Don Goodman spoke more in his interview with OLBG about Sunderland…
On Sunderland and their manager search: “Sunderland have their philosophy and it appears that they will stick with it come hell or high water.
“No matter what, they are going to stick with the policy of buying young, developing, selling and going again. They gambled by sacking Tony Mowbray and it failed. They gambled on Mick Beale and it failed. They even gambled by leaving Mike Dodds in charge for the rest of the season and it failed. It’s a big mess.
“Sunderland is a huge club, it’s a club that I love and it has a huge place in my heart. But sticking to their philosophy is going to keep them away from the Premier League, as far as I’m concerned.
“It could work if they had three or four experienced players who could go into the lineup with six or seven young lads and help guide them. But they haven’t got those experienced players.
“People might refer to Alan Hansen’s ‘You don’t win anything with kids’ comment about Man Utd but they had five kids, not 11. Neville, Giggs, Scholes, Beckham and Butt were surrounded by top-quality international experience, who would help them on the pathway to success. That’s a world apart from where Sunderland find themselves.
“I wish the new manager (Regis Le Bris) well and he’s got a track record of developing young players, it’s in his DNA. But Sunderland won just two of their last 15 games, losing 10 of them which is relegation form.
“I hope I’m wrong as I love the football club, but unless Sunderland bring in three or four experienced players, I can only see them finishing in midtable or worse.”
Asked who do you fancy for promotion and relegation from the Championship, he said: “Last season was one of the easiest Championship seasons to predict in terms of who would be at the top as Leeds, Leicester and Southampton all retained a plethora of Premier League-quality players They were always going to be competing at the top end of the league.
“However this season I’m not so confident in the relegated clubs. For Burnley and Luton, it depends on what their squad looks like when the transfer window shuts. Will Burnley keep the likes of Lyle Foster, Luca Koleosho and Sander Berge? If they do, you fancy them to be a force. Will Luton keep the likes of Alfie Doughty, Elijah Adebayo and Carlton Morris? If they do, you’d also tip them to be competing at the top.
“But Sheffield United look like a club in disarray and are coming down from the Premier in a very weak state. A massive overhaul is required for Chris Wilder and his backroom staff. I’m not saying they can’t do it, but he’s up against it at the moment.
“You’d expect Leeds to be towards the top, with the sale of Archie Gray possibly meaning they’ll be able to keep hold of the attacking force that tore apart Championship defences for 80% of the season before falling at the last hurdle.”
“Then with some teams, you don’t really know what to expect from them. You cannot rule out West Brom with Carlos Corberan in charge still, Coventry’s FA Cup semi-final proved a hindrance to their promotion hopes last season, and Middlesbrough ended the campaign very strongly.
“The upcoming Championship season will not be as strong as last season’s, which had the best top-four that I’ve ever seen. That’s going to give an opportunity for some teams to surprise us.
“At the bottom, Des Buckingham has a huge job on his hands at Oxford as play-off winners are notoriously the teams that struggle the most. It’s just brilliant that they’re in the Championship.
“Derby County remind me of Sheffield Wednesday last season as they have one of the oldest teams in the division. Wednesday struggled with the physical side of things early on last year, so it’s interesting to see Paul Warne move on a number of 30-plus-year-olds and bring pace and energy into the club. That gap still needs to be bridged, though.
“I would expect Portsmouth to be the strongest of the relegated clubs and, therefore, I’m looking at the clubs that just about survived. John Eustace has a big job on his hands at Blackburn after they relied so heavily on Sammie Szmodics, it would be some achievement if he could replicate such performances. I’m not sure about Plymouth, and that’s not because of Wayne Rooney, it’s just the nature of them being in the Championship.
“Even Sunderland finished the season winning just two of their last 15 games. They’ve got a new manager in Regis Les Bris, whose background is in developing young footballers but this is the Championship so it’s very difficult for a whole group of young players to succeed and they didn’t have any strikers capable of performing at that level and struggled for goals. Those would be the clubs I’d be concerned about.”
This is how fans reacted to what Don Goodman had to say on Sunderland…
@haymansafc: Don Goodman: “Sunderland is a huge club, it’s a club that I love and it has a huge place in my heart. But sticking to their philosophy is going to keep them away from the Premier League, as far as I’m concerned.” I can’t argue with that. 😕 #SAFC
@neilcampion: His comments are fair given he’s a pundit scrapping for a view on the question. But that’s all it is.
Sunderland – Fixtures
Sat 10 Aug A Cardiff City Championship 12.30pm
Sun 18 Aug H Sheffield Wednesday Championship 12pm
Sat 24 Aug H Burnley Championship 3pm
Sat 31 Aug A Portsmouth Championship 3pm
Sat 14 Sep A Plymouth Argyle Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Sep H Middlesbrough Championship 12.30pm
Sat 28 Sep A Watford Championship 3pm
Tue 1 Oct H Derby County Championship 7.45pm
Sat 5 Oct H Leeds United Championship 3pm
Sat 19 Oct A Hull City Championship 3pm
Wed 23 Oct A Luton Town Championship 7.45pm
Sat 26 Oct H Oxford United Championship 3pm
Sat 2 Nov A Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
Wed 6 Nov A Preston North End Championship 7.45pm
Sat 9 Nov H Coventry City Championship 3pm
Sat 23 Nov A Millwall Championship 3pm
Tue 26 Nov H West Bromwich Albion Championship 7.45pm
Sat 30 Nov A Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Sat 7 Dec H Stoke City Championship 3pm
Tue 10 Dec H Bristol City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 14 Dec A Swansea City Championship 3pm
Sat 21 Dec H Norwich City Championship 3pm
Thu 26 Dec A Blackburn Rovers Championship 3pm
Sun 29 Dec A Stoke City Championship 3pm
Wed 1 Jan H Sheffield United Championship 3pm
Sat 4 Jan H Portsmouth Championship 3pm
Sat 18 Jan A Burnley Championship 3pm
Tue 21 Jan A Derby County Championship 7.45pm
Sat 25 Jan H Plymouth Argyle Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Feb A Middlesbrough Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Feb H Watford Championship 3pm
Wed 12 Feb H Luton Town Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Feb A Leeds United Championship 3pm
Sat 22 Feb H Hull City Championship 3pm
Sat 1 Mar A Sheffield Wednesday Championship 3pm
Sat 8 Mar H Cardiff City Championship 3pm
Tue 11 Mar H Preston North End Championship 7.45pm
Sat 15 Mar A Coventry City Championship 3pm
Sat 29 Mar H Millwall Championship 3pm
Sat 5 Apr A West Bromwich Albion Championship 3pm
Tue 8 Apr A Norwich City Championship 7.45pm
Sat 12 Apr H Swansea City Championship 3pm
Fri 18 Apr A Bristol City Championship 3pm
Mon 21 Apr H Blackburn Rovers Championship 3pm
Sat 26 Apr A Oxford United Championship 3pm
Sat 3 May H Queens Park Rangers Championship 3pm
You must be logged in to post a comment Login