Building on a Succesful First Season....Managing the Black Cats of SAFC

[Albanian_Kid20]

Building on a Succesful First Season....Managing the Black Cats of Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

General Information
Year Founded: 1879
Ground: Stadium of Light 49,000 Capacity (currently going an expansion)
League: English Premier League
League Standing: 6th (2009-2010)
Captian: Lorik Cana

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First Albanian Manager in EPL, Signs Extension

Albanian manager Shemsi has signed off on for another two years at Sunderland, as he hopes to build upon the success story of last season, as he lead his overachieving Sunderland squad to 6th place in the EPL and a place in the EURO CUP, all eyes will be on this up-and-coming team, that were voted over-achievers by BBC-Sport. Will they achieve great things or will they they show that last season was a fluke........
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Ill add a bit to my story in a little

 

[mashedPotatoes]

Good luck mate,might want to improve your OP a bit though.

 

[Albanian_Kid20]

Transfers In/Out

The Albanian manager sought to make a splash in the transfer market and its exactly what he did, by signing hot prospects as MarcoVeratti, Romelu Lukaku, and Gareth Bale, as many exciting faces came in Manager Shemsi was sad to see many leave including George McCartney, and Anthony Annan who was impressive for Sunderland after leaving Norwegian club Rosenberg just last year

Transfer Summary



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Im embarrassed by the transfer fee i gave up for Lukaku
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---------- Post added at 01:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:05 AM ----------

Preseason Fixtures
Sunderland 1-0 Rangers
'57 Kieran Richardson

Hartlepool 1-2 Sunderland
'32 James Brown
'53Amr Zaki
'92Amr Zaki

Sunderland 3-0 Bournemouth
'36 Lee Cattermole
'47 Romelu Lukaku
'82 Romelu Lukaku

Sunderland 4-1 MK Dons
'9 Darren Bent
'21 Lee Cattermole
'57 Phil Bardsley
'62 Fraizer Campbell
'86 Luke Howell
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[TBell95]

nice start good luck

 

[Albanian_Kid20]

Lee Cattermole Out 5 to 6 Weeks; Sunderland Draw Wisla Krakow

After straining his knee in Sunderlands 4-1 friendly win over, reports are stating that the English midfielder will miss in between 5-6 weeks. Sunderland physio Peter Friar said the injury came after he painfully twisted his knee right before the first half of SAFC friendly. Manager Shemsi has stated that the loss is a big one but is a great chance for Jordan Henderson or Marco Veratti to come on
and gain valuable experience.....................In other news the draw for the 4th qualifying round in the Euro Cup was held, and Sunderland drew up against polish side Wisla Krakow.

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http://imageshack.us

---------- Post added at 02:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:39 AM ----------

First Game of Season
Stoke City 1-1 Sunderland
'26 Tuncay
'90 Henderson
Luaku Missed penalty '54 & '90

Notes to mention: Two missed pk's my Luakaku!!!!!!!!!!his 2nd miss bent followed up with a shot but the opposing GK blocked it off where Henderson was in the right place in the right time and followed through, shouldve had this won but what can you do, should be interesting to see how Luaku bounces back
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---------- Post added at 09:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 AM ----------

nice start good luck

ty

 

[NunoPeixinho]

why is lukaku transfer value scratched ?

 

[Albanian_Kid20]

Fixtures for the Month of August

Wisla Krakow 0-1 Sunderland (Euro Cup 4th Round Qual.)
'24 Bent

Nottm. Forest 1-2 Sunderland (EPL)
'8 Bent
'34 Bent
'59 Blackstock

Sunderland 4-1 Wisla Krakow
'5 Lukaku
'24 Sneijder (Rodney)
'26 Kieran Richardson
'54 Bent
'82 Ba
Note: Marco Veratti was sent off @ the 9th minute mark, and i still managed to dominate the game

Sunderland 0-2 West Ham
'52 Collison
'83 Diamanti
Bad result, very poor game






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---------- Post added at 09:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 AM ----------

why is lukaku transfer value scratched ?

id rather not get a lashing from the posters

---------- Post added at 12:02 PM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 09:43 AM ----------

Fixtures/Team Notes for the month of Septemeber
Has been a pretty poor month to say the least, id like to blame it all on injuries but the team has been playing fairly poor, have been eliminated by Bolton in the third round of the Carling Cup , my league form has been pretty bad, as has my Europa League form. My biggest concern is my big signing of Romelu Lukaku 2 goals in 10 appearances, he has taken 3 total PK's missed 2 (in the same game) has made one thank god, and scored another against a fairly weak squad in Wisla Krakow, his avg rating been around 6.4......My other big signing has been great Garreth Bale....Cana has picked it up alot from last season, and Aaron Lennon and Richardson have looked good @ the wings, biggest weakness atm is @ RB will have to address it soon....

