Sunderland ‘Til I Die | Season 3 on Netflix on 13th February

[Massive Spanner]

Bain was a tosser. Even the opening scene where he was swimming and got out of the pool in the early hours of the morning was clearly constructed by him as some show of how great he is.

That said, I don't think he did much wrong. He tried his best with shitty scouts (I mean fecking hell, that bit where they had Ibrahimovic listed as a potential target ) and no budget to get players in for the managers, and hold on to players they wanted to hold on to. The Rodwell thing was stupid on his behalf but probably pure desperation.

He was a bit of a David Brent, too.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

Yeah the 433 thing was a load of crap. Does your manager have to tell you every little detail? No, you are a professional footballer for christs sake. Yeah I see what your saying but I would be someone who would need a good kick up the arse rather than a pat on the back

I did find it a bit rich McGeady saying he'd never played in 4-3-3 before, but all the same players should be clear about their roles and that's the manager's responsibility, it's what they're paid to do. This is exactly the kind of thing that made the end of O'Neill's tenure with Ireland sound like a disaster.

 

[noodlehair]

It’s amazing how long United fans can hold a grudge against Sunderland. Small time

I've always found them funny. When they were in the PL it seemed like every single week they'd play at home and get booed off at half time due to being 3-0 down. Every time they were on TV their fans would spend most of the game booing about things.

Every year around February time they would sack their maniacle, borderline psycho manager, and replace them with another maniacle, bordelrine psycho manager who would stave off relegation, only to set about building their own mountain of misery for the following season. Then they thought it would be a good idea to appoint David Moyes.

They also used to beat City randomly every year. The poznan thing was small time though. Spend all season booing your own team and then start cheering for a different one. Not as weird as the Wigan fans who only ever turned up to watch opposition teams play but still an odd mentality.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

I've always found them funny. When they were in the PL it seemed like every single week they'd play at home and get booed off at half time due to being 3-0 down. Every time they were on TV their fans would spend most of the game booing about things.

Every year around February time they would sack their maniacle, borderline psycho manager, and replace them with another maniacle, bordelrine psycho manager who would stave off relegation, only to set about building their own mountain of misery for the following season. Then they thought it would be a good idea to appoint David Moyes.

They also used to beat City randomly every year. The poznan thing was small time though. Spend all season booing your own team and then start cheering for a different one. Not as weird as the Wigan fans who only ever turned up to watch opposition teams play but still an odd mentality.

I dunno about that, I used to go to games in 2014 and 2015 and I don't remember being at one when they were booing the team. I remember pretty good atmosphere in the stands even when things were going badly. They got behind the team. People on the Sunderland board said the same about the doc, that the reactions to getting goals scored against them were totally overdone and often mixed in from different games entirely.

 

[montpelier]

Bain was a tosser. Even the opening scene where he was swimming and got out of the pool in the early hours of the morning was clearly constructed by him as some show of how great he is.

That said, I don't think he did much wrong. He tried his best with shitty scouts (I mean fecking hell, that bit where they had Ibrahimovic listed as a potential target ) and no budget to get players in for the managers, and hold on to players they wanted to hold on to. The Rodwell thing was stupid on his behalf but probably pure desperation.

He was a bit of a David Brent, too.

I didn't understand the Ibrahimovic thing. Again we don't have the full context. Either I thought...

1 - it was proper snarky from Bain about their scouting contribution

2 - they can't have been serious surely? - which would justify 1, tbf

3 - any of this suggests a lack of communication/instructions

As an aside, if they couldn't find a better GK from somewhere, you begin to wonder innit?

The Dutch guy on paper doesn't look so terrible, tbf. Played quite a lot of Dutch League games if the wiki is right - which I'm now wondering about as I'm typing this.

 

[noodlehair]

I dunno about that, I used to go to games in 2014 and 2015 and I don't remember being at one when they were booing the team. I remember pretty good atmosphere in the stands even when things were going badly. They got behind the team. People on the Sunderland board said the same about the doc, that the reactions to getting goals scored against them were totally overdone and often mixed in from different games entirely.

That would make it even funnier though. So they were suggesting the BBC, Sky or whoever were editing in the boos?

I mean I wouldn't put it past them, I just don't know what that would achieve. They definitely do stuff like this though. Sometimes you catch them turning the microphones up or down for certain sections of the crowd during the game, then a few minutes later they'll make some silly point about the atmosphere.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

That would make it even funnier though. So they were suggesting the BBC, Sky or whoever were editing in the boos?

