After a highly nondescript performance at Everton on Monday night, I was expecting some form of response today. To say that didn’t arrive is an understatement, with us slipping to a 1-0 defeat against a rock bottom Baggies side.
Before I get into it, one thing I will say is that the minority who boo’d at the end should hang their heads in shame. Yes it was way below what we’ve come to expect (all thanks to a real upturn in form of late), but we’re staying up, we’re currently in the top 10 and we’ve just recently delivered four straight home wins at St James’..
It’s inevitable that we won’t win every week at this level with such a limited group of players. Yes they weren’t at it today, and it was a frustrating watch from start to finish, but boos? Give over.
Today was pretty *****, but listen – we're 10th, we're staying up and we had just won four on the spin at St James'..
If you're one of the idiots who boo'd at the end then don't bother turning up next time! ?? Embarrassing. #nufc #wba
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) April 28, 2018
Now to the game. Based on the first half, it felt like a game crying out for Slimani. We kept getting the ball out wide but never put it into the mix, and rightly so – Gayle wasn’t going to have much joy against two 6 and a half-foot centre-backs!
Slimani eventually came on, but did little to impress. He cut a frustrated figure as he went straight down the tunnel soon after the final whilst, and it may turn out to be the last time we see him. A 3-match retrospective ban looms after an alleged kick out at West Brom defender Craig Dawson.
It’s a shame really. I genuinely think he could’ve been a big hit and a player perfectly suited to Benitez’s system, but a mixture of injuries and a lack of sharpness (and time to impress) will make him out to be a pretty awful signing in the end.
It was just one of those days for us though, featuring no end of misplaced passes, sloppy touches and a total lack of cutting edge in the final third. It was a big chance missed to consolidate our place in the top 10, but it’s also a timely sign to Mike Ashley that we are still a side severely lacking in quality.
With Leicester losing, a win today would’ve put us level with 9th place, but on the flip side, Palace (who stuffed them 5-0) are now putting the pressure on our place in the top 10, moving up to 11th (3 points away from us).
I don’t buy the idea that we played without any sort of effort or commitment today, but we did lack the intensity and solidarity that we’ve prided ourself on over the last few months.
We were incredibly sloppy and some may have had one eye on their summer holiday’s – something that won’t be tolerated given each place in the league worth is worth £1.9m.
Today was an avoidable slip up and sloppy performance, but results today have actually confirmed we now can’t go down – and staying up was the ultimate aim.
Anyhow, on the day our safety has been officially confirmed, I won’t be too downbeat about this one. It’s highlighted the importance of signing quality players this summer – something that may actually help Ashley realise the importance of backing Rafa this summer.
Onto Watford away next weekend!
WOW.
just turned on Inter and Juve. Madness in the last 5 minutes.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Olly – I agree the booing is just madness, especially as we are at a very delicate time with Rafas contract. I’d have much rather heard the fans singing his name.
I know he knows the vast majority of fans appreciate the job he and the players have done this season.
All that said, we weren’t good enough today. A timely reminder of the importance of a decent transfer budget in the summer.
Having achieved the 40pts I had hoped they would make a serious charge for 8th. But on the basis of the last 2 performances, there has been a collective exhale and a sense of ‘job done’.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I can’t believe there was actually booing! Disgraceful considering what has been achieved in our 1st season back in the PL and no strikers in the squad!
Shamrock(Quote)
Watched it in a bar and pretty much ignored the second half. It was one of those games where you just knew we weren’t going to score. I think Rafa will be throwing around flip-flops on Monday. Extra training and let’s finish on a high note. I would like us to beat Spurs so Rafa needs to kick a few backsides.
Juve come back from 2-1 down to win away at Inter in the last 5 minutes. If I didn’t know better I would think it was fixed. But Juve would never cheat, would they 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Olly: you gave Dubravka a 5 saying he had nothing to do and couldn’t prevent the goal. I know why you did it but he did his job when presented with what was in front of him. He didn’t make any spectacular saves because he didn’t need to and didn’t score the winning goal because he is, er…, a goalie.
