1 hour to go

1 hour to go and still glued to the box and pc looking at the last days signings - so far so good with some good signings. Post about it tomorrow when the dust settles. What do you think of the new players fellow bloggers?

Message from Niall

Dear Coxhoe Branch,

"It's a great feeling. I'm so proud of those players. People tuned in to see us spanked again today. For them to come out and perform like that, I'm so proud of them."My role at the club will be different, I'll remember what those players did today. The new manager coming in knows he's got characters in there. A lot was put at those players in the last couple of weeks and they could have felt sorry for themselves."It was almost astonishing when you consider what they have been through in the last three weeks."Chris Brown came in from the cold in many ways and performed as if he has been there for a while, he was fantastic."Grant [Leadbitter] led the team on. Dean Whitehead, what a chance he has now, working with one of the greats in his position. The sky's the limit now for Deano, to learn from one of the all-time greats."I was so pleased the players won that game the right way. They passed it with confidence. They impressed their new manager I would say. I think he knows he's got soemthing to work with, it's in there."I'm pleased the club is in the best possible hands, the best that was available - Roy Keane. I'm so pleased with the person we've managed to attract, I think everyone around Sunderland can feel good tonight, for the first time in a long time."I'm looking forward to seeing the players learn from Roy. He brought a buzz to the place today and my players responded. They fought for their futures and they showed what they wanted to show to the [new] manager."He felt that if he signed [a contract] yesterday he would want to pick the team, and the players had already been told the team; so he said he would do it after the game."Roy being introduced to the players yesterday, you could almost see them standing up an inch or two taller and saying, 'We're working with that man, that's incredible'."You get the sense that everyone got such a lift. It's going to be a great time for the club. The people of Sunderland can now see we mean business, I'm pleased for the people who backed me."The demands on the players at a club like Sunderland are big anyway, it's a demanding place; but they will have new standards now."He [Keane] interviewed us for the job. He's such an impressive guy. His desire and passion is amazing. He's a world-class attraction and I'm really looking forward to giving him the support that he'll need."There is no question of him playing."I felt sorry for Sunderland fans in the last couple of years. We're here fighting and we're hoping it's going to work. It's hard work and the standards will have to be lifted now."We have three days now [to bring players in before the transfer window closes]. We'll go and try to help him out in the next few days."I think there was a buzz at the end that suggested people who were at the match might tell other people. I'm confident that the fans will come back."All the best,
Niall
Sunderland 2 West Bromwich Albion 0 Click here for match report.
Next match: Derby County v Sunderland, Saturday September 9 (3pm).
Click here for all the latest ticket information.

Keane agrees terms

on www.safc.com now.

Mourhino.... The secret of my success

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UBZWz33rSE

FIGHT, FIGHT !!!

On the SMB right now between the 2 self proclaimed Uber Fans, WHED and Superfan ( aka Gary Lamb)

My money's on Murton.

What do you reckon?

Keane / Kidd Combo

thats no 1 and No 2 to you.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


How many will it get back.

Not me yet.

New Manager

So is it Roy Keane ?????????

What a shambles!!!

Quinny get looking down the leagues and get some experienced old heads into this club of ours before we are well and truly ferked.

I tell you what we all pilloried Jeff Whitley while he was with us, I was one of his biggest critics, but compared to this lot he was PELE!

If I had any hair left I'd tear the fucking lot out.

Phillips:- Will Quinn never learn?

What is the point of broadcasting who you are going to sign, raise the expectations of fans and then find yourself having to eat your words?

We've heard about magic carpet rides, big name managers and premier class players. What have we got? Full backs from West Ham who we couldn't sign a year ago, B class Barcelona players and midfield players from Le Havre, who've spent the last year on loan at the French equivalent of Blyth Spartans.

Quinny, much as I love you, just button it. Keep your gob shut until you've done the business.

He don't like it up him.

From yesterdays Observer, 20/8/06

Colo Colo's Hector Mancilla says he's "Calm" after being caught punching a defender who ' rammed a finger up his rectum' (Chile press).

'I've never been violent, but this guy was too much,' says Mancilla, facing FA sanctions.

'He put his finger up me: any man would have hit the guy. Apart from the sort of men who like such things and I am not one of those'

Quinn sees the light.

"I'm gutted for the fans, and I'm gutted for the players, cos I've had to tell some of them they are not good enough"

Who are they?

Miller,
Stead
Whitehead
Wright
Collins
Kyle
Elliot
et al.

Chase the lot.

Has it ever been this bad?

Well, has it?

Time we got back to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd2HXdQAhMg

Leeds club statement!!