I mean I wouldn't put it past them, I just don't know what that would achieve. They definitely do stuff like this though. Sometimes you catch them turning the microphones up or down for certain sections of the crowd during the game, then a few minutes later they'll make some silly point about the atmosphere.

Not BBC/Sky, that comment about booing etc was in relation to the Netflix doc. They chopped up crowd reaction scenes a huge amount apparently. The Celtic game is a good example - it's a summer match but apparently there's winter crowd scenes in it! I can only speak about my experiences going there, which were in seasons they escaped relegation, and add my surprise at how MOTD portrayed matches that I'd been at sometimes.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Thought it was a great documentary, Binged it in 2 days.

Coleman came across very well, and the fact he offered to stay in League 1 and get them promoted said alot about his character in my opinion. The job was always going to be a tough one and fair play to him for putting his reputation on the line to try and save them. Grayson on the other hand was an absolute hack of a manager. How he manages to bounce from job to job is beyond me.

Bain reminds me of that guy at your workplace who can talk a good game and his presentation is all smooth, but in reality knows and delivers very little. I've seen those types in nearly every workplace i've been in. The fact he was getting £1.2m a year is madness.

 

[big_black_dog]

great doco, it feels like a reality show on Football club

Going to watch again.

 

[NinjaZombie]

The episode where they had the run of games they lost, with Grabban scoring against them, that felt like those FM games where you just can't summon a single win. That inevitable feeling of getting sacked soon.

I felt for the lunch lady, the kit man, the normal people who were working at the club. Hard not to, really. Meanwhile, Bain and some of the players get paid millions.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

The episode where they had the run of games they lost, with Grabban scoring against them, that felt like those FM games where you just can't summon a single win. That inevitable feeling of getting sacked soon.

I felt for the lunch lady, the kit man, the normal people who were working at the club. Hard not to, really. Meanwhile, Bain and some of the players get paid millions.

Funny you say that, as that's exactly how I felt watching it to.

 

[LingardsBoots]

Looking forward to the 2nd series, behind the scenes warts and all at it's best. Thing I gained from the show was how little the club is. Shite training ground, basic facillites and very poor management. They laughed at us so fair play lets laugh at them, hope they never re-surface in the premier league :-)

 

[Red Devil Rising]

Binged this last night, fantastic series and a must watch really for any football fan.

Got another couple of episodes to go. Found the Rodwell bit where they were trying to force him out of the club fascinating. Why should he tear up his £60,000 a week contract? It didn't really say if he was outright refusing to play.

Didn't realize how many mutants they had supporting them though. Although should have realized after the way they celebrated City's league win.

 

[SilentWitness]

I stopped watching it midway through due to that Bain guy but just finished it. Can't believe how annoyed they were at Rodwell, it's their own bloody fault. Can't help but think how awkward it would be for him interacting with the other players though, would they despise him or not? It would be a bit deep if they hated him and not Gibson who did something a lot worse (actively slagging them off).

 

[Oggmonster]

I stopped watching it midway through due to that Bain guy but just finished it. Can't believe how annoyed they were at Rodwell, it's their own bloody fault. Can't help but think how awkward it would be for him interacting with the other players though, would they despise him or not? It would be a bit deep if they hated him and not Gibson who did something a lot worse (actively slagging them off).

They all seemed friendly enough with him in the little bits you saw in the physio room. Doubt any of them blamed him really, he did his job and turned up etc just the club didn't want him there.

 

[golden_blunder]

Hope they make more, it was addictive

 

[El-Buitre]

Are they filming a second season or it was a one shot?

 

[roseguy64]

They're filming the current season

 

[marktan]

They producers are filming the second season but it's not been bought yet by Netflix, so no guarantee whether they actually make a second series.

 

[Xaviesta]

Up to episode 5 now and finding it riveting.

 

[mariachi-19]

WTF with sacking Coleman. You have a good quality manager willing to stay on and you sack them...

 

[Lay]

WTF with sacking Coleman. You have a good quality manager willing to stay on and you sack them...

He had about 30 games to keep them up and only won 5 of them though.

 

[DanNistelrooy]

One of the best football documentaries I have seen, brilliantly shot and captured all aspects of how a football club is run from the fans, behind scene staff, player medicals, matchday etc - I also found the transfer deadline day footage brilliant. What a season for them to pick, I'm assuming the intention was they would be capturing Sunderland's attempted push at promotion having just gone down but the relegation certainly made for better viewing.

