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Grim72ftm: Posted on 10 May 2012 15:36
 As we near the end of another season in the top flight of
English football I thought I’d take the opportunity to reflect on what has been
one hell of a rollercoaster ride of a season.
The start of the season was one of hope and optimism. We had
signed a staggering number of players, bringing in a dozen new players to
bolster the squad and push us up the table to new heights. The likes of O’Shea
and Wes Brown were exciting and much needed additions to the defence, while the
likes of Larsson, Gardner and Vaughan were added to the midfield and
expectations were raised further with the signing of one of the country’s
hottest prospects in Connor Wickham, whilst Nicolas Bendtner was also brought
in on loan from Arsenal. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 18 April 2012 17:26
Goal line technology is back in the headlines again, after
yet another howling gaff by a referee and his assistants. It appears that that
the dinosaurs that govern our once-beautiful game are finally beginning to
accept the inevitable introduction of the much clamoured seeker of truth and
justice.
The fact that the equivalent technology is used in tennis,
cricket and rugby without detriment to the game (indeed most would claim it
enhances it) makes you wonder why the authorities have been so against its
approval. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 13 April 2012 13:50
Anyone that knows me or has read any of my rants or tweets
about Alan Pardew will know I’m not his greatest fan. I find his smugness and
his arrogance nothing short of hideous; even his upper lip is too embarrassed
to be seen in the same place as the vile little man. His touchline antics and
disgraceful language aimed towards Martin O’Neill and his staff, did nothing more
than to heighten my dislike for the man.
I guess in some ways I should be grateful that they have
such an easy to hate figurehead in charge of their team. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 04 April 2012 08:55
You often hear pundits arguing which is the greatest league
in the world. Is it the English Premier League or the Primera Liga in Spain?
Some might even argue that it is the German Bundesliga or the Italian Serie A.
More often than not however, the pundits will insist that our EPL deserves the
plaudits (biased or otherwise), with the emphasis being that the EPL is more
competitive and that any team can win on any given day.
Personally, I’m not so sure. I think it’s an easy put down
to make and typical of our lazy pundits and journalists to simply regurgitate
the usual monotonous diatribe without having to use their brains to justify
their comments. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 13 March 2012 17:21
So after the relatively easy victory over Liverpool at the
weekend, we move on to arguably our biggest game of the season so far, an away
to trip to their neighbours Everton, and the prospect of a trip to Wembley for
the triumphant team.
I look at Everton and I see a mirror image of ourselves.
They are a team of grafters, working hard for each other as a team to gain
possession, breaking quickly and with purpose whenever they get the chance.
They don’t have a team littered with world class
individuals, what they have is a team of players that will run through brick
walls for each other and for their manager. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 06 March 2012 16:19
Rather than do a write up about the big match itself – the
passion, the pride, the commitment and the battling display of Sunderland
(let’s face it, you can read plenty of other match reports online) I thought
I’d take a look at yet another disease that is enveloping the game.
First of all, I am not looking to make excuses for the
actions of Sessegnon. Granted, he was kicked and ankle tapped more times than I
care to mention and the frustration of the constant foul play from the skunks,
clearly got the better of him. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 27 February 2012 17:29
After the shock of the weekend result at WBA I wasn’t sure
where I should go with this week’s blog. Should I have a rant about what went
wrong? Take a look at how WBA did a Sunderland on us by outworking us, being hungrier
than us etc? Or should I just accept is a blip and concentrate on the upcoming
derby? Well, I still can’t bring myself to criticise the club (not after one
bad game out of 15 or so), and anyone that does needs to give their head a
shake. Even Man Utd has the occasional off day! |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 20 February 2012 16:49
It was with great
sadness that I heard of the announcement that (Sir) Niall Quinn is to step down
from his position at Sunderland AFC. The sadness was short lived however,
quickly replaced with memories of his partnership with Phillips on the field
and of his amazing contributions off it, which has seen the great man make our
club great again.
