Fan letters: “Pay the money for Mendy… and save our club!”

Dear Roker Report,

Martin, there’s nothing like a good old football disagreement. All we need is a pint of Double Maxim and a dartboard!

I agree that Mundle’s goal was not offside, but there was a lot of luck involved. After Roberts’s miss reached him more or less by accident, he cut inside and smashed the ball. Was he really in control of the situation? We’ll never know, except that it earned us three points against the promotion favourites. Both he and Mayenda have a lot to learn and I would be very surprised if either of them were to feature regularly in the next few months. I hope I’m wrong and both leave our next signings on the bench!

The original point I made weeks ago was that their ‘hands in pockets, heads down’ gatherings at half-time and the lack of effort or commitment during individual warm-ups from players like Ba, Hemir, Aouchiche and Pembele showed they did not expect much of being sent out onto the field. Michut, perhaps the one who seemed capable and interested enough to try, was sent back to France. Le Bris seems to have risen to the challenge of addressing the situation by suggesting that at least two of them could move on before the transfer window closes.

I remember Tony Mowbray, another old school England manager, making a comment as he watched these young lads miles from home and wondered what they were thinking and what they were doing when they left the training ground each day. Was he gently questioning their maturity, willingness, effort and commitment to SAFC, the city of Sunderland and its citizens?

In my original post I simply suggested that the time and money Speakman invested as recommended by Harvey would have been better spent on one or maybe two experienced strikers who might have taken us past Luton and into the Premier League. We probably weren’t ready to make the step up but then again neither were Luton, Burnley or Sheffield Utd. I suspect a fly on the wall at AoL would have overheard a similar discussion between Mowbray and Speakman shortly before Tony’s departure. I haven’t even mentioned the conversation about whose job it was to select the team! Why oh why did a 130kg 17-year-old play so many games last season when he was clearly mentally and physically exhausted? Self-interest or what?

As for your decision to ignore my reference to Gareth Ainsworth’s comment about meddling at the club, I would say there is no smoke without fire. Perhaps the old-fashioned, unworldly English coaching brigade were doing a bit of gossiping behind the TV cameras. I seem to recall Peter Reid, our most successful manager since World War II, doing a bit of gossiping along with several other aging British managers when Sven Göran Eriksson was appointed England manager. Was Reid wrong?

As for your opinion on Le Bris being happy with his position when asked to work with Dodds and the other established coaching staff, what good would it do him to publicly announce that he is unhappy working only with people he has no say in appointing and who are also long term colleagues/friends of the people entrusted with running the club? I am not calling for Dodds and co to go. I think they are lucky to still be here after the chaos of last season. I just reiterate that he is French and working in England in a cutthroat competition that will be completely new to him week in, week out. In my opinion he has to be a very special man to succeed without having the support and backing of people he knows and trusts. Even Pep and Klopp were given a trusted shoulder or two to lean on when they arrived in Manchester and Liverpool.

Anyway, enough is enough, it’s time for another pint of Maxim or time to go home.

Ha’way, the boys (together)

Alan Jackson

PS: You can call me Alan. I just don’t like it when someone I don’t know calls me buddy.

Editor’s note (Martin): Get the beer, Alan! I believe Mundle will be a regular this season – unless we sign someone before the deadline, and even then I believe he is the man who owns the shirt and he won’t want to lose it. I would expect Mayenda to be a mostly substitute as he will be loaned out in January to get some more experience, which of course depends on us getting more reinforcements in attack.

We are clearly developing players for the future and giving them the attention they need to do that. I think Jobe has improved a step or two so far compared to last season and the question we will never get the answer to is whether he would have improved if he hadn’t played as much football last season. I think he was severely over-worked but the counter argument is that you are accelerating his development and we could see the rewards of that.

As for Ainsworth, I think the manager’s role at Sunderland is being discussed but even Alex Neil said our approach is not too different to what he did at Preston or Stoke. We certainly take a more European approach to transfers etc which Le Bris has grown up with and is probably comfortable with. As for his coaches, I hope he brings in one or two people but it doesn’t look like it bothers him much so we will see how we approach that. He hasn’t been manager for long so doesn’t have established go-to people like Tony Mowbray. Likewise, I agree that Dodds and Proctor are a bit lucky to still be here – whether Dodds would accept the role of caretaker manager next time around will be interesting and I suspect he wouldn’t – but hopefully that’s a long way off!

Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

For many years I read a certain online forum without feeling the need to join in and participate in the “discussions.”

I have also read the letters received on your site, often shaking my head.

I’m going to break with that tradition today and comment on something posted on your site about a quote attributed to Gareth Ainsworth. My only response is that some people just like to open their mouths and let the wind blow their tongues around.

It really is that simple.

There is no reason to complain, we have won three out of three games, the team is full of exciting young talent and we are on the up.

Let’s wait until the deadline to complain and then make a judgment.

Keith Atkinson

Editor’s note (Martin): Thanks for breaking tradition Keith! Gareth Ainsworth is on TV because he failed at QPR and wants to stay in the shop window – I think the stuff about how we’re doing things is a lazy guess based on assumptions from Neil and Mowbray’s comments but even if it’s true people are talking about it because it’s a bit different. If we want to succeed without spending a lot of money on players we need to do things differently. I don’t even think you can make any judgements after the transfer window closes. We might not sign another striker – Isidor might prove sufficient. At the moment I’m actually more worried about the full-backs than the strikers… Any judgements should be put off for a while.

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Dear Roker Report,

Come on SAFC, JUST PAY THE MONEY, MENDY wants to be here badly and we desperately need a proven goalscorer so just get the money out again to save our club.

Ian Frame

Editor’s note (Martin): What exactly are we trying to save our club from?! We desperately need a striker – whether Mendy is the answer or not, I don’t know. He’s 30 and we certainly won’t want to spend much on him, if at all. I’d never heard of him until a month ago. Whether Mendy signs or not, the club will be fine, Ian. Stay calm.

Photo credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images