I don’t know what the default mark for a goalie who isn’t asked to do anything is either. Maybe a 7. Totally arbitrary but just because nothing was asked of him does not mean he should be rated lower than Lee Cattermole is by Louise Taylor.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Are we a one man team? If SHELVEY doesn’t play well, we don’t play well.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Olly: I am not criticizing you about Dubravka’s mark. I was just wondering how to mark goalies? If the other team batters our goal, he makes no mistakes and he lets one in and we win 2-1, is that a 9? Or if he has nowt to do and basically takes goalkicks, is that a 2? I don’t know.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
“I was not happy after Everton, and I’m unhappier now.”
“When you are safe, you still don’t want to see performances like that. It’s hard to understand.”
“It’s important to stay up. Nobody was expecting we could finish ninth or tenth. It’s important we are giving everything.”
“We had two or three chances that could be different, and we would be talking about other game.”
“That’s football. You have to take your chances.”
“The players were a bit relaxed. You don’t want to see that. We made too many mistakes and made the wrong decision too many times.”
“That’s why we lost the game. “We didn’t play well.”
“They worked hard and needed to win. Everything was wrong from the first minute.”
“We have the ball away every single time in easy positions.”
This is what Rafa had to say on the matter. I’m happy to leave it at that. Sometimes managers come out and say we were unlucky or give a nonsense account, but the fact he’s said Everton wasn’t good enough either, I’ll leave it to Rafa to kick their arses.
Get that man a new contract!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Every year it’s the same. A team that has nothing to play for against a team fighting for something. Unless there’s a huge difference in class (which we don’t have) then it’s always the same result. But I must say, yet again, if we had any quality we’d have got something.
Rafa must change the team. Although it won’t make any difference quality wise.
Stuart79(Quote)
Shearer made the point that once you are safe and the pressure is off it can be hard mentally to keep up that level you had previously, it’s hard to switch on and off. That’s not to make excuses but it is a valid point none the less. On top of that we have a WBA team who are thriving under Darren and playing the way they are used to rather than Pardews nonsensical tactics which the players themselves alluded to.
Given they beat Man utd and clawed back to 2.2 from 2.0 against Liverpool then they are obviously hitting some good form and confidence albeit probably all too late. In that case it’s as simple as the bottom club beating us really. As for booing at the end, that’s pathetic and pointless. What does that say to our players and what will it achieve in the long run.
My biggest disappointment yesterday was Slimani kicking out, that was mitro esque, if that is in his make up then we may as well keep Alex and have done with it. The guy was obviously frustrated with his own performance due to lack of sharpness/playing time but it’s no excuse.
It’s obvious that this hard working group need help and more quality injected into it, if Ashley fails to address this in early summer we have another struggle next season and likely under a different manager.
kimtoon(Quote)
I read the quotes from Rafa on NUFC.com and thought exactly the same as you. He is telling it like it is. No sugar coating. Extra training, and let’s flush Elton John’s hair dye down the sink where it belongs.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Question, I didn’t see it but some are saying Dawson stamped on Slimani’s foot and the kick was retaliation ? Anyone notice that ?
kimtoon(Quote)
A few things of note.
We’re a counter attacking team. When we try to dominate we fail. We just don’t have a Silva or Erikson. We have Perez and Gayle who both struggle to just control the ball never mind create magic.
The game showed exactly why Shelvey and Lascelles won’t be going to Russia. Lascelles is a good defender but he’s **** with the ball. His only way of bringing the ball out is to lob it down the wing. Clark’s the same, **** on the ball. Poor footballers. Shelvey was so far off the boil it was hard to believe. One of his ‘shots’ was 20 yards over the bar.
We still have a collection of poor players. Murphy looks dreadful. Joselu no better and Gayle’s not much ahead of them. Slimani not worth signing.
Kenedy is the real deal.
georgio(Quote)
interesting
https://twitter.com/milesstarforth/status/990357899074527233
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – it depends how you want to see it. It was off the back of a cleared set piece I think and the players were running out. To me it looked more like Dawson accidentally stood on his foot – to me it didn’t look malicious and Slimani stupidly kicked out.
Now for me Dawson went down like a back of ****, off what was nothing more that a petulant kick out – but Slimani shouldn’t have done it.
Those who want to defend Slimani will say it was a stamp, but I can’t say it looked that way – Slimani should have kicked out.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, god I didn’t even notice the stamp in real time, I need to go back to spec savers lol.
