Oh Dear. Sunderland 2 Plymouth 3

We’re in trouble. Big trouble. If Quinn wasn’t aware of the job he had on his hands before today then he’s well aware now. I don’t think performances like this or the start of the season we‘ve had were in the plans when he bought the club. Yes, he’s talked about time to turn the club around but I honestly think he thought he’d get off to a decent start and have a good chance of promotion at the first attempt. That appears to be a long, long way off at the moment. 3 games in, joint bottom and if you can’t beat Plymouth at home then where are your points coming from?

The same side started again apart from Clarke coming in for the injured Caldwell but Lawrence swapped sides with Miller so was at least playing on his favoured right. The game couldn’t have started better, with 30 seconds we were one up. Murphy got the ball of the left hand side of the box and fired low into the corner. It was a great start and I thought this must be the kick-start to the season we needed and I expected us to go on and get more goals and win quite comfortably. I should have known better. 5 minutes later a cross that beat everyone went out to Norris on the right and he volleyed past Alnwick to equalise. It was a great finish but the guy got too much space on the right and it was a set-back after the good start. It was only 1-1 but they had the impetus now and Sunderlands players heads started to drop, obviously scarred from last years games when similar things happened and several players just never stepped up to the mark after that.

The defence was struggling, every time their front 2 were getting in behind and causing problems with their pace. I could forgive them if these were top class players but they weren’t, one was Barry Hayles who got released from Millwall and the other a young kid called Ebanks-Blake. Cunningham reads the game very well but does get caught out with pace occasionally and Danny Collins just isn’t good enough.

An injury to Clarke after 20 minutes meant further disruption with Wright coming on to the right but Delap now moving over to the left - even further out of position. Clarke has had as bad a start to a career at a club as is possible really, he doesn’t look great and you can only hope he settles down with time but as it stands the McCartney/Clarke/money deal doesn‘t look a good one. However by this stage it was clear who was going to score the next goal and a poor back-pass from Cunningham let in Hayles and Alnwick was left scrambling on the edge of the box as Hayles put it into an empty net.

Another capitulation threatened. The crowd started to get on the players backs even more which made them more nervous and simple passes were going astray. We were exposed at the back and weak in midfield. Whitehead again was poor. Lawrence despite being put back on his favoured wing did nothing, last year he did the stupid tricks and falling over but often had an end product, this years he’s missing the end product but we still get all the rubbish from him. Miller is a mystery. He must have some talent, he scored bags of goals at Ipswich but he’s just been hopeless since moving up here. Today was as bad as it got from him really. Every time he got involved (which wasn’t often) he was slow to the ball, gave it away and epitomised everything that’s wrong with the current crop at the minute. Leadbitter and Murphy were the only ones who were playing well, Murphy wins headers, has a good touch and has decent pace with the ball at his feet. Elliott seems to be lacking pace and confidence. Near the end of the half, Collins went close with a header but nothing else of any note came from a very poor half and the whistle came with boos ringing round the stadium.

The 2nd half started a little brighter but we still never looked like scoring then Stead and Brown were brought on for the Lawrence and Miller with Elliott and Murphy going wide. Almost immediately we had more width and balance and had an outlet up front with Brown who looked up for it from the start and was winning balls in the air. The crowd started to get behind them well and after a few minutes of pressure on their goal the equaliser came, Stead played the ball out to Murphy who did really well on the left, got to the touchline and put a great ball in for Elliott to easily head home.

It seemed the tide had turned and only one team would go on and win this and if a Chris Brown header that hit the bar a minute later had gone in we would have won but Plymouth weathered the storm and the counter attack, with us having so many attackers on, was always a threat. Sure enough it was a ball over the top that caused the problem again, Collins seemed to have it under control and just needed to head back to Alnwick but he let the ball bounce which gave Chadwick a sniff, he got ahead of Collins and slotted past Alnwick. It was a dreadful goal to give away especially given that we’d got back into it and were looking more likely to get the winner but this ended it all. Heads dropped again and they saw the final 10 minutes out easily. Plymouth are an average side with average players but they looked streets ahead of Sunderland today and that’s very worrying. Final whistle and more boos followed. I’m not going to criticise anyone for booing but I’m not sure what it achieves apart from making the players more nervous.