Fixtures
Sunderland 3-0 Converty
'8 Bent
'85 Lukaku (PK)
'88 Lennon

Blackburn 2-1 Sunderland
'17 Kalinic
'69 Veratti
'84 El- Hadj Diouf

Nacional De Maderia 0-0 Sunderland (Euro Cup Grp Stage)

Sunderland 0-1 Bolton (Carling Cup 3rd Round)
'53 Gardner

Tottenham 1-0 Sunderland
'13 Palcios

Sunderland 1-0 Steaua Bucharest (Euro Grp Stage)
'13 Lennon
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---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:02 PM ----------

Notes/Fixtures for Month of October

Started the month off well ended it on a bad note after getting destroyed by Man Utd......Lukaku has picked up his play somewhat, he now has 3 goals in the last 5 games, thats 3 more goals than he has had all last month....slight concern regarding Lee Cattermole, Cattermole has only played in 4 PL games, has picked up an avg rating of 6.3, and a red card, Jordan Henderson has looked alot more impressive, and with Cana playing so well might be time for Cattermole to hit the bench.......John Fleck who is on loan @ Norwich City won Player of the Month, along with Jordon Henderson who also won player of the month, both players are key players in my future.

Fixtures
Sunderland 2-1 Bolton
'13 Richardson
'35 Bent
'41Elmander

Sunderland 3-0 Wolves
'36 Bent
'40 Lukaku
'53 Lukaku
Note: Cattermole receives two yellows sent off @ '68

Sunderland 1-1 Valencia
'55 Bale
'61 Villa

Fulham 2-2 Sunderland
'77 Bent
'80 Johnson
'90 Zaki
'90+2 Zamora
Note: both teams decided to play in the last 15 minutes, Zaki came in and received a nice pass from lennon to put us ahead, but Zamora scores outside the 18 in the last seconds

Sunderland 1-4 Man. Utd.
'5 Fletcher
'7 Ferdinand
'58 Lukaku
'64 Rooney
'84 Berbatov
Note: We were completely dominated first thirty and last thirty minutes, Ferdninad (The other one) was getting owned pretty bad left and right, doesnt matter plan to sell him this summer anyways, maybe this winter, Jordan Spence has looked good and has made big improvements in training

League Standings


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---------- Post added at 10:53 AM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 02:04 PM ----------

Sunderland Players Scoop Monthly Awardsfor Novemeber
It was a good month to be a Sunderland player, a total of three Sunderland players (One player on loan) won monthly awards. First was Egyptian Striker Amr Zaki won English Premier Division Player of Month. The striker has been in deadly form for the month of November, after coming in for a injured Darren Bent the Striker hasnt looked back after scoring 7 goals in 5 appearances, and has seemed to have cemented his place as a starter. Another award was won by Alberto Botia, like Zaki Botia stepped up when a fellow teammate went down to injury, the Spanish defender came on in replace of Phil Bardsley and hasn't looked back, as he picked up the English Premier Division Young Player of the Month. Meanwhile John Fleck who is currently on loan @ Norwich, won the Coca-Cola League 1 Young Player of the Month. The Scottish striker has been in deadly form for Norwich Fleck currently now has a total of eleven goals in 21 league appearances.