No, you are right, he was an idiot for reacting like that.
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric – I think Rafas summary is bang on. The stats say we had 17 chances – so we weren’t on the beach as such. The trouble is, only 2 on target – but that’s been the case all season, but as a result of us now being safe.
I made my posts last night about how many points we’ve dropped from similar fixtures with the same result so I’m not going to bang that drum again.
I think my disappointments yesterday (other than the **** poor finishing) was our sloppy passing. Shelvey seems to have been singled out, but Diame stood out for me too – they were all below par for me, with only really Lejeune looking half decent.
When the team are collectively having a stinker, you can only hope that subs can come on and make a difference. But that was just a further let down for me. Slimani and Murphy came on and done nowt. Slimani looks miles off the pace and maybe that kick out was frustration. Murphy just looks totally devoid of confidence and scared at times. I’m not going to comment on Joselu – I think all has been said on that front.
Send Slimani back, give Joselu away and sell Mitrovic & Gayle – hopefully get £30-35m for those.
I would buy Kenedy and the keeper, and then spend every penny on forwards and another decent wide man – not sure on Atsu and Murphy and Ritchie can be hit and miss.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim – you probably didn’t notice it because it wasn’t an intentional act from Dawson. Players clash, as in bump into each other or get tangled up in those situations all the time.
If they lash out you normally notice it coz it’s not a natural movement – if that makes sense. It might have been intentional, but nothing happened before that for him to react.
I think the reaction of both players afterwards said a lot too. Like I say, Dawson went down like he’d been shot. But when he got back up, Slimani was move interested in giving him a cuddle rather than remonstrating about a stamp on his foot.
It’s about to be reviewed on Goals on Sunday though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
It’s about to be reviewed on Goals on Sunday though.
That’ll be a ban then 🙄 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
Just watched it again Kim and Dawson does stand on his foot.
Whether it was intentional will be opinion, but not for me, I still think it was accidental and clearly didn’t hurt Slimani coz he kicks him with the the foot that had just been stood on ?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, he may plead provocation then but I still think he’ll get done.
kimtoon(Quote)
We never get penalties.
Nobody ever gets sent off against us.
Even Mitro doesn’t get a retro ban when he doesn’t play for us
Harry Kane gets away with assault on Lejeune.
It is a conspiracy, I tells ya. A conspiracy.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Huddersfield well in the firing line, Eric! Surely thy can’t pick up another point? Southampton will stay up at Huddersfield’s expense.
Stuart79(Quote)
Mackems have sacked Coleman now. My god that club is so ******.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Looks like Ellis Short has got a buyer for the club , so Coleman is out.
sidekick(Quote)
Rafa for Leicester?? Personally, can anybody give me a decent reason why he wouldn’t want to go to Leicester? They have ambitious owners who aren’t afraid to spend money. He will and can achieve much more there than he ever would under Jabba.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – I thought that mate. I think for me the concern would be that the players seem to have a big say. They turned on Ranieri, they seemed to get Shakespeare appointed, and now they don’t like the set up under Puel. A bit of a senior players union there. The other thing is they have had something like 4 managers in 4 years. They might spend, but they are a bit trigger happy when it comes to a dip in a managers form imo.
That said, if he can’t get the contract and terms he wants at Newcastle, I do think Leicester is a real possibility for him – more so than say Arsenal, Everton or even WH.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Have seen the last of Silmani, hopefully ! – had high expectations initially, but two months on the injury table and then to deliver that ***** of a performance – good in occassional patches, but unreliable, not creative enough and easy to shut down – he thinks he’s better than he is and that we should be grateful he bothers to even turn up, he appears to expect he will be offered a contract, but if Rafa stays and gets some financial support, he will do so much better for so much less.
And, …Shelvey appears just as unreliable – already packing his winter woolies for Russia’s miserable weather – sorry Shelvey, but on that performance, it ain’t gunna happin – nor should it.
