Makem sees the light Taken From Makem message board Murray out won't remedy the most important thing -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For me the most worrying thing about our decline is the realisation that we're not as big as we thought, and the potential we once had circa 60s, 70s has evaporated I am 22 - which means I grew up watching shite on the terraces of the Fulweel End in the late eighties and early nineties as a kid. I accepted Sunderland as a middle of the road First Division side with the pretension, perhaps, of a flirtation with the Premiership (like in 1991). But all of a suddent the Reid revolution co-inciding with the opening of the SoL changed the way I looked on the club. Now I believed my Dad and his mates who called Sunderland a sleeping giant who were bigger than Spurs, Everton, Villa, West Ham etc. 40,00 regularly for 3/4 seasons; getting close to 50,000 for midweek games in mid-table clashes were awesome; but was normal for us back then. I truly felt it was only a matter of time before we established ourselves as an elite side - regularly playing in Europe. With the crowds we were getting and our profile rising all the time I thought we'd have a huge transfer budget and ability to pay wages far in excess of the likes of Spurs, Villa etc. However the bubble well and truly burst and NOTHING can bring back the feel good factor. Premiership football couldnt do it, promotion couldnt do it (with the exception of the one off game against Stoke City), triumphing over financial adversity couldnt do it. Murray out won't bring back the missing 10-15k. The bubble on Wearside has burst and the reason we can't sustain Premiership football will be the same today as it always was, apart from one brief blip 5 years or so agom because we're not big enough to compensate for our geographical and economic disadvantage to stay here. We are in our natural position - which is a yo-yo club. Sacking Murray won't bring the fans back - maybe 1,000 fans tops are staying away for political reasons, the rest just can't be arsed some have realised they dont enjoy football as much as they thought, some are lazy and could only be bothered to go to the SoL when it was new, fresh and exciting. Its not anymore. Sacking Murray is not any kind of long term solution that will guarantee 48k fans - and for us to stand a chance of making it we need 48k fans. Simple as that; the area can't support a Premiership team only getting upper twenties lower thirties paying, lets face it, less than football supporters elsewhere on average. We aren't a big club or an attractive club - any potential we had in the 60s and 70s - has gone. We've had our chance - the bubble has burst. Murray is making the club punch its weight by keeping us as a yoyo club.
That it is. I think they were wrong to get rid of Reid in the way they did (replacing him with Wilkinson certainly didn't help matters), if they'd kept him they probably would have stayed up. They currently have a good manager in Mcarthy but I doubt they'll be still up at the start of next season - the only team who look capable of that are Wigan. Despite what people say or think to the contrary, there is now a massive divide between the Premiership and the 1st division. Staying up is extremely costly and going down is even costlier (Leeds, Wimbledon, Derby being names that have fallen upon bad times after relegation.) Sunderland seem to be one of these names that yo-yo between the divisions. I may be a Newcastle supporter, but I would still be happy to see our regional teams (Boro and the mackem scum as well as us) staying in the top flight. That is as long as we beat them on derby day
he's wrong. the board is everything that is wrong with SAFC. Murray and his minnions would rather SAFC where sitting top half of the Championship with 25k crowds year in year out.... thats what they want, a stable income with no ups and downs. its a business to them nothing more nothing less. this season isnt a failure to safc, they have done the right thing... they could have spent money and gone down again leaving the club crippled and back to sq1. the club has done amazing and is still over ahcieving every week, iv never seen them play terrible (last week apparently they did tho). yeah they will go down but so what? they will keep the same players and challenge again this time stronger. its what West Brom did two years ago rememebr
