Competing to be the NE top dogs

[Geppetto]

We’ve played the 13th, 16th , 17th 18th and 19th teams in the league .

And 3rd?

 

[Sabreblade]

Don’t care how much they’ve spent their squad looks pretty honking in my opinion like I wouldn’t swap ours for there’s genuinely

 

[Paddock Poster]

And 3rd?

And we haven’t lost to any of the five teams we’ve played that were in the Premier League last year, including The FA Cup Winners. Three of the five are playing in Europe. There are no weak teams in the PL and those we’ve played all have a sound pedigree. And It’s not unrealistic to say we should improve when all the new signings have played more than a few games together.

 

[cluffy]

I’m just taking each game as it comes. Great to go into the second international break ahead of the stinkers.
I’d be amazed if we’re still above them by the end of the month but we’ll see…

 

[GingerNick]

Rose tinted specs I am afraid, we are improving and hard to beat, but they are not in the champions league cos they are lucky

 

[Hulkster]

God I used to hate people going on about this even when it was an even contest.

Bald men fighting over a comb.

 

[redranger65]

They finish top 5

 

[alunb]

God I used to hate people going on about this even when it was an even contest.

Bald men fighting over a comb.

Gateshead

 

[NGPost]

We’ve played the 13th, 16th , 17th 18th and 19th teams in the league .

What position would they be if we hadn't beat them

 

[safctommie]

Liverpool,Arsenal,Man City and Chelsea. The likely top 4 this season. Is there really anyone else in the league we cannot compete with over 38 games?

 

[Geppetto]

And we haven’t lost to any of the five teams we’ve played that were in the Premier League last year, including The FA Cup Winners. Three of the five are playing in Europe. There are no weak teams in the PL and those we’ve played all have a sound pedigree. And It’s not unrealistic to say we should improve when all the new signings have played more than a few games together.

And we have the youngest squad in the league which will continue to develop and get better.
Imagine being a mag from Durham

Embarrassing.

 

[Johnny Gently]

What position would they be if we hadn't beat them

We also drew away at the team currently 3rd, no mean feat, they just beat Liverpool.

 

[DJM]

We are North East
They are Middle East

This sums it up for me.
There is no contest. We are top dogs by default. Our closest rivals are a small Yorkshire team.

 

[PaulG]

We’ve played the 13th, 16th , 17th 18th and 19th teams in the league .

Yeah, they're all crap and it's been a cakewalk. Let's ignore the fact that we've taken 11pts from teams that finished 6th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 14th in the Premier League last season. And lost to one that finished 24pts ahead of us in the Championship.

 

[DonaldDownTheWing]

This

Mags have also played bottom of the league Wolves

I think internally that’s the goal - not that they’d ever admit it

Its nowhere near a CL squad.

Their defenders are bang average and aging

Their MF is very decent at one role, albeit I’d say Tonali could be outstanding

Their attackers run lots and create lots but struggle to see who’s giving them 20 goals.

Our defence is better, keepers better, they’re better in midfield and our attackers are similar - they create more but neither will have a prolific scorer

Not sure I get what you mean about their defence. Hall is 21, Livramento is 22, Thiaw is 24.

I’m all for being biased towards sunderland, but when things you say are objectively untrue things like this happen.

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[CARLOS CLASS]

It’s highly unlikely we will finish above them
For this season I would be very happy if we stay up relatively comfortably and beat them at the SOL

 

[CheersMarra84]

Not sure I get what you mean about their defence. Hall is 21, Livramento is 22, Thiaw is 24.

I’m all for being biased towards sunderland, but when things you say are objectively untrue things like this happen.

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Their fans seem to laud Botman for some reason, and I’ve yet to see him play consistently well. He’s slow as fuck, flaps when put under pressure and always injured. Livramento is a decent player mind, probably their best defender.

 

[Geppetto]

Not sure I get what you mean about their defence. Hall is 21, Livramento is 22, Thiaw is 24.

I’m all for being biased towards sunderland, but when things you say are objectively untrue things like this happen.

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But as you'd expect that skunk that is never off here hasn't given a balanced response either.

Trippier is 35
Schar is 33
Burn is 33

They are all regulars and are aging, which supports the original point. Whilst Burn is a solid defender, I think most would agree they're surprised he's getting caps for England. In addition, Trippier is no longer a regular and probably never really was.

Add Krafth at 31 and the average age of their defence is 28 including Hall, Livramento, Botman and Thiaw, assuming the ages you've stated are accurate.

Their fans seem to laud Botman for some reason, and I’ve yet to see him play consistently well. He’s slow as fuck, flaps when put under pressure and always injured. Livramento is a decent player mind, probably their best defender.

I think he's a solid defender, what he perhaps lacks in pace he makes up for it by using his strength, height and general football IQ. Bould was similar, it was rare he was left one on one with a defender as he was always aware of the risks and could anticipate things allowing him to respond quickly and be proactive.

 

[Roker Mackem]

I see youve made @Deludedof @Brian Griffin

Proud day?

 

[fyl2u]

I’ve been holding off on saying this, because it’s Sunderland and we all know how quickly things can change, but without getting too far ahead of ourselves, I genuinely think we have an opportunity to flip a script that may have been easy to accept just a short while ago. When the mags got taken over by the Saudis and became 'the richest club in the werrrld', I remember the chat on here at the time and I felt the same. Loads of concern that we would be left behind forever, we were in League One so it wasn’t hard to feel like it. I remember posts like, 'that’s it, we’ll never be able to compete with them again', and, 'all the top young players in the area will be sucked up by their academy now'. I would love to look back at that thread if can find it.

Yet here we are, and it feels like we’re on the cusp of building something sustainable and potentially long-term. A proper identity, signing young, hungry players who want to prove themselves, who clearly get the club and the city. Players with character, not just ability, and importantly, we’re giving youth a chance. There’s a pathway here, which you can see from afar. From the outside, the mags are starting to look like a bit of a soulless machine, all cash, no connection. There’s a growing respect for how we’re doing things from fans outside the region who are noticing it, which I witness firsthand as an exile. If you’re a talented young player coming through in the North East right now, and someone asked which academy you’d rather be in, where would you point them?

We’re on the rise, doing it properly, and if we keep going like this, all those fears will be long gone or potentially even reversed. It's crazy to think back to this time and look at what KLD and the team have done in such a short space of time when at one point all felt lost.

Let's stick it right up them. HWTL.

I don't consider that team up the road to be our rivals anymore. When the Saudis took over, the old Newcastle United ceased to exist, died, went defunct. Where that team used to be there's now a Saudi sportswashing pay2win organisation squatting there. We don't have a proper rival team anymore.