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Dear Roker Report,
Driving home from Villa Park, our conversation was one for our future. The last ten minutes or so — you don’t script it.
Losing, drawing, should’ve won, then lost, but Aston Villa are a model Sunderland can emulate.
Not so long ago, Villa were in the Championship. They got promoted and for the first couple of years survived but also built a foundation to progress. Now they’re in a European semi-final and in a Champions League position within a decade.
Survival was always our aim this season — anything else is a bonus and next season, we carry on building.
Like Villa, we have a good fan base and stadium. With more shrewd signings, we can continue the dream as to be honest, we’re not far off the top six as it stands. However, we can’t take backward steps in selling our assets.
Mark
Dear Roker Report,
I’m sure I’m far from alone in my thinking regarding the future of our young players — and if we believe the hype, Brian Brobbey is already gone along with Noah Sadiki, Robin Roefs and a few others.
It never seems to stop. I get that it’s in some ways a positive thing, as it shows we’re being taken seriously, but there is the other side of the coin.
Since in this region, football is everything, we treat our players as heroes and they have a certain standing that does not happen in other regions. If they believe the hype, they could well decide they want to go, and let’s be honest, what can stop them if they do? They may well bomb elsewhere (as do the vast majority of players once they leave this club), but if they do go, where do we actually find replacements?
It’s fine knowing we have a brilliant scouting system, but Régis Le Bris has performed miracles in knitting this squad together and he might not be able to repeat with five or six new players next season if we sell the spine of the team.
As I mentioned, if a player wants away, there’s little or nothing a club can do to hold onto him, but please let’s not hasten such moves.
What we should all be hoping is that we keep our first-teamers and add even more quality and that can take us to the next stage. As fans, we’ve waited decades for genuine hope and we need to also hope the players don’t get caught up in the carousel of fantasy football.
