The Fish

I'm just not getting my hopes up. And I've been consistent with my position; they're shite, but I don't think they'll go down. It's a dragon, isn't it? Fuck knows what it's called

I've seen a lot of shit about how Serie A is close this season, therefore it's better than the Premier League. I think it's just an aberrant season with runaway leaders in pretty much all of the English leagues. The Premier League is pretty poor this season, even clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal are not pulling up any trees, and the rest of the league has had a bit of a panic. 8 clubs have changed their manager so far and you can guarantee should teams like West Brom and West Ham still be in the relegation battle towards the end of the season, they'll swing the axe again. They've all appointed thoroughly uninspiring managers as well. Allardyce, Hodgson, Moyes, Pardew (ffs). Pussies.

He's extremely litigious. You know how for most public figures there's a section on their Wiki page about "controversy" or "Legal case". There's an entire page dedicated to "Legal affairs of Donald Trump" and another one just for the cases raised since he became President. From the former

Mine's all right now. Had a mate look over it and offer suggestions a while ago, and he totally reworked it and put it into businessese. Massive error because all the terms and buzzwords he used made me sound a right cunt and after a few weeks of trusting his judgement and getting nothing, I switched to a less Wanker Banker style and I got a much better response. Agree about recruiters being total cunts mind. They see the headline of a CV and don't understand the industries or geography and give you a call anyway. I was offered <£18k jobs in London, >£70k jobs (which I'm not qualified for) and when you explain to the recruiter that's not what you're after they sound like you've wasted their time. All agents are cunts imo; estate, recruitment, talent, letting, football, secret.

I think a combination of Premier League teams outside the top 6 having stagnated for a while, and the style of play from the promoted sides has had an influence on the table. Teams like Swansea, Stoke, West Brom, West Ham, etc. All of them are directionless, what are they aiming for, what are their identities? Even Southampton, once a conveyor belt of young talent and a stylish footballing side, now seem rudderless. What's made it worse for the aforementioned clubs are the appointments they've made, all fairly ordinary, pragmatic football managers. And all of the appointments were made with one thing in mind, short-term survival. Which in and of itself leads inevitably to future struggles. Surely the idea for the clubs who cannot financially compete with the top clubs, must be to play good football, produce good young players, grow the brand globally, target cup competitions and so on? The kind of clubs that would truly benefit from a Director of Football, someone who, when the player moves to Madrid, or the Manager to Spurs, has replacements already lined up and ready to go. Players who fit the football that the club expects and a manager who can deliver it?

Lost any mote of sympathy for him years ago. He's had more chances than most and with the talent he's got he could/should have been at least a Championship level striker for his career. Earning a very good wage, doing the thing he loves, in front of fans that would sing his name, and having a life most of us would have loved. It's not like he's got done for drink driving, or been caught in a one off sex-scandal, the lad has consistently acted the cunt for years. Manager after manager has taken a chance on him and been rewarded with a litany of misdemeanors. He'll end up playing non-league and very soon after he'll turn up in the sports pages promising to turn his life round, about 6 months later there'll be a story about him selling stolen goods out the back of the club minibus.

Has any other manager said "Yes I know what my budget is"? When you buy a car, do you tell the dealer "I've got £Xk to spend, what've you got?" Do you shite.

Making the same gamble Ashley does with us? In thinking what he's got is enough.

I'm not making it out to be a huge draw or anything, but Player A is more likely to want to join Sunderland over, say, Burton or Ipswich etc. Certainly if Sunderland are offering more money. Which I think Short has to. You think I'm voicing an unpopular opinion to avoid criticism from Sunderland fans? If they don't sign anyone they're in deep shit and will surely be in a relegation battle for the rest of the season at best. That alone should force Short's hand. Don't get me wrong I'm enjoying their troubles, I just don't think it's done and dusted.

I know Aston Villa weren't in as bad a situation (obviously), but they spent in the January window last season, didn't they? At least that wouldn't cost much.

Plenty of players who'll be good enough to keep them in that league will take the chance to go play for one of the biggest clubs in that league. Just like people still get excited about joining Leeds. They need to sign players like Daryl Murphy, Grant Hanley.. experienced Championship players who can turn draws to wins and losses to draws.

I always enjoy our little chats Quiffy.

Well that's the dream.

They could still get money for Ndong, Kone, Khazri (is he still there)? There might be some of their young lads that clubs higher up the league might fancy taking a chance on. Say they pull £10m from player sales, and Short ponies up another £5-£10m, that £15m-£20m would be 10x what the other sides around the Championship relegation spots could spend. Sunderland shouldn't be in this shit, even though their team is crap and their manager is average. They're still better than Burton Albion on paper, ditto Bolton and Birmingham. Their problem is they didn't overhaul the squad enough, they didn't use the relegation as an opportunity to clean the slate. I want to be clear Sunderland are a shitshow, but if those responsible make all but the stupidest decisions, they should survive.

No idea, if Grabban does go? We spent £15m on Gayle in a less inflated market. Don't think they need someone as good as Gayle, but a reliable Championship striker like Daryl Murphy could do a job for what, £6m? They need a CB, some pace on the flanks... I am literally grabbing numbers, but £20-£30m? Money talks, and has always been a decisive bargaining chip for teams who're a bit more remote. If Short doesn't spend, the club won't be worth £60m because it will be in League 1, with Jack Rodwell still pulling £50k or whatever it is. So while throwing £30m at the club may seem to be putting 50% of his asking price on a gamble of staying up, failing to guarantees their relegation and the evaporation of any hope of getting close to his asking price.

Seasons with Sociedad, and his stint as Wales manager returned about 1.4 PpG Even his runs with Fulham in the Premier League returned about 1.25PpG

Aye, when you get to that stratospheric level of deal it doesn't really make a difference, does it? Especially when it's a bit of saga, see Coutinho too. To be honest, the VVD transfer should have been sorted in the summer. Similar to De Gea and Coutinho's moves to Spain. The margins aren't as important to those transfers as they are to teams like us.

If it were to keep them in the Premier League I'd agree that it's unlikely that Short would stump up his own cash. But realistically League 1 is football oblivion, Blackburn, Leeds and Portsmouth have never really recovered. Those warnings should surely convince Short to stump up the tens of millions it'd require to plug the gaps in that Sunderland side?

Coleman has it in him to get a side onto about 1.4PpG which should be enough for survival.

He's significantly improved their PpG and GA, although they're scoring fewer. If Short backs him in the window, as I anticipate he'll feel forced to, I think they'll see a further up tick.

c50pts has been enough for survival, which means they'll need about 7pts from every 5 games. 2 wins and a draw and two losses, or 1 win and 4 draws. The former is more likely of the two, and neither is likely. However, I cannot imagine Short failing to put enough into the club to keep them up. Selling a struggling Championship club is one thing, selling a League 1 club is a whole other barrel of fish. That's got to be terrifying enough to force his hand?

It's not ridiculous Ginger Quim, I said if Coleman does things then they should survive. If he doesn't, then they won't.

I've said it all season. Don't get me wrong, they're in the shit, but if the logical steps are taken they should survive. If, however, the squad isn't significantly improved (and should Grabban rejoin his parent club), then they're fucked.