seems unlikely, but it's hard to determine O'Neills reason for starting Gordon today.
• Speaking of new starters, I expected to see Elmohammady get the start on the right wing today but instead it went to Frazier Campbell. You could tell Campbell isn't quite comfortable out on the wing but he showed flashes of ability and can be dangerous when he has space to run in to.
• I feel like I say this every week, but we miss John O'Shea when he's not playing center back. Matt Kilgallon was beat in the air on a number of occasions today, and I have a hard time seeing O'Shea losing out in the air like Kilgallon did all day.
• It was a disappointing start to the match today. It felt as though the lads didn't really start playing until after we went down a goal.
• Sessegnon had an uncharacteristic poor match, but James McClean played excellent on the left wing and wreaked havoc all afternoon.
• Jack Colback has quietly become one of our best players. No matter where he is played on the pitch he puts in a good shift and does he job well. Hopefully he'll be with the club for a long time to come.

There is still a lot to play for this season. A top 10 finish is still a possibility. We have Fulham next week and they looked pretty poor today against Everton. Hopefully we can go down to London and take home 3 points.
Ha'way the Lads!

Sputtering to the finish

I was hoping to see a clash of brother vs brother.
I was hoping to see Martin O'Neill punish his former club.
I was hoping to see us score a goal (that wasn't wrongly disallowed)
All that I was hoping for wasn't to be.

If you've ever been in a car that is running out of fuel then you know what Sunderland's finish to the season looks like. The car slowly loses power and comes to a stop. Every now and then it might catch a whiff of the gasoline fumes and speed up, but that is momentary and short lived. So it is with Sunderland right now.
Sunderland failed to capitalize on a number of scoring opportunities today and had to settle for a goal less draw with an Aston Villa side who are equally as unimpressive to watch right now. The magic of Martin O'Neill seems to have worn off a bit, and that's not to say he's not the right man for the job, but it seems like he is unable to capture that same magic we had for his first 3.5 months in charge.
Here are my initial match reactions...

• It was good to have John O'Shea back. While he did a good job at RB, I believe he's more valuable in the middle of the pitch. We seemed most vulnerable to long through balls going directly at our CB's.
• Sessegnon was creative and clever today. He just seemed to lack the right touch with his final pass or the touch to set up a shot at goal.
• McClean put in a great effort, sent some great crosses in, and worked the left side of the pitch well. He is a marked man by the opposition now but I thought he played well all day.
• Jack Colback is a fine footballer. No matter where he is on the pitch, not matter if he's defending or attacking, he rarely puts a foot in wrongly. 
• It was unfortunate our goal wasn't allowed, Bendtner timed his run well and the delivery was superb. We deserved the game winner there.
• Larsson has been great for us all year, but he's not been his best the last few matches. He may be tired or it may be that he's not fitting in to the O'Neill mold of a winger. I wonder what his future with the club looks like.

We still have a few matches to secure a top 10 finish. It will be a tough road in but we can't give up on the lads just yet.  Hopefully we'll see a rejuvenated squad come out for the last few matches.
Ha'way the lads!

summer speculation

The summer speculation has officially begun. Granted, we have been linked with players coming in and have had players linked to be going out all season, but this week there seems to be a steady stream of the speculation pouring in.

On the news of players going out, it seems like O'Neill is confident that Sessegnon will remain with the club. It seems like he's a wanted player by a few clubs, but I think he's at his best at a club like Sunderland where we will revolve our entire attack around him. One player who Steve Bruce rated but O'Neill doesn't seem to is Ahmed Elmohamady. Elmo seems likely to leave, maybe to another EPL team, but I think he'll end up out of the league. The links to Craig Gardner leaving seemed to have slowed down, but I expect he'll be linked all over the midlands this summer. Former first team keeper Craig Gordon also seems likely to be gone. He's out of contract this summer so he'll be going on a free somewhere, possibly to Celtic. He's one I wish we had for another year to see if he can regain his impressive form after an injury riddled two years.

A couple players linked in recently are Steven Fletcher and Karl Henry. I can't imagine that we'll bring in another central midfield player unless we have one or two of ours move out, and Henry's game resembles Lee Cattermole's too much for me to take that link seriously. Fletcher on the other hand would be a great signing. He scores goals, is impressive in the air, and all in all seems like a perfect fit for the Martin O'Neill system. He's unlikely to go to a top tier team, and Sunderland seems just about perfect for him.

With the season winding down I'm hopeful we can finish with a few more wins and secure a top 10 finish. Being a top half club has its financial benefits and also makes us a more attractive destination for incoming talent.

Ha'way the lads

not much to see today...

Well I'm back from my travels in Hong Kong, and after missing the Tottenham and Everton matches I was excited to see the lads play today. After a dull but point producing match with Tottenham, and a lopsided loss against Everton I thought we'd come out firing today. I couldn't have been more wrong. Here are some of my thoughts today.

• Today seemed like a good match to get some younger players more minutes. I know we are dealing with various injuries and are still fighting for points, but I thought Ji, Wickham, or Meyler might make an appearance. 
• After allowing 4 against Everton Mignolet responded with a good shutout today. He didn't have a lot to do, but he did make a few fine saves that preserved the draw.
• Outside of Sessegnon we lacked much creativity. McClean did produce some decent runs, and he probably should have scored, but Sess was about our only offensive catalyst today.
• I do like Bendtner, and I think he does a lot of things that go unnoticed, but I think Martin O'Neill wants a more direct forward to pair up with Sess. Someone who will lean heavily against the opposing center backs and push the line nice and high.
• Seb Larsson had his poorest outing as a black cat today. I think if we have any other option to play on the right wing MoN would have used it. I was surprised he didn't bring on Campbell to play on the wing, or bring on a central midfield player and push Gardner out there.
• My last observation is that maybe the Man City comeback has eliminated some of our desire. We seem a little content to just collect a point or two and coast to a mid table finish. I know O'Neill doesn't want that, and I'm sure he'll do all he can to get a few more wins as we finish out, but the lads just didn't seem to play with much urgency today.

All that being said, we used to play matches like this and end up with a loss so I'll take the point and move forward. Let's just hope we can dust this off, regroup, and finish strong the rest of the way.

Ha'way the Lads!