Agree with those calling out Bain, thought he was incredibly arrogant considering near enough every decision he was making was backfiring. Gibson and of course Rodwell also didn't paint themselves in the best light, same with the keeper (Steele?) who came across very confident but looking at the match footage he was beyond awful. Thought Coleman and Grayson came across well.

 

[Mastoness]

Great documentary, binged it in 2 days. I never cared for Sunderland but I didn't really know how much do they mean to the city and the community.

Anyhow, they have only themselves to blame, mostly because of insane club politics about transfers and player contracts.

One of the few positive things in the whole club was that Josh Maja lad. 20 year old, he scored 15 goals this season in League One and they sold him to Bordeaux for only 2,5 mil Euros in this past transfer window.

 

[roseguy64]

Great documentary, binged it in 2 days. I never cared for Sunderland but I didn't really know how much do they mean to the city and the community.

Anyhow, they have only themselves to blame, mostly because of insane club politics about transfers and player contracts.

One of the few positive things in the whole club was that Josh Maja lad. 20 year old, he scored 15 goals this season in League One and they sold him to Bordeaux for only 2,5 mil Euros in this past transfer window.

Seems like there was trouble with him renewing his contract.

 

[Oggmonster]

WTF with sacking Coleman. You have a good quality manager willing to stay on and you sack them...

I'd imagine he was on pretty good money and they couldn't afford to pay him in League 1 so started with a clean slate.

 

[Man of Leisure]

Binge-watched this and loved it. For those criticizing Rodwell, not sure what you'd expect him to do as he's got a contract. What I don't get is, if healthy, not sure how he wasn't making the first XI?

The part where the keeper was getting surgery on his hand and you can see all the pins in it was fecking disturbing.

Poor O'Shea. Didn't get much screen time but seemed like a genuine bloke and a class act.

Just seen they're currently sitting in 3rd with a game in hand. Along with the questionable tattoos and piercings, the passion and anger of those middle-age fans is something else. For their sake, hope they get promoted.

 

[RedIke]

Favorite part for me was deadline day and seeing just how difficult it is. Especially for a team of their stature. Definitely not Football Manager games.

 

[Man of Leisure]

Favorite part for me was deadline day and seeing just how difficult it is. Especially for a team of their stature. Definitely not Football Manager games.

Do you mean their position in the table at the time? Although they’ve fallen on hard times, aren’t Sunderland historically one of the bigger clubs in England? Not sure why their owner decided to not spend any money on transfers. Surely the difference in the club’s price tag between being in the Championship and being relegated to League One would justify spending big on a striker?

 

[RedIke]

Do you mean their position in the table at the time? Although they’ve fallen on hard times, aren’t Sunderland historically one of the bigger clubs in England? Not sure why their owner decided to not spend any money on transfers. Surely the difference in the club’s price tag between being in the Championship and being relegated to League One would justify spending big on a striker?

I should have worded it better but yea. To me the show made it seem like they were having a hell of a time trying to get one in. For multiple reasons. Budget, position etc etc

 

[FujiVice]

Lost on penalties in the FA Vase. Oh well.

 

[P-Ro]

They've just lost the League One playoff final in the 94th minute. Can't wait for this years edition now.

 

[SirAF]

Fuuuuuuck them.

 

[Flying_Heckfish]

Brilliant finish to the game. Get stuffed Mackems

 

[El Zoido]

Hahaha poznan that you pricks.

 

[PoTMS]

Was hoping Portsmouth would come up. Almost wanted Sunderland to win today considering the alternative is that racist thug Bowyer going up.

 

[DRM]

oh dear oh dear thats bad barry

 

[FootballHQ]

Sunderland are so cursed.

They're like Man. City of the 90s and can't even get some redemption through a play off win.

 

[FootballHQ]

Was hoping Portsmouth would come up. Almost wanted Sunderland to win today considering the alternative is that racist thug Bowyer going up.

Not excusing his behaviour as a player on and off the pitch but he's done an incredible job as manager, pretty sure he still hasn't been named as permanent manager and is out of contract now.

 

[Hammerfell]

They lost? Wonderful!

 

[Speedy30]

Excuse my ignorance, I saw on page 1 that something happened between Utd and Sunderland that has meant that Utd fans are quite happy to see Sunderland slide down the leagues. What actually happened?