Ba Ba Black Sheep, have you any goals

Not quite right but still happy

Just read that. Justice!

You bitter bitter mags

the 7 point gap that you had on us the other month? you lost it..now we're about 4 points ahead of you, is that right?

sissoko was immense for you lot..not stop running, power...he had a great game...

colo was lucky not to have given a penalty away with the challenge on ba..

a very good result for you lot, i'll give you that..

A penalty for Colo would have been harsh. It was a total accident. However, I do concede anywhere else on the pitch he would have seen yellow

Its 2pt difference now btw with us away to Spurs on Sat lunch and you lot at home to Arsenal at 3pm. Should be an interesting afternoon

Oh the irony!

you were 7 points ahead of us, now only 2

like I said earlier - we'll finish above you

eh? if we had signed Remy and he got injured for the rest of the season, you'd be on here gloating about it...

I disagree - the likes of Gardner, Vaughan, Colback, McLean, Larsson, Bramble, etc who are all average at best - O'Neill clearly wants them around, or he would have sold them / replaced them. He's had how many windows by now to sell them, 4 or 5? If he wanted rid, even to bring in more money, he would have done so. Spunking nearly £30m on 3 players, when not actually strengthening your weak areas, defence and central midfield, seems a bit of mismanagement to me

This is true but I AM LOCAL.

Whats your beef with QPR other than they came up trumps in a player chase

All those players you mentioned have been good this season esp Gards, and Titus.

Larsson is a funny one 6/10 most games.. probs the weak link for me...

Please be aware Vaughan and Titus were out of favour with MON until they came into side and performed well.... esp Vaughan.

I just think what they've done this season is everything that's wrong with the modern game - a club with a tiny fanbase spending millions and millions on wages and fees for average players (except for that Brazilian keeper who is class, but probs on a huge wage) and an over-rated manager who just seems to spend, spend, spend at every club he's ever been at. It will comeback to bite them, and it already has with Remy's injury. Samba may be a decent defender, but who's going to score the goals to keep them up? Zamora???? Jamie fecking Mackie???? Remy was brought in to do that. They will go down, then QPR will miss out on the biggest payout in football history, then it wouldnt surprise me if Redknapp helped bankrupt another club. I doubt very much that Redknapp would do a job anywhere near as good as he did at Spurs if he went to a club with no money to spend.

How do you know this if you don't go to the games? They've all got loads of stick from a large % of fans from what i've been reading. Bramble was awful v Reading. They are all Championship / lower mid-table Prem players at best, hence SAFC's position. If SAFC have any ambition at all they wouldn't be anywhere near the starting 11.

you're asking how someone knows about a team cos you say they don't go the matches, then follow that up with 'from what i'm reading'...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

if they're championship / lower mid table players, then explain how they must be out performing your seeming superstars?

also..as regards us being 7 points ahead of you and now, only down to a couple...try to cast you mind back a few months, when newcastle were 7 points ahead of us and we were really struggling...i'll give you a clue, it was just before you came out with the classic quote "we're back!" after that win...then went into free fall, for a good few games..

So am I wrong about what I've been reading from Sunderland fans who actually do go to games? Have I "mis-read"?

No one said they were superstars. But they were all injured.

Saturday v Chelsea was an example of what we can do with a full strength side.

james, you know how the media can twist or misconstrue things..i think to report on these matters correctly, you have to be there and possibly have no 'agenda' either..a balanced and rational view yeah?

ALL out injured? ha'way man...

like i said, i'm taking nothing away from your performance on saturday..if sissoko doesn't play again this season, he repaid his transfer fee with the performance he put in against chelsea..outstanding..

you talk about ambition and getting rid of players who aren't performing and mismanagement with sunderland, so how would you explain shola having been with your lot for about 10 years and scoring around 50 goals in all his time...

You are talking about 1 player who plays on average of 15 games per season mainly from the bench. I'm talking about 6 or 7 of your players who regularly start week in / week out for you lot.

In that time he's never ever been first choice - he comes in, doesn't complain about being on the bench, etc, and does do a decent job from time to time, SAFC fans more than anyone should know that....

Having him around hasn't hindered our progress as far as I can see.

What i'm reading isn't based on an agenda or in "the media", it's from Sunderland fans themselves who go to games....

So you are happy with the likes of Bardsley, Cuellar, Larsson, Gardner, Vaughan, Bramble then? You believe you will make progress with these players starting regularly?

of course he doesn't complain about being on the bench..his level is championship at best..why would he complain of being on the bench in the premiership, picking up god knows what, for god knows how long?

SAFC haven't had that type of player on the books for 10 years...i think they'd be horrified tbh...

'Having him around hasn't hindered our progress as far as I can see'...even when you were needing a goalscorer to keep you up, the other year? he didn't hinder you then?

you say 'from what i'm reading', so where would that be from?

bardsley is poor, as is cuellar..they won't be there at the end of this season and i hope you can quote me on that, like i quote you with the "we're back!" from dec, then went into a free fall, until a couple of weeks ago..about 6 weeks, i'd say..feel free to give another "we're back!" and you're sure to be relegated..haha...x

larsson...average at best, as are the rest..you get the odd flash from them, but overall, i'd like to see them all out of there too...

as i've said a couple of times, MON is still working with bruce's squad..

The only time we've been relegated compared to the times we haven't, compared to the times we've got in Europe, Champions League, etc. Bit harsh laying the blame on him when we had Owen, Martins, Nolan, Milner, Barton, NZogbia, etc. So no, overall I don't believe he has held us back, because he's not been a regular starter / first choice player.

So why haven't Vaughan, etc been replaced / sold? It's not really still Bruce's squad is it? How many transfer windows has O'Neill had now? He has chosen to keep these players as regular / first choice players, it's got nowt to do with Bruce. If he didn't want them, do you not think he would have sold them? O'Neill's not been there much longer than Pardew has at NUFC, so therefore you could argue that he is still working with Hughton's squad, etc. It doesn't hold up. O'Neill has brought how many players total, including loans?

of course he's held you back! how long has he been there and how many goals has he scored? he's a forward and supposedly there to score goals..how many clubs do you know who've had a forward on their books for 10 years and whose return for those 10 years is about 50 odd goals - about 5 and a bit goals per season?

if he isn't a regular starter / first choice player, then what is the point of him being there?

do you still believe he hasn't held you back?

vaughan? an intelligent player and a squad player with the occasional great game..not good enough to be starting and holding down a regular place..

i'd imagine MON has had about 4 windows?

are the players we've mentioned targets from other teams for possible transfers? if not, then that would explain (maybe) as to why they're still with us..ie, no one is willing to part with money for them..let them run the contracts down and release them..while they're there, they have a job to do..you could marry that up to shola also - apart from the fact that he keeps on getting new contracts.

MON may feel that the money being asked for some players is just too much (as a lot of managers believe, esp during the jan window), so he's making do with what's there until the targets he may have, become available - for the money he deems is right...this is pure speculation, of course..

good points well made x

he could have had inquiries for them, who knows, just because it's not reported in the press doesn't mean it's not happened - i'm sure there'd be takers for them