I think Big Sam again got his selection wrong. If Michael Owen didn’t play for England and score so many goals for them, would he really get in this team, let alone be captain? I think today told us a lot about what we can expect from certain players, and the lackadaisical fashion in which Owen trotted around the pitch contributing nothing said it all. Chopra was all out to win for the club he plays for, £100k per week England international Owen just isn’t interested if he’s not playing for Liverpool or England. How did this man get to be captain?

Quite aside from that, we were far too defensive in our approach until going behind, and the amount of time that it took Big Sam to get Martins onto the pitch was a disgrace. We were fortunate to score, albeit amidst a good spell of pressure on the mackem defence for a change, and we need our top scorer out on the pitch. Again, if he was an England international and well-respected by other clubs he would start every game; why doesn’t he?
\]

I must admit being disappointed by Big Sam today. This isn’t a normal away game. It’s a derby, and whilst we can be content with a draw away, we shouldn’t be playing for one. Say what you like about Sunderland, they always come to our place and try to win and we should be doing the same. I appreciate that he never had a derby at Bolton and the fans would love it if he drew with Man City, ManUSA or Blackburn, but at this type of club you have to go all out to win your derby. Before people get critical with me, it’s the same at clubs like Aston Villa, they expect their team to go to Birmingham and play for a win.

Big Sam can and must learn from this. I’m fully behind him, but he must start to think about the quality and strengths of the opposition. Today he applied a blanket “3 points at home, 1 point away” strategy, but if that’s the case will he be using the same policy when we have Liverpool and Arsenal at home in the next three games? I don’t think we can expect to get 6 points from those 2 home games, but Big Sam obviously does or he would have played for a win today to compensate. I hope he’s right.

Today taught me a lot. Smith and Faye were up for it; Taylor, Milner and N’Zogbia had the honesty we have come to expect from them. Emre was again fussed over by many fans but had no real contribution. Owen swanned around up front to no consequence whilst his strike partner bled from a head wound, and then his replacement Martins did as much in 2 touches as he had all game.

Let’s find some consistency. Drop players who are playing like sacks of shite, even if they are England internationals. Aim for the right result by the quality of opposition, instead of creating this distinction between home and away that is seeping into results. Go out there and play for 90 minutes with the determination we showed for 10 second-half minutes of this game, for f&*&k’s sake.

3-0. …….whit out even breakin’ a sweat.

lol that sounds funny now.

DOn’t even start about thinking of clearing the ball with headers. THey have to rely on the lack of quality of the opponent.. Facing MAN U ARSENAL AND LIVERPOOL AND CHELSEA I DON” KNOW it will prolly be 8-0. Then the excuse will be ohh most of my players were on international duty, they were tired! whereas the opponent had no players on international duty. BS standds for bull shit!