In my opinion, Quinn
has been the best thing that has ever happened to our club, a true custodian in
every sense of the word. We have had chairmen in the past that have held little
or no rapport with the fans, and hidden themselves away in their ivory towers. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 13 February 2012 17:21
Since the arrival of Martin O’Neill as manager at the turn of the year, the transformation of the team and the individuals involved has been miraculous. From a team destined for flirtation with relegation to a team capable of challenging the best teams in the land and pushing hard for European qualification. We are still rightly classed as the underdogs when we come up against the likes of Arsenal, Man City, Spurs or Chelsea, yet under O’Neill we have given as good as we got against all of them, being very unlucky to lose on more than one occasion. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 07 February 2012 18:25
This weekend sees the launch of Issue 7 of the Seventy3 magazine, a manager's special which looks at some of the heroes and villains that have been at the helm of the Good Ship Sunderland AFC since the club began. One name that does not get a mention however (aside from his links with our current manager) is possibly the greatest manager we never had, Brian Clough. Clough, as a player, was only with us between 1961 – 1964 before his playing career was cruelly cut short and we lost what I believe could have been our greatest ever player as a result. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 30 January 2012 17:28
I have to say that this year's transfer window is a little strange and a little boring compared to previous years. For the first time in many a year, website forums, Twitter and pub conversations are not a hotbed of activity with discontented fans anxiously suggesting names we'd like to see coming in through the door, nor of made-up stories of who's been seen smuggled into the Academy this morning by some intrepid player detective. Even the usual Sky Sports News (SSN) tickertape has been virtually devoid of stories relating to Sunderland. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 24 January 2012 14:34
In today's game, it's fair to say that technology has taken more and more of a role in the game of football, but is that a good thing or would we welcome back the good old days? As a youngster, if we wanted to watch our team play, we HAD to go to the match. We didn’t have the internet, there was no such thing as live streaming (legal or otherwise), you couldn’t watch the game in your local pub, you were lucky if you saw a handful of live domestic matches on the four or five available TV channels throughout the entire of the year. |
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@Grim72ftm: Posted on 16 January 2012 16:49
The last week has seen some surprise returns to the Premier League, with both Arsenal and Manchester United using their batphone to summon their legendary superheroes from their retirement homes. There is no doubting the skill land ability of both Henry and Scholes in their prime but to most fans and pundits, the decision does smack of desperation from their respective manager. Whether it is the right decision, only time will tell but it got me thinking about our own team and our current void in the form of a goal scoring centre forward. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 09 January 2012 13:30
The magic of the FA Cup has been questioned over recent years, with outcrys of weakened teams by the top six clubs and a lack of interest by fans until the later rounds when attendances start to pick up again. For me the FA Cup remains as magical and inspiring as ever.
When I think of the FA Cup, for some reason I think in monochrome rather than technicolour, I see pictures of cloth caps and Roker Park stuffed to the rafters with the working class fans of the era. It's a little odd that I think in that way, rather than more recent days and maybe it is this longing for the bygone days of football that means my passion for the FA Cup remains as strong as ever. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 04 January 2012 17:44
Well, we’ve now had six games under the management of Martin O’Neill and it’s fair to say that everything is looking rather rosy at the moment. Six games, four wins (including one against the league leaders), one draw (should have been a fifth win if not for Howard Webb’s incompetence) and a (unfortunate) defeat against Spurs. 13 points from a possible 18 and back to back wins for the first time in about a year. What a difference a manager can make. He is working with the same group of players as Bruce who managed just 2 wins from 14 games (11 points from a possible 42) this season. |
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Grim72FTM: Posted on 19 December 2011 17:46
The Christmas period is the one time of the year when I find myself having a little sympathy towards professional footballers and it must be the only time when I'm happy not to be one. Usually, I look at footballers playing a game that they love and being paid ridiculous amounts of money for the privilege and then see them complaining about how hard it is and it makes me want to throttle them. If they had to work the hours and conditions that most of the fans do, that turn up in their thousands week after week to support the 'hard done by' multi-millionaires, spending a large proportion of their salary to do so, then maybe they wouldn't be so eager to complain about the amount of games they have to play or of the pressure they play under. |
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Grim72FTM: Posted on 12 December 2011 17:09
Following the arrival of O’Neill and all the euphoria surrounding our victory I thought I’d take a side step and let others comment on our turnaround in fortunes, the brilliance of James McClean and the fact that we have a newfound belief. I’m sure there are plenty of match reviews, dissection and analysis doing the rounds without the need for me to chip in with my two pennies worth. So I decided to take a look at an article I read the other week which filled me with dread and concern, not so much about the findings of the article but more about what the information could do to our game if it falls into the wrong hands – namely Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 05 December 2011 17:23
