Back by very popular demand is the return of Ask The Opposition. Our segment where we ask fans of opposing teams forums some questions and post a selection of the responses back on here.
In our next domestic game, we'll be playing Hull and asking them some questions. If you've got anything to contribute, feel free to PM me or tweet the RedCafe account.
I've asked questions to Sunderland fans on r/safc and here are their responses. Thanks to some newbie users for providing some of the questions (they have been credited):
Q1: What do you make of how Moyes had done at Manchester United this season and do you feel that it was right for Manchester United to sack him when they did?
wwxxyyzz: In hindsight, Moyes was out of his depth. However, I think any manager who had to follow Ferguson would have had trouble, especially with the squad that you have. The stories about almost a player revolt are fairly shocking too, and something you can't imagine happening under Ferguson. Perhaps if Moyes had been able to get the signings he claims to have wanted, things may have been different.
Stormo130: It was always going to happen. No matter who came in there was going to be a struggle. You can't go 26 years with the same manager and still have the same stability when he leaves.
Having said that it was incredible watching the same team (bar three players, Fellaini, Mata and Januzaj) have such poor form for large periods of the season. Though I feel that is more of a testament to SAF's ability than the team itself. Moyes had an awful time, maybe it wasn't meant for him to work.
PoddVZ: I didn't expect Moyes to do great and I'd be surprised if many people thought they'd be challenging for the title, it was a huge transition and I just thought it was going to be difficult for you to cope with. Fair enough you've done a bit worse than what I'd expected but still I'd expected not a top 4 finish. I feel it's pretty hasty sacking him considering I think there is a fair amount of deadwood players at your club that needs clearing out, I feel Moyes knew about the deadwood but was too scared to make any big changes at the start of his first season and wanted to wait until he'd had a full season in charge.
Q2: You’ve been in a decent run of form of late, drawing against City and getting all three points against Chelsea. How do you think you’ll fare against a Manchester United that has, on the whole this season been subpar? Do you think Giggs will invigorate the team, like the result against Norwich?
wwxxyyzz: I think we would have fancied it against you with Moyes as manager, but with the "new manager effect" (which is something we are well aware of) I'm less confident about our chances. I thought in the first half Norwich were okay, and it's hard to tell if the result was because of Norwich being bad in the second, or you being good.
Stormo130: I think we can scrape a draw. We played well when we went to you but that was against Moyes' side. Giggs has rallied the players and there appears like there is more belief in the UTD camp. Depending on our attitude when we go out and whether we keep a similar starting 11 we could do well.
PoddVZ: I'd like to say we'll go out there and give you a go but I'm not sure. The Chelsea and City games were both insane but you also have to remember we went out against Spurs and Arsenal in past months and lost 5-1 and 4-1 respectively. Giggs has came in for an obvious positive boost for the end of the season and I feel it will be the same with this game however I don't think we'll get smashed.
Q3: Around this time last year, another mod from RedCafe had asked questions on here and the talk was about O’Neill who was the man in charge then (he was sacked a few days after funnily enough). What do you think has “gone wrong” to have had the number of managers in the last few seasons that you’ve had, and do you think it is something that can be rectified easily enough, or are the issues deeper than the management?
wwxxyyzz: I think the wrong appointments were made. MoN was a "hero" pretty much the chosen one, but evidently he had lost his drive, and hadn't adapted to new tactics. We were sleepwalking towards relegation, so Di Canio was a good appointment at the time, but in hindsight he should have been replaced in the summer with Poyet. Having said that, I was optimistic and I think that Di Canio maybe could have been a success, but his methods were too abrasive. He had the right idea (the rotten core of the squad needing to be replaced) but then Poyet hasn't seemed to have had trouble with them. I really like Poyet, I think he's the right man for the job and if we stay up I think we can feel more optimistic than we have been able to for ages.
Stormo130: It's a modern case of footballers becoming bigger than the club. They weren't bothering/lack of motivation and O'Neill had no answers. Di Canio tried to answer the questions by brute force but you can't out diva highly paid divas. There is some rot in the squad and with a lot out of contract soon I hope we can build a hungry side that wants to be at the club and shows that on the pitch.
PoddVZ: Not sure what happened to O'Neill, it was obvious he was struggling though, his football was boring and it just felt like he'd been out of the game for too long. It was the right decision in sacking him though as we'd of went down without Di Canio in charge. I think Di Canio should of only been a short term option, it was somewhat clear that in the end players would despise him because of his overly passionate nature and our results at the start of this season showed that. Hopefully, this issue is fixed, Gus is a great manager and I hope Ellis Short gives him his full support even if we get relegated.