(Left to Right):Amr Zaki (left), the former Wigan Striker,was picked up by Albanian Manager, last summer, on a free transfer from former Premier League Team Hull City.John Fleck, (Center) the Scottish striker a former Scottish side Rangers, was picked up by the Albanian member manager in his first season managing the Black Cats for a fee of three million euros Alberto Botia, (Right) a former product of Barcelona was picked up along with Zaki on a free transfer during the summer transfer window. The 21 year old Spanish defender has been very impressive since replacing the injured Phil Bardsley.
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---------- Post added at 11:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 AM ----------

Notes for November
Pretty good month to say the least, had a few injuries but their replacements have played great, and have cemented their place as starters on the first team. Zaki came in after Bent got injured and scored 7 goals in 5 appearances in the month of November. Bardsley picked up an injury and Botia came on and has played great in his place getting a match avg. around 7.5. Garreth Bale suffered a month long injury mid-Novemeber, and should return soon. League form has picked up a bit as I now currently lie in 6th place in the EPL.

Fixtures
Valencia 1-0 Sunderland
'88 Hernandez

Hull City 0-3 Sunderland
'5 Zaki
'58 Veratti
'70 Zaki

Sunderland 2-2 Liverpool
'15 Radu (Own Goal)
'24 Dirk Kuyt
'26 Richardson
'80 Skrtel (Own Goal)
Note: Weird game to say the least 'Pool go up 2-0 early, after a stupid own goal by Radu and a header by Kuyt but Richardson answers Kuyts goal back quickly, but nothing would happen until the last ten minutes as teenage mutant ninja Skrtel scored an own goal, payback is a *****.

Sunderland 1-0 Sheff. Utd
'30 Zaki
Note: Should of won by more but Zaki continues his good form

Aston Villa 0-4 Sunderland
'1 Lukaku
'11Zaki
'46 Zaki
'53 Zaki (PK)
Note: Wow what a game, we had this match from the start but to beat Villa on the road by 4 goals is a achievement. It could have been more but I switched to a more conservative style due to Lukaku getting fatigued.

Sunderland 2-2 Everton
'43 Baines
'44 Zaki
'63 Yakubu
'68 Bent
Note: The norm seemed to be I was only allow to score minutes after they put one in on us, to bad they didnt score one late it could of made for something exciting.



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---------- Post added at 01:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:46 AM ----------

BREAKING NEWS!! Bent and Henderson to Miss Remainder of Season....
It wasn't a good day for Sunderland fans, as they saw two key players of their squad go down in the same match, and both will most likely miss the remainder of the EPL season. Central midfielder Jordan Henderson, and striker Darren Bent both came down with injury and had to be carted off the field in Sunderlands 1-0 victory over Stoke City at the Stadium of Light. While it is possible both could return as early as March its is unlikely they will see the pitch again this season. Sunderland will have to work with what they got, it is no secret that they will miss both players. Darren Bent in 15 appearances for sunderland has scored 9 goals. Jordan Henderson showed great strides, Henderson picked up the Young player of the Month Award earlier in the year, Henderson has made 22 total appearances for Sunderland, has only scored one goal but leads the team in assists with seven.........Manager Shemsi was not pleased and even put blame on the scheduling officials. The Albanian Manager was quoted saying "I dont know how you can expect my guys to do only after two days rest, its not fair, and I have no doubt in my mind these injuries wouldn't have occurred if my players were given a proper's rest in bewteen games, looking @ the schedule ahead it seems it doesn't get any better, I will just have to hope for the best, and hope that my players can manage to stay healthy."
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[Chris]

Top update!

This looks interesting, so I'll give this a look from time to time.

 

[Albanian_Kid20]

Top update!

This looks interesting, so I'll give this a look from time to time.

ty ty

ive been talking to myself the last few days XD

 

[Jamees]

Good luck mate Keep Going

 

[Albanian_Kid20]

Breaking News Porto after Sunderland Manager
Just been reported that the chairman of the well known Portuguese club Porto, has apparently offered the Albanian manager a three year contract, while their is no news to rather if Shemsi will accept the contract, sources have claimed that he is seriously considering the offer, due to the financial crisis currently ongoing at Sunderland, along with the fact that he will have a chance to manage a team in the Champions League, stay tuned for more updates.
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Notes for December
Injuries Injuries and more injuries, I have dealt with many injuries, plus serious fatigue of players, Darren Bent is out for the rest of the season, while Jordan Henderson is not as bad, but will miss significant time, my league form has been average, I had to face Arsenal and Chelsea on a back-to-back only after 2 days rest go figure, and I clinched my ticket to the second round to the Euro Cup where I will face Rangers....Ive also declined the job offer from porto it was intriguing but if i want a job somewhere else I would prefer Germany.