With the inevitable removal of Steve Bruce from his managerial position and the subsequent appointment of the long awaited messiah in Martin O’Neill, I watch with interest to see what will happen next. Steve Bruce completed a major squad overhaul in the summer, bringing in a huge amount of new faces and in truth I think he has struggled to figure out what to do with most of them – the likes of Vaughan and Gardner must be wondering why they bothered signing up – indeed, Westwood would be thinking the same if Mignolet hadn’t picked up an injury and forcing Bruce to play him and in the process show us exactly how good a keeper he is. |
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Graham Halliday: Posted on 02 December 2011 15:50
Wow, what a week. 3.30 Saturday and all was looking rosy, winning against a poor Wigan team and looking like scoring a bag full. An hour later and we’d slumped to another defeat against a team we quite frankly should be disposing of with ease. Rightly so, the fans let their feelings known with a cascade of boos and ‘Bruce Out’ as the final whistle blows. And that cues the start of a media frenzy whereby we, the fans, are criticised for turning on a manager who has an appalling record over the past 12 months. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 28 November 2011 15:32
With another disappointing result at the weekend, the pressure mounted on Steve Bruce’s shoulders is immense. When first appointed there were pockets of fans unwilling to give him a chance due to his connections with the great unwashed up the road. Personally I thought it was a decent appointment and in fairness we have seen results improve under his reign. He has brought in some good players and strengthened the squad (on paper at least), whilst dealing with the departure of our more high profile players through no fault of his own. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 21 November 2011 16:17
Over recent years I’ve noticed a bit of a trend when it comes to our transfer dealings. Looking back since the Quinn takeover there have been four or five obvious trends that have been evident for all to see. Grim ponders our transfer policy this week. The first obvious trend is that of the Irish connection which was so strong that the club gained the nickname of “Sundireland” due to the vast influx of Irishmen to the club (both on and off the pitch). With Keane appointed manager his first plunge into the transfer market was to bring in the likes of Liam Miller, Graham Kavanagh, David Connolly and Jonny Evans, there were plenty more to follow. |
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Grim72ftm: Posted on 07 November 2011 16:31
This weekend saw the inevitable press love-in for Sir Alex Ferguson in recognition of his 25 anniversary in charge of Manchester United. Few could argue the case against the man, renowned for his hairdryer team talks, deserving the plaudits he was rightly given. Grim hasn't much time for Steve Bruce. He has shaped many teams into winners, consistently churning out titles and developing players of exceptional talent. He has not only made great strides on the pitch but also helped to develop the United brand into a global money making machine. |
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Grim72: Posted on 31 October 2011 16:10
This weekend’s draw against Villa may hold more significance for Lee Cattermole than any other player and makes me question whether this may mark the end of his Sunderland career. When Cattermole joined the club, I watched his first few games with awe and was impressed with everything he offered when he stepped onto the pitch. As a fan growing up, watching the likes of Ball, Bracewell, Rae etc gracing the central midfield berth I have a certain penchant for a hard tackling midfielder and those early games promised a return to that bygone era. |
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Grim72: Posted on 26 October 2011 14:25
When Craig Gordon was signed in 2007 eyebrows were raised at the amount shelled out on the young Scot. The £9m fee was the highest a British club had ever paid for a goalkeeper. For me however I was delighted. I’d seen the Scot play a number of times and had always believed he was a star of the future, the fact he had signed for us meant he was going to be our star. To me, the £9m fee was irrelevant as I was sure that after a few seasons with us in the goldfish bowl that is the EPL, his value would simply rocket and I was confident that it wouldn’t take long for the Man Utd’s and Arsenals to come knocking at our door offering double the record fee we had invested in. |
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Grim72: Posted on 24 October 2011 13:46
A collective sigh of relief was released from Sunderland fans, far and wide, following this weekend’s victory at Bolton. In fairness, Bolton have not been in the best of form and with our winning record over them in recent years we should have been going into this game expecting nothing other than a victory. Thankfully the lads did not disappoint, putting in a solid performance from front to back and digging in until the very end for a much deserved victory. I’m sure we were all starting to fear the worst as we saw wave after wave of Sunderland pressure being thwarted with last ditch defending and inspired goalkeeping. |
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Graham Halliday: Posted on 20 October 2011 11:19
As sure as night follows day, so the cries of “Bruce Out” follow another defeat. In all honesty I don’t think it is the fact we lost to Arsenal that has prompted another wave of Bruce Out campaigns across the Sunderland forums and social media sites. Rather it was the manner of our defeat and the strange choice of tactics served up by the manager. With Arsenal showing signs of vulnerability and low confidence we were all buoyed by Bruce’s comments about Ji and Wickham, and the seeming promise that we were going to “have a go” at them. |
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Graham Halliday: Posted on 17 October 2011 18:00
Well this weekend saw us slip to another defeat.
Before the match I felt more confident than perhaps I should have done when going up against Arsenal, but this was an Arsenal low on confidence and with as many questions being asked about them and their manager as there is at Sunderland. I thought to myself, if ever there is a time to go at Arsenal and attack them from the off, then this was it. Encouraged with mid-week reports of Ji or Wickham starting up front in partnership with Sessegnon, I was hoping that Steve Bruce would be in agreement with me. |
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