Congrats Sir Bob


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Pakistani consortium? I remember rumours of Mandric and nowt else.
No, don't remeber the 50's but the two 7th places were scandously thrown away, the blame for that depends on who you wish to blame, Reid or Murray..or both.

Yep Pakastani consortium in the early/mid nineties. It was just after Brum had a bit of a nightmare with the Kumar brothers and Murray wouldn't trust the club in the hands of people who didn't have it's interests at heart.

And I blame Reid for that, as he was the one who got slack and wasted fortunes, on players he'd never seen, players he never played and not realising what had made his side succesful in the first place. Murray was only at fault for not pulling him into check sooner.
 
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Yep Pakastani consortium in the early/mid nineties. It was just after Brum had a bit of a nightmare with the Kumar brothers and Murray wouldn't trust the club in the hands of people who didn't have it's interests at heart.

And I blame Reid for that, as he was the one who got slack and wasted fortunes, when it was always available to him. Murray was only at fault for not pulling him into check sooner.

Reid should have went as soon as he wouldn't leave the dugout. That should have been Murrays trigger....
 
Congratulations Sir Bob.

To me the hightlight of his tenure as chairman was the 2-1 in the rain, loved the cup run but seeing a completed SoL for the first time it looked like aliens had dropped something accidently into a very average looking town.
 
Reid should have went as soon as he wouldn't leave the dugout. That should have been Murrays trigger....

I could understand why Murray dithered and gave him more time - being the best/most succesful manager he'd appointed and such. However that just went to show how he was out of place at the level we were aiming for.
 
I missed this comment and you've hit the nail on the head.

I'm completely bemused how anyone can underestimate RSM's legacy of the SOL and AOL. It's like the 'what did the Romans ever do for us?' sketch.

The earth must have shifted on it's axis, as that's twice I've been forced to agree with you in less than a week.

I think you're referring to my alter-ego ...... the miserable and argumentative, bitter & twisted, lying bastard that he is ;)
 
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Lousy chairman. He had several opportunities to move SAFC on and got it wrong every single time. Shame because the guy is SAFC to his very core.

A hugely successful businessman, based on long term planning and following it through, but totally inept at, due to his introvert character, coping with the dynamics of football.

But Sir RSM gave us the SOL, on time and within budget, and the SAFC Foundation. The SAFC Foundation that got Lord Quinn involved in SAFC after his playing days were over.

Ok, congrats Sir RSM, but the wasted opportunities re SAFC (on the pitch, where it really matters and the rest follows) still stand.

100% agree,you missed out the div 3 sabatical though.
 
100% agree,you missed out the div 3 sabatical though.

Purely from memory, so don't go asking me for links and proof.

Murray was a non-football man and had little experience to fall back on .......... Reid was let go by Notts County for being drunk most of the time. There wasn't a huge queue for his services. Murray took a chance because he was cheap.

Wilkinson, at that time, was well regarded and had won the league title ......... he's still able to make a living out of the game and held some important positions.

Murray did his best for Sunderland, no one's perfect.
 
You could hardly lay that one at Murray's door though, it's a bit like blaming McCarthy for the 19 point side.
I remember when we went up at the first attempt and Murray was interviewed on the front page of the S Echo. He indicated that he had gone into hiding for a year as he was so ashamed that we had gone into that division on his watch. We should have known then what would happen.

The AOL of course turned into a farce and if you remember we went cap in hand to the City Council to use the basically derelict Crowtree Leisure Centre as our training facility. :oops:

Still he did - twice - get us 7th place - not a bad return for 20 years work. :oops:
 
I remember when we went up at the first attempt and Murray was interviewed on the front page of the S Echo. He indicated that he had gone into hiding for a year as he was so ashamed that we had gone into that division on his watch. We should have known then what would happen.

The AOL of course turned into a farce and if you remember we went cap in hand to the City Council to use the basically derelict Crowtree Leisure Centre as our training facility. :oops:

Still he did - twice - get us 7th place - not a bad return for 20 years work. :oops:

You don't like Henderson then?

You could hardly lay that one at Murray's door though, it's a bit like blaming McCarthy for the 19 point side.

Losing all 9/10 games was certainly helpful to the cause. :lol:
 
if you are going to attribute the relegations to Murray then you have to then give him all the credit for the promotions

All the promotions followed relegations so theres not much credit there.the sol cant be faulted though ,but we have nissan to thank for not having to treck into one of those horrible out of the city locations.
 
All the promotions followed relegations so theres not much credit there.the sol cant be faulted though ,but we have nissan to thank for not having to treck into one of those horrible out of the city locations.

RSM's footballing nous certainly doesn't stand scrutiny, but when it comes to old style 'chairmen' he's hardly alone in that respect.

I don't know why apparently he initially preferred the Nissan site. Perhaps ease of access was a priority.

Having said that, plan B didn't work out too badly did it?

Yes, unlike the unrivalled success of every else over the last 50 years.

Oh, do fuck off.

You've done nothing to deserve that. I'm just keeping my hand in.
 
