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Ahead of Saturday's game at The Hawthorns, we
spoke with Sunderland fan Joe.
He gives us his views on Sam Allardyce, his team's start to the season, their
prospects under 'Big Sam', and
more. You can follow Joe on Twitter
@j_m_tilbury.
We have to start
with the appointment of Sam Allardyce, how’s it been received by Sunderland fans
in general and your personal thoughts on his arrival?
Allardyce has been warmly
received by Sunderland fans for sure. With our previous few managers (Di Canio,
Poyet, Advocaat) it has been hard to get fully excited by because they hadn’t
managed in the Premier League before and you couldn't be sure they would able to
cut it at this level. With Allardyce, you know what you’re going to get; his
methods might not be the easiest on the eye, but they’ve been proven to get
results for years now and at the moment that’s all I, and Sunderland fans, are
really bothered about.
Were there any
other names mentioned who you would have liked to have seen given the role?
Allardyce was the obvious choice
amongst a poor list, but if he hadn’t taken the job, I would have liked to have
seen Sean Dyche take it. He impressed me last season with his attitude and the
way he motivated his players last season, however he seems to be in for the long
haul with Burnley. Realistically we were never going to get Brendan Rodgers so
soon after leaving Liverpool and the other main candidates, Nigel Pearson and
Bob Bradley would have all but sealed our relegation.
I think it’s
fair to say that Sunderland have been struggling now for a couple of seasons –
any particular reasons why? How can it be turned around?
We’re currently in a much better
position than we have been in previous seasons. We have a man in charge with
Premier League experience, who is actually the Manager and not the Head Coach.
This all but ends the farcical Director of Football experiment, which has seen
us make some of the worst signings in recent times. Allardyce will be able to
choose and buy his own players, which is more than Di Canio, Poyet or Advocaat
had, and should give us a fighting chance of improving on our poor recent
seasons.
How have
performances been this season? Is your league placing a fair reflection of the
performances?
I would say we definitely
deserve to be in and around the bottom of the league, because the performances
in the Leicester, Norwich and Bournemouth games were as bad as it gets. However
we should definitely have taken more points from the games against Spurs and
West Ham, and on other days could have won both of those games.
Has any player
stood out so far?
It’s been a poor start to the
season to say the least, and the only player to come out of it with any real
credibility has been Yann M’Vila. He has been brilliant, with the vision,
tackling and calmness on the ball of a player of the best sides in the division.
Had he not come by the Russian Premier League, I doubt he would have come to the
likes of us at all. He’s the only player who has shown any level of consistency.
Similarly, has
anyone been particularly disappointing?
Younes Kaboul definitely falls
into the category of ‘worst signings in recent times’. He has been a total
liability in defence. We all thought he’d turned a corner with a half decent
performance against Spurs, he gave arguably his worst against Bournemouth the
week after where he was at fault for Wilson’s opener and was sent off for two
needless yellow cards. You need to question what Lee Congerton saw in him to
bring him to the club. Patrick van Aanholt has also offered nothing in defence
for a left back and has spent the season so far being constantly caught out of
position. He was dropped for the first time in the last game against West Ham
and I can’t see him getting back in the team. Lee Cattermole had a shocking
start to the season, giving away two penalties against Leicester and Aston Villa
but after a spell on the sidelines has come back into the team and looked much
improved. Other players such as Steven Fletcher and Billy Jones had also had
poor starts to the season but were much improved against West Ham so could still
yet come good.
Prediction for
Sunderland’s season, can Allardyce turn it around?
I think there is definitely
enough quality in the squad going forward, and hopefully under Allardyce’s
stewardship we can tighten up at the back. With the addition of another younger,
leader at centre back we should be alright, although it will be another tough
season. I’d expect us to finish around 15th, but after the start of the season
I’d take that.
Prediction for Albion’s season?
I think Albion will finish in
the top of the bottom half. I was impressed by the signing of Rondon, and I
think once he settles in, he will turn out to be a good signing. I am also a
huge fan of Jonny Evans and wish we’d signed him. If we did, I don’t think we’d
be having the defensive problems we’ve been experiencing. Pulls is a similar
manager to Allardyce, unspectacular but solid so I can’t see you struggling
much. I think you will end up around 12th.
Premier League
champions?
Although Manchester City’s form
has been somewhat indifferent over the opening games of the season, they have the
quality and strength in depth to maintain a title challenge.
Relegated?
I’m not going to predict us to
go down, so my three are Aston Villa,
Bournemouth and
Newcastle. It was always
questionable whether Bournemouth would stay up, and the loss of the likes of
Wilson, Mings and Gradel might be too much for them over the course of the
season. Villa have lost some huge players for them in Benteke, Delph and Vlaar
and I don’t think that the players that they've brought in are of the same
standard. Newcastle
just seem to have problems all over the pitch, and with the loss of Krul I can’t
see three worse teams than them.
What line-up and tactics can we
expect to see from Sunderland on Saturday?
With the new manager coming in,
it’s hard to say what formation and tactics Allardyce might employ on Saturday,
but I can’t see the line up being too much different in terms of personnel from
the West Ham game, allowing for the suspended Coates and Lens.
Prediction and
thoughts on the game?
I think it will be a tight game
with only a couple of goals if any. I’m not expecting miracles in Allardyce’s
first game, so I’ll go for a 1-1 draw.
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