So much work for Rafa to do for next season – not one of our AM or ST are worthy of their place in the starting line up of a PL club – some may make fair squad-fodder, but they are all unreliable, inconsistent, lack confidence, lack creativity, and lack composure. Perhaps Ritchie gets a tick, but too soon to tell whether Kennedy is the real deal. Gayle, Joselu and Perez are not, while Slimani, Shelvey and Merino all have a question mark over them (particularly their professionalism / reliability / consistency). The defence seems to be holding together, just, but it seems very thin, especially on the left.
So much work for Rafa to do… 😕
Peter(Quote)
Oh and Ellis Short has sold Sunderland. Not just that, he’s paod off all their debts to give the new owners a debt free club. Anyone imagine Jabba doing that… 🙂
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – yeah he’s taken a lot of heat but to be fair he said whilst he didn’t want the club anymore, he wouldn’t walk away completely. I think he just employed some really **** people.
Sharpy17(Quote)
There you go, from due diligence to complete takeover in less than 3 weeks. Are you watching Amanda?
georgio(Quote)
As I mention in the rating, the only save he had to make was Rodriguez’s shot and he parried that out into a dangerous areas. 5 probably sounds harsh, but I couldn’t have put him above the few players who did ok (Diame, Lejeune etc)
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
Fair point mate – it is a very difficult one!
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
So mackems have debt free club and new owners… they can get rid of the **** players and try to crack on in league 1. Parachute payments may help them.. we may see them sooner than we thought…
Dubai Toon(Quote)
You can aim that at the fatman too mate, in the end he has to ‘ want ‘ to sell and I’m really not sure he does.
kimtoon(Quote)
better off than us except for league position.
kimtoon(Quote)
Oh dear West Ham 😆 😆 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
Stevie fistpumps feeling the love
https://twitter.com/photojoedent/status/990279967492669440
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – they are still in it on 35pts and have Leicester, Man Utd & Everton – so nowt straightforward there.
I think they’ll probably stay up but defo squeaky *** time a bit for them and the porn boys won’t be happy with this season and how empty the stadium looked at the end of that game.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Yeay, I don’t think I’d swap but it’s a big thing being sold and debt free… they still need to get rid of leeches like Rodwell though which will drain their cash… I think you are right Kim when you say the fat man has no intentions to sell.
Dubai Toon(Quote)
I can’t agree that Sunderland are better off than us like. The one and only thing would be being debt free, but that only happened today so that someone would buy a club that wasn’t wanted by its owner.
Sharpy17(Quote)
it was a bit tongue in cheek mate but nice to be debt free.
kimtoon(Quote)
You might be right. I didn’t expect Southampton to win.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I am shocked that Ellis Short wiped out the Sunderland bank debt. Who knows what will happen now that they have been sold to owners of a non-league club. They still have the same players and same player contracts.
Very generous of Short. His total investment (loss) is more than 250 million quid.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Also, looks like the new Sunderland owners have a free hit. They get the club for nothing so they don’t risk anything unless they put some of their own money up. They certainly won’t get money from any bank anytime soon and all of the parachute payments will be spent maintaining the same **** squad.
I have to admit that I thought Short would just walk away and leave them in the ****, because they most certainly were in the **** and probably still are.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
BTW, I was right that nobody would come in and “buy” Sunderland in their financial mess. Short had to clear the decks and give the club away to find anybody that would take it. Who are these people? Their experience is with Eastleigh. If I were the Mackems I wouldn’t be crowing just yet. They are still in the 3rd division and don’t know who they have yet.
The new owner is a self made millionaire, could be another chancer, who knows. Their last owner is a self made billionaire. Aren’t we owned by a fat self made Billionaire?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stuart: I am not sure if Southampton will get 3 points from their remaining games and they would then only stay up if Huddersfield do not get another point. Huddersfield have 35 and Southampton 32 but with a much better GD.
The remaining games are:
Huddersfield:
City away
Chelsea away
Arsenal home
Southampton:
Everton away
Swans away
City home
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And who are these people anyway. Before the Mackems start crowing, maybe they should ask who owns them and if non-league ownership really is preparation for where they want to be. Ellis Short doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record in his hirings. 12 managers in 10 years. 3 in the last year, soon to be 4. Margaret Byrne, who covered up the Adam Johnson fiasco and Martin Bain who oversaw 2 relegations. Somebody had to sign off on all of those **** players – will they still be there?