The AOL of course turned into a farce and if you remember we went cap in hand to the City Council to use the basically derelict Crowtree Leisure Centre as our training facility. :oops:
Still he did - twice - get us 7th place - not a bad return for 20 years work. :oops:

How's it a farce?

As usual you forget, rather conveniently, that academy status changed after we had submitted the original plans for the AOL.


In 1997 Sunderland A.F.C. underwent a rebirth. In that year the club moved to a new home (the Stadium of Light) and club owner Bob Murray and chairman John Fickling put forward proposals for a new world-class academy that would hopefully secure Sunderland's long-term future.

The Academy was to be built on acquired land opposite Sunderland's current training ground, on disused farmland. From the outset, the proposals were beset with problems. Sunderland's training ground was on the green belt between Sunderland and South Shields. Planning permission for building on the green belt is only granted in exceptional circumstances.

Sunderland's original plans were ambitious - amongst them, the club planned to build an indoor training centre and hostel. Local opposition was fierce, claiming that an area of rural wildlife would be destroyed and the green belt would be weakened, causing a merging of Sunderland and South Tyneside. Sunderland were forced to withdrawn the submission and investigate alternative sites in the region.




In 1999 the club resubmitted a proposal, for the same site as the previous plan, but in which the height of the new developments would not be built any higher than the existing agricultural buildings. New lighting technology would reduce the effect of floodlights on the local area, and extensive re-seeding would benefit wildlife on the site. In total, the Academy would have a 12% smaller 'footprint' than the original farm buildings. Despite being recommended for acceptance by planning inspectors, the Local Planning Authority rejected the proposal on the grounds that it encroached on the green belt and risked causing a merging of the connurbations of City of Sunderland and South Tyneside.
Sunderland appealed, and following a public inquiry in September 1999, the Secretary of State for the Environment John Prescott overturned the ruling, stating that the benefits the Academy would bring to the community and region justified building on the green-belt. He was convinced that Sunderland had rigorously investigated alternative sites, and he went on to say that the green-belt would not be in danger, as the site had a smaller footprint than the previous site layout. Following the ruling, the Green Belt Action Group (GBAG) continued to protest against the plans. They felt the landscaping plans would ruin the 'rural' appearance of the area, and the fencing and mounding would create a 'visual barrier'[1]. One of their biggest criticisms was that Sunderland were 'moving the goalposts', as their building plans were significantly different from those originally submitted in 1999.

Work began on the Academy in November 2001 by Gateshead-based building firm Tolent Construction. However only a month later in December, Sunderland enraged the site protesters by resubmitted plans for further amendments to the site. The addition of an indoor training barn and an on-site hostel were seen by Sunderland to be essential requirements to keeping the site at Academy status. Sunderland claimed that in 1999 these elements were desired but unrealistic, but in 2001 they had been added to the list of essential Academy elements by the FA, and therefore to retain Academy status, Sunderland were obliged to include them in the plans. Sunderland submitted the application in May 2002, and in August the plans were reject by South Tyneside council, who said: We felt they were inappropriate for the green belt

And no body got us to 7th 20 years before him.
 
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“I absolutely worship him. He’s quite wonderfully good, and has an amazing way of making you feel part of a very special family. He lives and breathes that club. I was watching him (at a Spurs v SAFC game) and you could see that every kick, every movement of the game was etched on his body. He has effectively poured his life into the club. The most ardent fan of Sunderland AFC hasn’t a quarter of the commitment Bob has got”

Lord Puttnam on worshipping Bob Murray. Truly he was the greatest.

Read more: http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...erland&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk#ixzz15kiBAwwC
 
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I remember when we went up at the first attempt and Murray was interviewed on the front page of the S Echo. He indicated that he had gone into hiding for a year as he was so ashamed that we had gone into that division on his watch. We should have known then what would happen.

The AOL of course turned into a farce and if you remember we went cap in hand to the City Council to use the basically derelict Crowtree Leisure Centre as our training facility. :oops:

Still he did - twice - get us 7th place - not a bad return for 20 years work. :oops:

why the fuck do you need to make things up. nutter
 
All done to death this, but well done Bob. Were it not for him, despite his shortcomings, we would probably be playing in league one at Roker Park in front of 19,000 when full and hoping to muscle our way into promotion to the Championship.
 
i dont really see what the argument is.
aye he made a few bad decisions and we saw some awful relegations but he was always a good bloke, the facilites for the club are world class and thats down to him, he told quinny to do the takeover, he made it as eays as possible. and i think its often overlooked but he did his best to keep prices down at sunderland aswell. local man done good and took over his home club, doing his best and overseeing some of the best times in decades. sorry but cheers bob. some on here are just nuts
 
why the fuck do you need to make things up. nutter
Make what up?

The Sunderland Echo carried the article on the front page. also the AOL bit was true. He ahd to go cap in hand to the Council to use Crowtree. Well discussed on here at the time.

You can apologise anytime. :)
 
Make what up?

The Sunderland Echo carried the article on the front page. also the AOL bit was true. He ahd to go cap in hand to the Council to use Crowtree. Well discussed on here at the time.

You can apologise anytime. :)

Would you care to respond to Perry's post #134.
 
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