Fixtures for December
Sunderland 2-0 Nacional de Maderia (Advance to second round after winning)
'6 Zaki
'44 Verratti

Sunderland 2-0 Man. City
'7 Lukaku
'42 Lukaku (PK)
Note: Cattermole sent off for the billionth time @ '62

Steaua 1-0 Sunderland
'52 Ducasse (PK)
Note: Result doesnt matter too much for I already had advanced, but Bardsley picked up his second yellow @ '51 and was sent off

Sunderland 1-1 Wigan
'11 Dorrans
'90+2 Bent

Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland
'23 Lukaku (PK)
'45+2 Bendtner
'70 Gallas
'90+3 Bendtner
Note: Despite going early Arsenal had this game in the bag, that ******* Bendtner "ran me ragged" :S

Chelsea 1-1 Sunderland
'23 Richardson
'90 Lampard
Note: Scored early, played bunker rest of the game the bastards scored in the last minute

Sunderland 2-0 Stoke
'15 Bent
'90+4 Campbell


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---------- Post added at 12:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:43 AM ----------

Notes for January
Injuries got worse early on....Cana my healthiest player all season went out for around 2 weeks....Cattermole went down with injury for about a week......Lennon missed 3 weeks......Richardson missed a week.....Veratti also missed a week....Turner my best CB missed 3 weeks, but Spence came on for him and looked pretty good.......Aurelio was injured three different times (surprise)...League form has pretty much looked the same, i finally was able to get a somewhat healthy squad towards the end of the month as Cana, Lennon, Cattermole, Turner, and Veratti came back from injury lets hope that I pick up my league form so I can clinch a Euro Cup berth.....Didnt do much regarding winter transfers i made a bid for Di Maria but it "leaked" and Napoli made the same exact bid and got him, other than that i went after Ppare from Madrid but couldn't acquire him due to work permit difficulties, other than that I picked up a few youngsters who look somewhat promising.

Fixtures
Scunthorpe 2-2 Sunderland (FA Cup 3rd Round)
'43 Hayes
'68 Lennon
'81 Campbell
'90+1 Hayes

Sunderland 0-1 Nottm Forest
'27 Garner
Note: Embarrassing i had lorik cana go out early cause of injury, and alot of my squad was depleted due to injuries but no excuse to blow a game @ home against the last placed team in the league

West Hame 2-2 Sunderland
'43 Parker
'45+1 Zaki
'82 Zaki
'88 Brunt
Note: Another goal given up in the last minutes :'(

Sunderland 2-1 Scunthorpe (FA Cup Round 3)
'10 Turner
'21 Campbell
'41Rob Jones
Note: Advance into the next round, and draw Man Utd. lucky me

Sunderland 1-1 Blackburn
'54 Pederson
'88 Bale

Converty 0-0 Sunderland

Man Utd 2-2 Sunderland (FA Cup Round 3)
'14 Rooney
'25 Campbell
'41 Nani
'45+2 Richardson
Note: I had two players return Cana, and Veratti...Veratti would start the game and pick up a 8.5 rating, Cana would come in 2nd half and pick up a 7.0 rating...seemed Man U didnt have a full squad but idk ill take what I can get

Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland
'8 Torres
'78 Lukaku
Note: Good result to go into Anfield and get the draw, i was fighting an uphill battle the whole game, they played a little shorthanded after insua and Skrtel both went off with injuries.

Sunderland 0-1 Tottenham
'2 Crouch
Note: Huddlestone picks up second yellow card @ '52, I went all out but couldn't break through their defense, they had about one chance the whole game and it game from that big doofus Crouch, and he managed to convert.




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[Mason*]

good luck

 

[Albanian_Kid20]

Despite Early Send-off Sunderland Hold On, Advance into Next Round
Sunderland fans were able to relax after a scary 90 minutes in Glagsow, which saw Rangers winning the game, but saw the Black Cats advancing into the next round despite Albanian captain Lorik Cana getting sent off @ the 35th minute after receiving his second yellow. The score at the time of the send off was even @ 1-1 after Lukaku would answer Boyds 16 minute goal with one of his own at the 21st minute mark. Rangers would go on to score one more at the '78 mark when Lafferty put one past Sunderland keeper Fredrico Vilar, but it wouldnt prove to be enough as the game saw no more goals the Black Cats would advance to the second round with a 4-3 agg.......Sunderland will face Italian club Napoli in the second round of the knockout stage.
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[DeanMcDonnell]

Good job, good luck in europe i'll be following.

