Dick Advocaat - firefighter or costly mistake?

Sunderland have replaced their young coach Gus Poyet who masterminded last season's great escape, not to mention the cup final. The replacement? Dick Advocaat, who is described as a firefighter to ensure the club's safety and has joined in a contract to the end of the season.

With no track record in English football, it reminds me of Fulham's ill-fated move for Felix Magath last season. Magath was also labelled a firefighter and came with the reputation of a man that had never been relegated.

On the us side, I read that Advocaat has a reputation of discipline and that's something that this current group of Sunderland  players sorely need. This set of players have seen off several managwrs over the last few years and have a reputation for drinking, late nights, poor training and a negative collective response to authority.

As a fan, this is the first time in my life where I'm not fearful of relegation for my team. I think that a drop into the Championship will see us shake off the players who don't care about the club and the fans. There appears to be a core of players that take their paycheck and offer the bare minimum in terms of effort and commitment. Poyet spoke about the times where the team and the fans fed off each other and inspired each other. This was evident in the cup run and the escape act last season but was lacking for almost all of this.

Hearing of players drinking into the night, poor training, being banned from pubs because of the trouble they cause, damaging propert, posing in front of new cars as the team go into freefall and attested over sexual contact with a minor only serve to infuriate the loyal following that expert wholehearted commitment and will be following the club years after these players have moved away.

After the Advocaat reign, whether we survive relegation or not, I'd look at taking Kevin Phillips from his coaching role at Leicester City. His standing with the fans and his obvious passion for the club will sit perfectly with the fans that have had to ensure the madness of Di Canio and the direct criticism from Poyet.  For me, he always showed a good understanding of the game and would be a great fit.

How can so many managers 'lose the dressing room?'

Its just after half time, on Saturday 14th March 2015 and Sunderland are 0-4 down at home to Aston Villa, who are in the bottom three. Gus Poyet lost the majority of the fans with an attack on them earlier in the year, and now appears to have list the dressing room.

Yet another Sunderland manager faces the sack after finding that the team don't buy into his ideas and don't seem remotely interested in the pitch. The club look destined for relegation to the Chsmpionship, again. I haven't forgotten that the situation 12 months ago was far, far worse and they survived but lightning won't strike twice.

It's the fact that the team don't appear to have bought into Poyet's philosophy, possibly brought about by following the philosophy all season and getting previous little out of it. The style of play that he wants to put forward is possession over everything else. If points were awarded for possession statistics then Sunderland would be safe already. The real issue here is the fact that, the season after the players revolted against Paolo Di Canio, the players are not performing for Gus Poyet. The effort and concentration levels have been dire, and this is summed up by the fact that Seb Larsson didn't arrive in the pitch until 3 minutes into the second half - farcical.

Rumours have circulated about a large number of the Sunderland squad that are heavy drinkers and poor trainers. Add to this the recent run ins with the law of Nicklas Bendtner, Titus Bramble, Connor Wickham and Adam Johnson and Poyet's comments last year about a rotten core at the club come into more focus-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2603755/Gus-Poyet-hints-rotten-core-Sunderland-boss-refuses-rule-leaving-Black-Cats.html

I'm not sure who would want the job, and anyone who takes it would probably want to conduct a complete overhaul of the playing squad to root out this rogue element. I can't think of many first team players that is want to keep, and Ellis Short will have to dig deep again to help the club start again.

There's something seriously wrong at Man Utd

I'm just watching the end of the Manchester United and Arsenal FA Cup tie and there's something really wrong about this club at the moment. I'm not one of these people that knocks Man Utd at any opportunity but I think that it's time to look objectively about how far this club has dropped in less than 2 seasons.

No Champions League this year and I'm really not sure that there will be any next year. The only competition left open to them this season is the league, and there is fierce competition for a top four finish. Liverpool, Arsenal, Southampton and Tottenham are all fighting for the places behind Chelsea and Man City. I'd put Arsenal and Liverpool at the front of the queue based in current form.

So where is it going wrong?

Well, I think that throwing money at the problem hasn't worked. A manager that can review the strengths and weaknesses of the current squad and review what they need. It's not Radamel Falcao, it's not another number 10, it's not more wingers in a formation that doesn't use wingers. The squad STILL needs an overhaul but most of it is related to who they need to ship out before they look at who to being in.

I'd keep-

De Gea

Valencia (but not at fullback)

Rojo

Blind

Fellaini

Carrick

Rooney

Di Maria

Van Persie

Mata

Herrera

Young

Shaw

And of get rid of-

Jones

Smalling

Rafael

Anderson

Evans

Januzaj

Falcao

For me, this leaves then needing both fullbacks and a new centre back. Another striker will help, but one with more movement than Falcao - he just doesn't seem interested.

I'm shocked about how far the club has fallen since Sir Alex Ferguson left and there's still so far to go to get back anywhere near that level again.

Does the game need "characters" or are we fine without them?

I've always seen quotes, usually in the tabloid press, that the game of football needs characters. That the likes of Mario Balotelli are "good for the game" as they keep up the interest level, create headlines and make the game more interesting. They say that the negative antics of Jose Mourinho where he attacks referees, other players, other managers and the authorities adds to the game because he is a character.

I completely disagree. I think that the phrase "bringing the game into disrepute" is wholly appropriate and I think that the lawmakers need to stamp down hard on all of these things.

I've been reading in my local newspaper this morning about Adam Johnson being arrested on suspicion of sex with a 15 year old girl. This man is a role model. With the outrageous riches he is paid, he owes the fans, his teammates, the club and the city a debt of representing them. I dread the conversation with my 8 and 6 year old boys when they ask why one of their favourite players is missing. When they ask why he's on Sky News instead of Sky Sports News.

I think that as a whole, football owes it's supporters. I don't expect all players to be angels all of the time but I don't think that it's too much to ask that they keep their heads down and work hard for the 15 to 20 years of the career, when they're paid huge sums of money to represent their club and fans.

Welcome - this is me!

Welcome to the first of my blogs on football - a lifelong passion. I suspect that there are many thousands of blogs on football out there and I'm not setting out to be different in a quirky way. All the views I express here are my own thoughts on current events in football, changes I think will help the game and my views.

This is a short introduction, to lay my cards on the table at the outset. I'm a Sunderland fan, but not one of those that hates everything in black and white. I am a passionate and positive supporter of my club and I don't need to feel hatred or vitriol towards our nearest rivals. I want all the North East teams to do well (the few that are left in the league.)

This blog will be a mix of reactions to action or stories that prick my interest, analysis of matches, teams and tactics plus my thoughts in where football as a whole goes from here. I've played to a reasonable level and attended well over 200 league and cup games plus friendlies and testimonials, so I've got a good background knowledge of the game that the world loves and I think I've got some insights to share that will be different from the stuff you usually read in the newspapers.

Hope this inspires you to at least have a look at some of my upcoming blog posts.

Thanks for reading this far!