As bad as this start is, its still early days and although promotion looks a long way off now the play-offs never are. Monday apparently is when Quinn gets some answers on players he wants in, particularly Phillips and the more we get the better. With each passing defeat, the big players like Reid and Davenport seem harder to get. They aren’t going to want to come to a club that seems from the outside to be fighting relegation in the Championship when they can sit on the bench at Spurs. It may be that Quinn has aimed a little too high initially at the players he wants. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting decent championship players in even if its just for a season then going for the big boys if and when we get back to the premiership. At least these players won’t have the mental scars that the current crop do and they’d be given a fair crack of the whip by the fans.

The crowd? 2,000 down on Wednesday and an indication of what might come if things continue as they have. St Nialls day was non-starter.

A week now until the next game so hopefully time for Quinn to get a couple more in and sort out some glaring problems on the training ground. Southend away next and I can’t really keep on saying the next game is a must win but it is.

Man of the Match - Daryl Murphy

Rockin' Reports: SAFC 2 Plymouth 3

When Plymouth fans begin chanting ‘easy, easy’ you realise just how bad our football club has become. After being relegated as the worst team in football history you’d think that things can’t get any worse and that the only way we can go is up.

However, Sunderland are proving that theory wrong. Three straight defeats and things don’t look like changing, not soon anyway. The whole team is filled with gutless footballers; things definitely need to change and fast. We need to get rid of some of the many players who are simply going through the motions each game.

We started the game well, going one nil up in the opening two minutes, I started to believe that maybe today is the day we begin turning the corner and revive this football club. However the lead only lasted five minutes, after Plymouth scored their first the familiar feeling, which we all had last season came back. When the ball hit the back of the net you could sense all of the enthusiasm the fans had before the game and which had grown after Daryl Murphy opened the scoring, left quickly. We played abysmally for the rest of the first half but seemed at least to be heading for the break on level terms. Until a poor Alnwick goal kick eventually led to a weak attempted back pass from Cunningham, which presented the veteran Hayles with the seemingly easy task of rounding the statuesque Alnwick and passing the ball into an empty net for Argyle’s second. 1-2

Half time, no magic carpet ride on the horizon!

The second half started as poorly as the first ended. The introduction of Jon Stead and Chris Brown seemed to improve things and we began pushing for the equaliser.

Stead played a great diagonal ball to Murphy and from Murphy’s cross came our second goal, neatly headed in by Stephen Elliott. With the crowds hopes lifted the lads began pressing for the winner and a much needed three points. However, it was Plymouth who scored the third and decisive goal totally against the run of play, yet an all too familiar story for the Sunderland faithful. Diabolical defending from Collins lead to the winner, twice the Welshman could have headed the ball back to Alnwick but he failed to attempt it both times, instead he tried a bicycle kick when Chadwick was bearing down on him. Collins made no contact whatsoever with the ball and Chadwick had an easy chance to score past Alnwick. Neither team played with any attacking flair and were both as bad as each other. No disrespect to Plymouth but we should be beating teams like them comfortably at the SOL.

There are just over two weeks left until the transfer window closes, Quinn needs to make changes quickly. We need to get some class in midfield, someone who can make decisive tackles and who can also open up the opposing teams, hopefully we have already found this in Reira which is yet to be seen. The defence definitely needs some improvement they’ve looked vulnerable since day one and don’t look like improving. Those aren’t the only two areas which need improvement; we still need a natural goal scorer something this club has been lacking for a while. For the future of SAFC and the fans sanity improvements must come soon or the magic carpet ride will begin to look like a British Airways 747……grounded!