 

[Albanian_Kid20]

Sky Sports News Team Preview: Sunderland AFC
Currently the youngest squad in the EPL by a wide margin, the Black Cats of Sunderland look to build upon what many fans consider a disappointing injury-riddled season after failing to clinch a spot for a European Cup (finishing 8th place behind Everton), or go far in the Carling or FA Cup. Albanian manager Shemsi has been very optimistic and can see his team making huge strides compared to last season, in a interview with Sky Sports News he told them: "I dont see any reason why we wouldnt be better, I dont think any team in the PL was affected by injuries as much as us last season, we lost our leading goal scorer (Bent) for nearly four months, our back line was constantly battling nagging injuries, our midfielders were never fully healthy, Only 3 players played in over 25 league games, im not trying to make excuses, and im not putting our hopes on having a healthy squad, I feel that what we managed to do with a young, and injury riddled squad was impressive, and their shouldn't be any reason why we shouldn't see major improvements this season.

A Look at the Key Players this Season for SAFC

Left to Right: Joe Hart, Nicolas Otamendi, Garreth Bale, Marco Verrati, Lorik Cana, Romelu Lukaku, and Darren Bent
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Joe Hart (GK)- The English goalkeeper is projected to be the starting keeper for Sunderland after the departure of Argentine Fredico Vilar, who left on free transfer to A.C. Milan....Hart has big shoes to feel as Vilar was voted to EPL Team of the Year, and was Sunderland's most consistently good squad member.

Nicolas Otamendi (CB)- The Argentine defender will most likely be announced as the central defender to be paired up with Micheal Turner this upcoming season. The central defender who was impressive for Lazio in his year long loan will look to make a long lasting impression and solidify Sunderlands back line after inconsistent play from Anton Ferdinad (now part of Undinese) last season.

Garreth Bale (LB) - One of the most consistent performers for the Sunderland squad despite only being 20, the Welsh fullback has had sunderland fans excited, and the biggest clubs after him. Currently one of the players to watch for in the EPL.

Marco Verratti (MC/AMC)- Currently one of the most exciting prospects in the world of football, despite being 17 Verratti looked at times as a savvy vet, and made his opponents scratching their head, it his projected that the Italian international, will be named in the Sunderland starting XI from the start of the season.

Lorik Cana (DMC/MC)- Much of the pressure relies on the Albanian captain, to bring this young squad together. Cana who is considered the "heart" of the team, will have to be booked less, and be a leader to the many younger players on the squad, but if their is anybody up to the challenge it is the fiery Lorik Cana.

Romelu Lukaku (ST)- Labeled by many experts as the "Next Drogba", it should be intresting to see how Lukaku performs this season after a pretty good rookie season, the big striker showed glimpses of brilliance, scoring 15 goals in 33 league appearances, and being the leading goalscorer for the Sunderland side, one thing to improve on will be his stamina and mental game, the young striker despite playing in 33 league games was often times subbed out early, and his game was often effected by poor morale, he missed 2 PK's in his debut game and only converted 3 of 6 for the rest of the season.

Darren Bent (ST)- The English striker who scored 20+ goals in his first season, saw a huge drop in his goal numbers (12 total) after missing nearly half of the season due to a serious injury to his leg, question remains to if he will be back to his former form before the injury. If Sunderland are to improve their league standing Bent will need to be 100% from his injury. With a young Lukaku and a inconsistent Amr Zaki, Darren Bent really serves as Sunderlands best option as team leading goalscorer.
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Media Prediction: Final Standing 7th place. While Sunderland may have some of the best youth in the EPL, they are still a fairly young side expect a inconsistent and exciting team, but @ the same time some of their youth will have a season under their belt and should see improvements in their game.


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[Deleted member 79730]

Very good layout, sunderland appeal to me as a good team to play as, a very good young team building, good luck