Q4: Some factions of the media suggest that this is still very much Di Canio's squad. If you do get relegated, would you be happy to give Poyet some time to bring in his own players or do you think he should be sacked? (question suggested by dwd)
wwxxyyzz: I strongly believe Poyet should be kept on, relegation or otherwise. He had a rocky patch (from the cup final until the City game) but he seems to have settled on his favourite team, and we've had some amazing results under him. 4 points from City, beating you lot over two legs, the Cup Final (result notwithstanding), ending Mourinho's ridiculous run of home form, and the 3-0 against the Mags.
Stormo130: Give him time!! For heavens sake we need the stability. We need someone to come in and give it a real go. I am enjoying Poyet's football and I would love to see him with a bit of cash and preseason to bring in some squad players and set in his mentality, whether we're in the Championship or not.
PoddVZ: It isn't just Di Canio's deadwood that is left behind, it's O'Neill's and Bruce's as well. Larsson, Gardner, Altidore, O'Shea, Fletcher etc. (I could keep going on) are players I could fully argue aren't PL quality and these are the players that Poyet is having to string together. If Poyet is sacked I'll be really upset, he needs time to fully build his own squad and he needs Ellis Short's full backing to do this. I really think that with time Poyet can build a really strong PL side.
Q5: Do you think you’ll avoid relegation after your recent run of form?
wwxxyyzz: Relegation is in our hands, we know exactly what we need to do (win two of the next three to stay up, barring a 12 goal difference swing with Fulham) so I'm optimistic we can stay up. Which is amazing when you consider where we were 3 matches ago.
Stormo130: I think we have a chance, we're a wild card as of late. There could be a downturn of form and results with everyone around us could go the other way. That's football. (Though I'm staying the faith and think we'll be around next season).
PoddVZ: I'd like to say yes but we're definitely not out of the fire just yet, Norwich and Cardiff are 100% down and it's obviously between us, Fulham and Villa. All depends on how we perform in our last two games, both at home against West Brom and Swansea, teams that we have a real chance against. I just hope we can prove we're good enough by beating both of these teams instead of hoping Fulham are shitter than us and lose both their games like last year when we had to rely on Wigan getting beat for us to stay up.
Q6: Although you’ve not done well in the league, you did make it to the final of the league cup and the quarter final of the FA cup, which is a great achievement. What have you made of this, and would you rather your club had placed more emphasis on the league than the cups, or would it have made no difference due to team selections etc?
wwxxyyzz: The Cup Final was an amazing day, the joy of Borini scoring was an incredible feeling. However, the results after that match were awful (a draw then 5 straight losses in the league) so it's easy to conclude that the Cup Final was possibly a negative on our league form. The FA Cup quarter final against Hull was immediately after the League Cup Final and we lost 3-0, it was an awful result. The team had lots of changes, and we just didn't show up. It's possible that had a negative effect on the players which led to our poor league form. If we stay up it's irrelevant, but I would have loved to have gone further in the FA Cup, and I would have loved to have knocked out Hull.
Stormo130: I've been very happy with it. The way the season has been it was nice to feel like the club was going somewhere whether we were to pull a Wigan and win the cup just to go crashing down. The cup brought out some desire, it may have taken a while but it did have some positive effect. Team selections won't have changed, we don't seem to have the depth for much rotation.
PoddVZ: A lot of our fans called me crazy but I'd swap our position and the cup final for Newcastles place in the league anyday. Wembley was nice but I'd rather have a safe position in the league without the threat of relegation. No idea what to make of it tbh, our team just decided to turn up in the cup games, we were also slightly lucky considering although we got some hard teams (Southampton, Chelsea) they were both home draws and I think that helped us in a way. Not going to mention the FA cup, was a dreadful game against Hull.
Q7: How has Connor Wickham's emergence really come about? is it Poyet's tactics? sudden patch of form? linking up with certain players? (question suggested by one340)
wwxxyyzz: Wickham was something of a conundrum, he joined for big money and didn't really get a chance for us. He's had trouble with injuries, and he's been out on loan a lot, so maybe his run of form was just due to having a sustained spell in the team. There has been questions raised about his attitude, with Quinn commenting that he was last to arrive and first to leave training, and Di Canio likening him to a Playboy model. I rate Wickham, he's got a great first touch and seems to understand how to hold the ball up and bring others into play, which is something that Altidore and Fletcher seem to have trouble with.
Stormo130: Confidence. That is literally it. He has had a great loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday and that's what he needed. He needed to be away from the pressure of fans hounding him with their expectations and he went away and did what he does best. Amusing that the striking power we needed was already here.
PoddVZ: I'm one of the people that constantly said Wickham wasn't good enough and just didn't look PL quality, I've obviously been completely proved wrong in the last 3 games. I think the main thing to say is the reason for this is a boost in confidence from his loan spell at Sheff Wed where he banged them in for fun in a Championship side that was picking up a bit of form.
