Fan letters: “The club is not doing badly”

Dear Roker Report,

Why all the negativity? Give the boy a chance. He had a good season, then his better players were sold and not replaced. He could be a perfect fit and bring in good players from France. We are talking ourselves into a crisis.

Peter Connon

Editor’s note (Gav): I completely understand if there are people who are unsure about the appointment as none of us have much knowledge of him so that’s fine. I’m not sure either. But I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here. I wish the guy all the best and he has my full support. I’d like to think that’s the default for all the fans because ultimately we just want the club to be successful.

Dear Roker Report,

That’s why we have a tailor-made chant for the start of the season:

“All we’re saying is: give circumcision a chance…”

Ray Jenkins

Editor’s note (Gav): Very good… I’ll let you start with that first and see how it goes.

Dear Roker Report,

I love the Roker Report. My question is: does Régis Le Bris have enough money – millions – to spend on players and has Speakman told him he needs to buy a striker?

Raymond Levy

Editor’s note (Gav): Anyone with eyes knows that Sunderland need a striker or two this summer and I think Speakman’s head would end up on a pike if he doesn’t go out and find someone who convinces us. He’s got until the end of August so we’ll wait and see!

Dear Roker Report,

This man is unknown to me and probably to most fans, so even if he is not a top name, we have to give him a chance before condemning the appointment. Let’s support him and see how the season starts.

I would be more concerned about the fact that KLD and co are selling our most valuable players and replacing them with minimal spending on young, unproven players in the hope of finding a gem that they can later sell on for a huge profit. We need to get into the Premier League and that will involve spending money. They need to speculate to accumulate.

Stephen Owens

Editor’s note (Gav): Ah, you had me until you stated something as fact that is pure speculation. I agree that we need to spend money, but it needs to be spent wisely. I still haven’t managed to banish my memories of the Short era from my mind.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

Quiz question – Which Sunderland manager won 7-0 and lost 3-1 in their last two away games against Arsenal? I was at both games and one thing stuck in my mind: before kick-off at Highbury, a guy sitting right at the front turned to his mate and said, “I never thought he was the right man for the job.”

If you look back at the way the club looked when he was appointed, Reidy was definitely the right man for the job. And so was his opposite number Bobby Saxton. They gave Mickey Gray and Dicky Ord their chance with six games to go and the club stayed in the league even though it seemed highly unlikely. Attendances had dropped to 16,000 at the time. No one would deny afterwards that they were the right men for the job.

Roy Keane and his followers took the club from worst to best in their first season. It wasn’t until November that the engine started to purr and they collected a lot of points in the cold months.

I can go back; my first game at Roker Park was against Manchester United on a cold evening in February 1965. I can’t remember anything about the game except the roof falling off when George Mulhall slammed a ball into the top corner from the edge of the box. 1-0 win. 56,000 that night.

SAFC is a constantly evolving project. It always has been that way and it always will be that way. Even at this time of year there is always someone in the press who is making a point. If things don’t go wrong enough, they make something up.

As you can imagine, I’m getting on in years. I must say that the personal criticism that is being levelled at me these days is beyond what anyone should be able to bear.

Come on, guys. The club isn’t doing too badly.

The young people at the top have chosen their model and insisted on the reg they wanted. Implement it.

Stephen Wilson

Editor’s note (Gav): Someone said something similar recently and it has stuck with me… Reidy was brought in to save us and although he was ultimately successful, he was not a glamorous appointment and there were no hordes of fans praising him. Then there were the likes of Martin O’Neill who I genuinely believed would take Sunderland forward but was ultimately unable to do so. I don’t think selecting managers is an exact science. They all lose their jobs at some point and the most important thing is that they leave you in a better place than they found you. Fingers crossed that is the case with Régis.