I had never even heard of Eastleigh until I saw that the new Sunderland owners owned them.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
City just took the water out of W/H today,their players just couldn’t care less,would love to see them go down
Icedog(Quote)
Eric, do you think Huddersfield will pick up another point? I fancy Southampton to beat Everton. They truly are poor and Southampton will get a big boost from yesterday. In my opinion.
Stuart79(Quote)
The average weekly wage in Div 2 is about £2k a week. Rodwell is on £70k a week! How do you square that circle…?
Stuart79(Quote)
Eric, Sunderlands new owner isn’t alone, he is fronting a group of investors like Amanda was going to do with us, so there should be money there.
kimtoon(Quote)
He has a clause that makes it ONLY 44,000 a week. Or, to put it another way, 22 League 1 players 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I looked up Eastleigh’s record to see what qualifies this bloke to be owner of Sunderland. Not that it makes a difference:
Eastleigh, FC semi-pro National League Team.
2014 – Eastleigh exited the FA Cup and their home form dipped. They eventually finished 7th.
After 4 games in 2016-17 Eastleigh were languishing 17th and Chris Todd was relieved of his Managerial duties.
Ronnie Moore was appointed and they moved up to 5th but he left for personal reasons.
They then appointed Martin Allen who was sacked after 2 wins in 14 games.
Now the Director of Football has appointed himself Manager.
SOUNDS PERFECT FOR THE MACKEMS
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stuart: I think it is really difficult to call because Huddersfeld have the points already and I am not sure if Southampton can win any of their remaining games. Huddersfield might get a point from a demoralised Gunners team when they lose to Athleti. Arsenal really will have nothing to play for then.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
lol yep, perfect.
kimtoon(Quote)
Yes, that’s Huddersfield’s only real hope. But then again, will they want to put on a performance for Wengers last game… I think it will go down to the last game though. At least Sky will have something on the last day!
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart: it is Swansea/S’ton that will be decisive. The loser will probably go down. A draw and it will probably be Southampton.
My predictions have been OK recently. I thought we were in trouble when Merse tipped us to win against WBA. I said Sunderland could not be sold. I was right, Short had to give them away to a non-league chancer.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Alright then Mr. Donald, what qualifies you to be owner of Sunderland Associated Football Club?
“Well, I have an unblemished record of failure at a semi-pro National League team in Hampshire. Its quite nice down there at this time of year. Lots of Swans. Four managers in 3 years and no sign of progress. We weren’t relegated in successive seasons though. I did offer free tickets for a league game which led to a record crowd of 4,000 which is similar to Sunderland’s last crowd when they were also offering free tickets.”
Right then, sign here and you have the club for free.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
If any Mackems are jumping for joy I have to question their sanity.
Their owner just gave their club away to the owner of an Insurance Agency who has a really **** record in the National league. He GAVE YOUR CLUB AWAY because that is the only way he could get rid of you. It means you were worth less than nothing to him, he was sick of the sight of you and just wanted out. Yes, that’s right, you are worthless, and Ellis Short just proved it by giving you away.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Luke Edwards Retweeted
Telegraph FootballVerified account @TeleFootball · 8h8 hours ago
More
Mick McCarthy under consideration to replace Chris Coleman as Sunderland owner Ellis Short announces planned sale | @LukeEdwardsTele
kimtoon(Quote)
Great to see that Luke Edwards had his finger on the pulse of all things happening at SAFC. What happened to the Irish consortium? Luke told us all about Ellis Short writing off all of the debt and “selling” the club to a non-league chancer for nothing. NO HE DIDN’T. Which has been my point for a while now about these journalists who supposedly cover the NE clubs and yet know less than a man walking his dog to the Pub. There is supposedly due diligence being done but not a murmur from Louise Taylor, Luke Edwards, Craig Hope and all at The Chronic, Shields Gazette and Northern Echo. Not even “Respected Journalist” at The Times said anything.
They really are **** at their jobs and are all stealing a living.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So, if Rafa goes to Leicester of Wham don’t expect to hear a whiff of it before hand because all of these journalists do not have clue. I mean, a 12 year old could write down what Rafa says in a press conference and put it out as news. In fact, a 12 year old is probably a better writer than Lee Ryder.