Follow link to Leeds website - this is true!

CLUB STATEMENT
Leeds United have issued a statement in response to Chelsea's announcement that they have lodged a formal complaint with the Football Association against chairman Ken Bates.A club spokesman said: "We are totally amused and look forward to receiving their (Chelsea Football Club's) detailed evidence to support their complaint."Meanwhile, Leeds chairman Ken Bates said: "I haven't laughed so much since Ma caught her tits in the mangle."
Leeds United will be making no further comment at this stage.

Message from Nial

Dear Coxhoe Branch,
I'm deeply disappointed - I saw the good, the bad and the ugly of this club out there today.
We're trying to get them to play a certain type of football. When we got the [early] goal, I thought we would settle.
Our reaction to the equaliser was disappointing. Heads went down and we became disjointed, you could smell mistakes in the air. That's disappointing for me - I need characters to burst through that and deal with situations and be strong.
We got the subs on and livened up the crowd but we threw it away.
Murphy is excluded from any criticism I make, he did great work for us up front and in the wide position. I wouldn't criticise Grant Leadbitter either.
To come away and press the self-destruct button was disappointing.
My players will have to respond now. Heads drop when we concede and decision-making stops - there's a gremlin here and it's to do with confidence.
To go a goal up against Plymouth early on we should be OK. That didn't happen; there was a real lack of confidence we have to address.
Everyone who was at that match today - and their dog - would know we need to freshen it up with new faces. I need a response from the players here, but only the tough will survive now.
The more games we lose, the harder it is to attract people to come to the club.
I'm anxious to bring faces in, to get the type of players we need. We just need to turn a corner and get the crowd happy.
We should have got that win today - and we didn't play well.
All the best,
Niall

Ee by gum what a start to the new season

Went down to Coventry last Sunday - not a bad drinkingb hole I found for the branch - a good pint and even black pudding on the bar. Ground was a typical new one that was less than half full - we were singing shit ground no fans and couldn't sell all your tickets etc ... one guy near me said we shouldn't sing that until we see how many go to our home games this season.
The game was basically the same as last season with plenty of guts and stamina with a bit of good passing but to let in slip in a few daft minutes was un-thinkable and must be cut out as we progress through the season. We ambled out of the ground down but not dis-heartened saying well we never win at Coventry (but we should be!!!) Then it was back to Rossy in the bus and off on our journey home did we have any brakes on the coach or not it was hard to tell.

Wednesday came around fairly fast and after asking who was going we had 2 or 3 that came un-announced only to be told that they must inform me in future if they want to travel. In teh end we had 32 on a 33 seater coach and made £12 profit on the fares together with the branch winning the domino card we added another profit to the kitty.
The game I believe was worse than the Coventry game with not as much fight, Lawrenson was again aweful but he is playing on the left and not on the right. I was just saying to a steward that this game will end up 1:0 to the Brum when a penalty was awarded as I finished getting my words out of my mouth. So it ended 0:1 to Brum and again we all walked out at the end dejected with fans saying it will be a long time before he (Quinny) fills this ground.

So we set off home and to cap the night off the coach broke down - wheel bearings at the back went and the tyre was rubbing against the inside well - replacement coach needed so we got home late as well as dejected.

Hope things improve on Saturday!

Jim Gilling

New season approaches. Howay man bloggers ....

.... let's be having some postings!

I'm off work at home this week and have been stuck in the house due to the weather. I've visited the blog several times during the week but no activity at all. I've tried a couple of postings but no responses. We're off to Majorca first thing on Monday morning so I'll miss the first two home games and the start of "Sir Nialls" reign. What do you reckon the season holds for us and our unwashed cousins up the road? I'll start :-

Sunderland
Exciting times but not a lot has changed yet on the playing side. Many +ve points though with SNQ in charge but still in the honeymoon period. There are a number of poor sides in the Championship but also a number who are well equipped for promotion (WBA, Birmingham, Leeds etc). Hope I'm proved wrong and SNQ can bring about an immediate revival but I think this will be a transitional season and we'll do well to finish in the play-offs.

N*******e
Same old story (Duff - "I've come here to win trophies") same old outcome - mid table, no silverware. Listening to 3 legends last night and the Mags were all predicting top 6 etc. I think they must be delusional - what tablets should they be taking Jack? Pretty soon the "money tree" is going to run out of funds, robbed by FFS and the Halls, and they'll wake up to find themselves in a similar position to Leeds (hopefully!).

Smoggies
Southgate will struggle. "Golden age" has been and gone. Mid table, no silverware.

Howay bloggers, get posting with your comments/predictions!

Chelsea scouting system