Man of the Match – Jon Stead, the only player that showed any class.

Wiggum’s Whinge: SAFC 2 Plymouth 3

Wiggum’s Whinge

First report of the new season from myself, and I hoped it would start off with a win and more importantly three points that the new regime is desperate for.
Unfortunately another game, another loss, and the hope and optimism that ‘Quinny’ wants circulating around the club is so sadly vacant.

The game was viewed by the fans as a celebration of Sir Niall stepping into charge of our club, but as he looked around and seen not even 25,000 fans at the game, he must realise he is going to need miracles.

The game was dubbed “St Niall’s Day” and the atmosphere was hyped as being joyous and fun, but the Sunderland players yet again have let down the fans by not playing in “St Niall’s way”.

The team started the same as it did against the loss against Birmingham, apart from Clarke taking over for the injured Caldwell. This home start for the ex-hammer only lasted around 20 minutes due to a switch from Quinny bringing on Wright.

Another disappointment before the game got underway was the non appearance of Reira from Barcelona ‘B’, maybe lacking match fitness but on the evidence of this performance is an addition we sorely require.

Just after kick off a hopeful ball was played over top to an in-form Daryl Murphy, who showed persistence and drove the ball through the oncoming goalies legs. With this bright start and overall stronger team than Plymouth, this was just the start we were in need of celebrating.

The commentator must have been in on the joke of Miller being invisible as he announced it was his goal but was later corrected to Murphy for his 2nd goal in three games.

The same old story unfolded after the goal, with Sunderland not realising that when a goal is scored it is not a bad thing. The defence looked shaky throughout the whole game and the task of clearing our lines cost us for all three goals.

Their first goal was to be honest, a great finish, but the doubt of the defenders around Norris was obvious and let him strike it just as Stern John did for Coventry.

The defence looked out of depth all game and the offside trap was very ineffective as nearly all the long balls played forward looked like catching out Cunningham and Collins.

The second goal for Plymouth just summed up how our team is playing recently with a hopeful clearance which could have easily been cut out leading to their goal. Cunningham tried to back-pass to Alnwick but with no strength or direction it lead to the striker who stepped past the keeper and blasted it past the poor Collins.

The mood of the stadium changed as it always does once they realise we are not the team we badly deserve, and this atmosphere will certainly not help the players, but what other option do we have as paying fans who watch this shit, week in week out.

With Lawrence on the right side we did have options going forward, but Lennie had a game that can only be described as awful, every cross was shin-high and his passing and control was just never there. He was later substituted for Stead later in the second half and deservedly so by Quinn.
As the second half started Sunderland in spells played a lot better with focus and aim in their movements forward, this was largely through Stead who had a good game creating passes and movement that was not evident in the first 45 minutes.

The equaliser came thankfully from a pass to Stead to Murphy who got to the by-line (finally) to cross in for an easy header for Elliott.

The equaliser breathed new life into the average squad and lead to a few chances which should have killed the Plymouth boys off. A glancing header from Murphy which was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by their goalkeeper, and a drilled effort from Elliott was again tipped around the post.

The luck again was not on our side but the chances that we missed were not the reason we were beaten today, it was in my mind to do with one player, Danny Collins. Every touch or clearance looked nervy and to say he looked comfortable on the ball would be the biggest lie I have ever told.
So as usual the game was decided by a stupid mistake which again should have been cleared by Collins, instead he let it bounce, then fall over and gift the opposition a goal that any player would pay money for.

The team that I witnessed this afternoon is the McCarthy generation but although we were dreadful last season, we were up against some quality sides. Today we were beaten by a team who we last beat 5-1 at home, and have the likes of Barry Hayles up front, who tore apart our defence throughout the game.
Times are getting worrying for a Sunderland fan, three games into the season with no points and only two new additions, who have not made any impact as of yet. The hopeful arrival of SKP is the only positive I can take from watching this dismal display.

Man of the Match – Stead for the 30mins he was on.