And so it begins
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce stepped down today after fans booed the geordie and called for a local lad to help lift Sunderland from the gloom of another relegation battle.
Up steps unknown manager Ben Guthrie, an ex-semi proffessional footballer and local lad who claims he can take the club to heights previously only thought of in a young fans dream, europe.
Niall Quinn is willing to give £14 million in transfer budget to help the cause, Guthrie believes more is needed and releases 17 reserve players who he believes have no future at the club to lower the wage budget and increase the transfer budget, the most notable name being Russell Anderson who fans are dissapointed to see go.
Transfers
As the saying goes the best form of offence is a good defence so the first signings Guthrie makes is to sure up the unoconvincing backline. Nicolas Otamendi came highly recommended by new scout Stewart Houston and at £3.1 million could be a bargain, next came Jesus Gamez (£5 million) and transfer listed Aleksander Lukovic (£1million). With the back line looking more secure it was time to focus on the offence.
Angel Di Maria came from Benfica for £3 million and fans got excited, Chindeu Obasi sent them into raptures when he agreed to join for £10 million (£5 mill up front. £5 million over 30 months).
More money was need to make further improvements so Kieran Richardson departed to Birmingham for £5 million and Wigan signed Andy Reid for £4.1 million, this freed up cash to bring in Artem Milevskyi for £10 million as Guthrie believes that Bent needs a better strike partner than Kenwyne Jones and Frazier Campbell.
Steed Malbranque then requested a transfer after Bordeaux showed interest, he left for £4.5 million, Phil Bardsley then left after interest from QPR (£3.1 million) this allowed Anthony Annan to arrive for £2.4 million to bolster the centre of midfield. Silviu Lung Jr and Marco Verratti joined the club as investment for the future and Paulo da silva and Marton Fulop both left on loan to reduce the ever increasing wage bill.
Pre Season
Review
Pre season ran smoothly, 6 wins out of 7 and an unfortunate 1-1 draw with Jiul, 28 goals scored and only 2 conceded led fans to believe that Guthrie had put together a squad capable of challenging for europe. New signings Obasi, Di Maria and Darren Bent impressed grabbing 15 goals and 10 assists between them, leaving the likes of Kenwyne Jones wondering how he will break into the side.
August
The Barclays Premier League kicked off for Sunderland with a match against Bolton at the Stadium of Light, after tinkering with tactics during pre-season Guthrie decides to use a 4-4-2 formation with two anchor men in Cana and Annan and two flying wingers in Di Maria and Obasi.
Sunderland vs Bolton H 2-1
A well deserved victory for the Black Cats, dominating possession and creating more chances than the opposition, Sean Davis put Bolton ahead but this drove the team to perform better and after dominating the rest of the game emerged victorious with 2 goals for Milevskyi. The 4-4-2 tactic worked well with Annan and Cana destroying the majority of Boltons attacks, however both picked up yellow cards so a constant rotation with Cattermole seems appropriate for the future.
Sunderland vs Blackburn A 4-2
A stunning hat-trick from Darren Bent gave Sunderland a well deserved victory after dominating yet another game, Milevskyi gave Sunderland the lead but Sol Campbell soon equalised for Blackburn, then came Darren Bent with his hat-trick and Blackburns hopes of victory vanished. David Hoilett scored a lat consolation goal.
Sunderland vs Liverpool H 1-2
An unlucky defeat from the scousers, Sunderland took the lead with Otamendi scoring from a corner and stopped Liverpool from creating chances the rest of the game, Cattermole, Cana and in the second half Annan doing a stand up job protecting the back four. however the effort involved trying to keep out Liverpool left the players exhausted and Voronin equalised in extra time, Fernando Torres then broke Sunderlands chances of a draw by snatching the winner in the last minute of extra time. Fans were said to be dissapointed.
League Cup
Sunderland vs Norwich H 4-1
Sunderlands League Cup campaign kicked off at home to Norwich and Wes Hoolahans OG started the scoring and finished it after scoring a consolation goal following goals from Cattermole, Bent and sub Jones. Obasi missed the match after picking up an injury in training and a narrow 4-4-2 diamond was used to compensate.
Sunderland vs Man City A 1-3
Sunderland confirmed pundits beliefs and succumed to a thrashing at the hands of league leaders City, continuing with the narrow 4-4-2 diamond from the league cup victory over Norwich due to Obasi still being injured City ran riot out wide. 2 goals for Robinho was met with a rare Annan goal. at 2 - 1 there was still hope but in the second half City continued to dominate and Kalou finished off the rout late on.
Review
2 good performances against Bolton and Blackburn were cancelled out due to an unlucky result against Liverpool and a thrashing from Man City. The Board is happy however with progress and Otamendi wins young player of the month. Sunderland sit at 4th place in the table going into september with 6 points from 4 games, however many teams have games in hand.