“Owner of Eastleigh United (who?) “buys” Sunderland.” They know about as much about it as me and I got the information from Wikipedia and all they have all done in their “reports” is repeat the PR statements. They get paid for this!!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
hear a whiff. Maybe smell a whiff! 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Got to back Saints to do it from that lot.
Shamrock(Quote)
I don’t know Sham ‘coz Huddersfield have the points in the bag. You have to assume they get no points and Saints get at least 3. Swansea is a tough game for them and can you really see them beating Citeh?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
No mate I can’t. I can see them getting 4 points from. Swans and Everton I reckon. Going to be interesting finding out!
Shamrock(Quote)
You Wanna Bet 🙂
Southampton down.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
If they get 2 points from those 2 games I will be shocked. Stranger things have happened though. Stan Boardman told a funny joke once!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Really interesting quotes from Rafa. “Whether we finish 8th or 15th won’t change my life. I want to win trophies.”
I think Rafa is starting the game now. How ambitious will Ashley allow the club to be? Well, the club will only be as ambitious as the club can be on its own. No help from the owner. There is no way on earth that NUFC’s ambitions under Ashley can be acceptable to Rafa. It’s not possible.
Stuart79(Quote)
Agree Stu, no doubt he feed him a line in BS but hopefully Rafa is wise to it now. Our only hope is he sells up asap but I’m not holding my breath.
PCP and Mandy are nowhere to be seen and they have no reason not to return now we are safe unless they are bulking at £400m new price tag. Likewise the ‘ other ‘ interested parties are nowhere to be seen.
Bloody depressing knowing he will still own the club for another season.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sorry but I don’t doubt for a second that everyone associated with NUFC wants to win trophies – even Ashley.
I think Rafas comments are as much for the fans, and I for one am pleased to here him say it. I doesn’t worry me, it pleases me to hear him say those things. Had we finished 8th I think we would all have been buzzing and sore it as a successful season – I would have. But to know OUR manager wants more and isn’t satisfied – isn’t that what we’ve all been crying out for?!.
Winning trophies isn’t easy against the big clubs. The PL, the FA cup and Carabo Cup are the only trophies we are playing for – and we aren’t winning the PL anytime soon.
If Jose, Arsene, Klopp or Poch aren’t winning those trophies they are deemed to have failed – hell Wenger has won the FA Cup 3 times in the last 4 years I think and is still criticised.
But Leicester have won the league, and smaller teams have won cups over recent years. So that proves it can be done without spending huge money – more so the cups than league.
When the monies been there, it’s been spent – McClaren spent £93m in his 2 windows. The money will be there this summer and I believe Rafa will be given it to strengthen. It won’t be instant overnight improvement, but he can start his project.
I just don’t believe they will be sat round the negotiating table saying sorry Rafa but trophies are too far, we’re happy with just 10th – especially when a trophy costs them no more money.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Of course Ashley would like a trophy but will he make ready the cash to enable Rafa to have a squad capable to win one that’s the question. I don’t believe he will, he says the club is still for sale and as such will be reluctant to put much cash into it. imo
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – in the last 10yrs only Wigan have won the the FA Cup outside what you would call the top 4 teams. Before them it was Portsmouth back in 2008.
In the EFL/Carabao Cup, only Swansea and Birmingham have won that outside of the top 4 clubs during the same period.
In the last 10yrs the trophies have largely been shared among Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal.
I use 10yrs coz that’s roughly how long Ashley has been here. But during that time, Liverpool, Spurs, Everton have spent big and won little between them – and clubs below them have spent and won even less.
I do think Rafa will be given funds – I strongly believe it. But spending money doesn’t mean ambition is fulfilled. Better players obviously gives us a better chance, but unless Rafa can get himself a job at Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea or Arsenal – his wish to win things is going to prove difficult regardless how much money he’s handed.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim – he also said he wouldn’t sell the club til we won a trophy or finished in the top 4. Having said that he then handed McClaren £93m. Trouble was he was the wrong manager – but I’m pretty sure he’ll be confident he’s got the right manager based on the last 2 seasons. We know the money will be there and he’s also said that Rafa will get every penny on profit to make the club a success.
Sharpy17(Quote)