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Dear Roker Report,
I can’t believe the pathetic, over-the-top reactions coming from Leeds because we did a number on them.
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard such nonsense and amount of excuses in the entire time I’ve followed football. It’s incredible — even the commentators were minded that Leeds just had to turn up to roll us over and they were even talking of how close the gap will be once they take the three points from the game.
Now they’re blaming the referee for bad decisions and our players for time wasting,
even though an incredible twelve minutes were added at the end. At the beginning of the season, we were everyone’s darling but once the going got tough, they expected freefall.
Well it didn’t, and it isn’t happening. We’re above Leeds and the rest because we deserve to be, and the league table doesn’t lie.
Leeds somehow believe they have a right to beat us every time they play us. That’s fine as far as self-belief goes, but when it spills over into arrogance, it’s great to see them having to eat humble pie. They all best get used to it.
We may not play the prettiest of football but we play to our strengths and we’re extremely hard to beat. My only concern going forward is that the teams in this league will have worked out our playing style for next season — just like Nottingham Forest were found wanting after their brilliant season.
However, we have a brilliant scouting team and we’re recruiting players with a certain mindset.
The days are long gone when we were a last-chance saloon for over-the-hill players. We’re here to stay, so teams like Leeds can continue with excuses while we put the points on the board and hit the onion bag when needed..
Peter Milton
Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Peter. Thank you for your letter.
I actually thought there was something deeply satisfying about the way we won that game on Tuesday night. It’s fair to say that it wasn’t the most eye-catching performance in terms of creativity, but it was committed, organised and incredibly wholehearted.
To a point, I can understand the frustrations of the Leeds fans — how would we feel if an opponent used such tactics at the Stadium of Light, after all? — but at the same time, we did what we needed to in order to win and at this stage of the season, getting points on the board is all that matters.
We can become a more expansive and exciting team, and I hope that in time, we will, but for the moment, we are we should be — and that’s more than good enough, in my opinion.
Dear Roker Report,
I hope this can be added to your site but I’m not a member so can’t reply directly.
This is for ‘Rowellworld’ in reply to his comment about me being entitled and him hating our home stadium. I’m certainly not ‘entitled’ and support the team, I enjoy a good sing song in the South Stand and I even mentioned that I thought the fans tried to lift the team versus Fulham.
I know he hates our home stadium, as I’m sick of reading his comments about the home atmosphere being poor compared to the away one.
‘Rowellworld’ certainly likes to let everyone knows he goes to away matches. Maybe at the home games he should encourage those around him to sing — or if he hates it that much, to stop going or at least stop moaning about it.
Like many fans on this forum, I’ve been to numerous away games since the 1980s and the away atmosphere has always been better than at home, in my opinion.
Peter Welsh
Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Peter. Thank you for getting in touch.
Given what we’ve seen during Sunderland’s two most recent league fixtures —both of which saw excellent performances and results — I’m hopeful that the atmosphere during our next home game against Brighton will be different from Fulham — hopefully upbeat and far more optimistic.
As we saw at Elland Road and the Vitality Stadium, our away support is absolutely superb and there’s no doubt that it played a huge role in the Lads picking up four points from six.
Dear Roker Report,
Saturday’s game away at Bournemouth was a good point but it could and should’ve been the full three.
From the off, there looked to be a purpose in our play, getting on the front foot and enjoying the game.
The enforced changes in attack seemed to work in our favour, with fresh legs, fresh ideas and better passing in the main.
We’re still a young team and new to the Premier League — and at times it showed.
I refer to the blatant penalty that even Alan Shearer through gritted teeth said it should have been given, but Enzo Le Fée’s reaction when he went down was why we didn’t get, it in my opinion.
He was pushed and it should’ve been given but he just lay there, pleading on his own on the ground. A week earlier, we saw Fulham’s players run at the referee to go to VAR. Result? Penalty, and twenty four hours later, we saw Manchester United’s players go to the referee. The result? Penalty and red card.
More and more games use VAR, so why didn’t we see this against Bournemouth? It’s an easy decision to give.
Next up, Leeds. Haway the lads!
Mark
Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Mark. Thank you for your letter.
Although it was frustrating not to be given the decisions in key moments against Bournemouth, I did feel there was an element of justice about VAR overlooking Luke O’Nien’s foul on Pascal Struijk and the technology being used to examine Ethan Ampadu’s handball, which led to our winning penalty on Tuesday night.
On such moments can games swing, so it was a relief to benefit rather than being left frustrated once again!