Up steps unknown manager Ben Guthrie, an ex-semi proffessional footballer and local lad who claims he can take the club to heights previously only thought of in a young fans dream, europe.
Niall Quinn is willing to give £14 million in transfer budget to help the cause, Guthrie believes more is needed and releases 17 reserve players who he believes have no future at the club to lower the wage budget and increase the transfer budget, the most notable name being Russell Anderson who fans are dissapointed to see go.
Transfers
As the saying goes the best form of offence is a good defence so the first signings Guthrie makes is to sure up the unoconvincing backline. Nicolas Otamendi came highly recommended by new scout Stewart Houston and at £3.1 million could be a bargain, next came Jesus Gamez (£5 million) and transfer listed Aleksander Lukovic (£1million). With the back line looking more secure it was time to focus on the offence.
Angel Di Maria came from Benfica for £3 million and fans got excited, Chindeu Obasi sent them into raptures when he agreed to join for £10 million (£5 mill up front. £5 million over 30 months).
More money was need to make further improvements so Kieran Richardson departed to Birmingham for £5 million and Wigan signed Andy Reid for £4.1 million, this freed up cash to bring in Artem Milevskyi for £10 million as Guthrie believes that Bent needs a better strike partner than Kenwyne Jones and Frazier Campbell.
Steed Malbranque then requested a transfer after Bordeaux showed interest, he left for £4.5 million, Phil Bardsley then left after interest from QPR (£3.1 million) this allowed Anthony Annan to arrive for £2.4 million to bolster the centre of midfield. Silviu Lung Jr and Marco Verratti joined the club as investment for the future and Paulo da silva and Marton Fulop both left on loan to reduce the ever increasing wage bill.
Pre Season
Review
Pre season ran smoothly, 6 wins out of 7 and an unfortunate 1-1 draw with Jiul, 28 goals scored and only 2 conceded led fans to believe that Guthrie had put together a squad capable of challenging for europe. New signings Obasi, Di Maria and Darren Bent impressed grabbing 15 goals and 10 assists between them, leaving the likes of Kenwyne Jones wondering how he will break into the side.
August
The Barclays Premier League kicked off for Sunderland with a match against Bolton at the Stadium of Light, after tinkering with tactics during pre-season Guthrie decides to use a 4-4-2 formation with two anchor men in Cana and Annan and two flying wingers in Di Maria and Obasi.
Sunderland vs Bolton H 2-1
A well deserved victory for the Black Cats, dominating possession and creating more chances than the opposition, Sean Davis put Bolton ahead but this drove the team to perform better and after dominating the rest of the game emerged victorious with 2 goals for Milevskyi. The 4-4-2 tactic worked well with Annan and Cana destroying the majority of Boltons attacks, however both picked up yellow cards so a constant rotation with Cattermole seems appropriate for the future.
Sunderland vs Blackburn A 4-2
A stunning hat-trick from Darren Bent gave Sunderland a well deserved victory after dominating yet another game, Milevskyi gave Sunderland the lead but Sol Campbell soon equalised for Blackburn, then came Darren Bent with his hat-trick and Blackburns hopes of victory vanished. David Hoilett scored a lat consolation goal.
Sunderland vs Liverpool H 1-2
An unlucky defeat from the scousers, Sunderland took the lead with Otamendi scoring from a corner and stopped Liverpool from creating chances the rest of the game, Cattermole, Cana and in the second half Annan doing a stand up job protecting the back four. however the effort involved trying to keep out Liverpool left the players exhausted and Voronin equalised in extra time, Fernando Torres then broke Sunderlands chances of a draw by snatching the winner in the last minute of extra time. Fans were said to be dissapointed.
League Cup
Sunderland vs Norwich H 4-1
Sunderlands League Cup campaign kicked off at home to Norwich and Wes Hoolahans OG started the scoring and finished it after scoring a consolation goal following goals from Cattermole, Bent and sub Jones. Obasi missed the match after picking up an injury in training and a narrow 4-4-2 diamond was used to compensate.
Sunderland vs Man City A 1-3
Sunderland confirmed pundits beliefs and succumed to a thrashing at the hands of league leaders City, continuing with the narrow 4-4-2 diamond from the league cup victory over Norwich due to Obasi still being injured City ran riot out wide. 2 goals for Robinho was met with a rare Annan goal. at 2 - 1 there was still hope but in the second half City continued to dominate and Kalou finished off the rout late on.
Review
2 good performances against Bolton and Blackburn were cancelled out due to an unlucky result against Liverpool and a thrashing from Man City. The Board is happy however with progress and Otamendi wins young player of the month. Sunderland sit at 4th place in the table going into september with 6 points from 4 games, however many teams have games in hand.