Q8: Who do you think has been your best and worst player this season?
wwxxyyzz: Similarly to last season, the best player this season has been a keeper. Vito Mannone. I wasn't sure about him signing, but he's been really good this season. The mistake against Man City was gutting for everyone but I'm sure that he's saved us more than the two points dropped over the course of the season. Worst player is Altidore. I think the fans can forgive a player who is lacking in talent, but lack of application is unforgivable. He doesn't look interested, won't move much in search of space, and for such a physical specimen he's embarrassingly easy to knock off the ball. It's especially galling when Bony (who had a similar record in the Eridivisie) cost only £3m more than Altidore and has performed far better.
Stormo130: Mannone or Borini for best. If you'd asked at the beginning of the year I'd have said Ki for his midfield impact but the test of time has to be the brilliant Italians. Worst, is very difficult. There have been some clangers this year with liable centre backs (Brown and O'Shea in places), Cattermole being Cattermole, and Larsson being Larsson. However those four have stepped up recently so I feel unfair calling them out on it. I'd be tempted to say some of Di Fanti's signings but it's difficult. Everyone at some point (bar Borini and Mannone) have been at fault for being worst, so I think it's levelled out. Don't think I can pick.
PoddVZ: Best - Definitely Mannone, class GK and has been great for us, a small mistake against City which may have cost us 3 points but he's definitely saved us more points this season than he's given up. I'd give our loan stars Ki Sung-Yeung and [Irrelevant point] an honorable mention, they've been great consistent players that have done well for us, Ki dropped form slighly in his last few games but I think it's clear that it was his injury that caused this. Worst - Altidore, no more to be said.
Q9: Who do you think has been your best and worst signings this season?
wwxxyyzz: The best signing has probably been Mannone, but as I've talked about him above, I'm going to say Borini. He's scored some big goals for us, and hitting a 25 yard screamer into the top corner to win the derby is always going to impress the fans. He has fantastic work rate, and although he's sometimes too selfish, he's been a big player for us this season. It will be a shame when he goes back to Liverpool and sits on the bench behind Sturridge, Suarez and Sterling. The worst signing is Roberto Di Fanti, ex-director of football. He was in charge of signings, and so far, the only good ones have been Ki, Borini and Mannone.
Stormo130: Best would easily be Mannone (discounting loan signings). The man has been top form for us in goal and I'm looking forward to his future with us. Worst, may be Diakite/Roberge. Though both have had glimpses of what they could do they didn't half start poorly, leading them to having less and less starts.
PoddVZ: Same as above, Mannone is a new signing and Altidore was also a new signing.
Q10: Are there any youth prospects you have that you’re excited about/looking forward to perhaps see breakthrough in the future?
wwxxyyzz: In terms of young players, I'm excited to see what Wickham can do in a full season as our striker, hopefully in the Premier League. Watmore is exciting but very raw, Mavrias was highly rated but hasn't really featured for the first team, and El Hadji Ba has a good reputation.
Stormo130: Mavrias, Moberg-Karlson and Ba. All brought in by Di-Fanti but when they've played they may look raw, but they all have a spark, a desire and a hunger that we need right now. I want these lads to start to break into the first team.
PoddVZ: Wickham is a clear option, I can't wait to see whether he can keep up his goalscoring form next season and then maybe we can talk about not having a season being threatened by relegation. Mavrias, El Hadji Ba and Mikael Mandron are all really interesting, Mavrias played in the first team for a bit under Di Canio and had one or two good games! I was dissapointed to see him shoved back into the reserves when Poyet took over. Mandron is scoring a number of goals in the U21's and El Hadji Ba has always been a fun player to watch in our early cup games.
Q11: Which XI would you like to see your team field against us?
wwxxyyzz:
I'd like to see a team of
Mannone
Vergini - O'Shea - Brown - Alonso
Cattermole
Johnson - Colback - Larsson - Borini
Wickham
Vergini - O'Shea - Brown - Alonso
Cattermole
Johnson - Colback - Larsson - Borini
Wickham
Stormo130: The same as we have fielded against oppositions the past 3 games. Maybe Giacc on for Colback but he's done well as an impact sub so who knows.
PoddVZ: Same as the last 3 games, no reason to change a side that has gained 7 points from City, Chelsea and Cardiff.
Q12: Finally, your predictions for the match?
wwxxyyzz: I think we have enough to come away with a draw, hopefully you don't get the customary ex-United player own goal to help you on the way.
Stormo130: I want a boring 1-1, but I have a feeling it'll be exciting.
PoddVZ: As I mentioned above I'd like to see us go out there and give you a go, not too sure though, I'll go with Man United 2 - 1 Sunderland, Wickham will score early and we'll hold on to half time, Giggs will give your boys a talking to at half time and Mata will score early in the second half with Welbeck scoring a little later.
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If any of you have any suggestions on what we should do as part of this, or any questions for future games, reply to the thread, PM me or tweet @red_cafe, thank you.
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