Fair play to Sunderland it’s unrecognisable from my last visit, that bridge over from the centre and all the new bars on the route..
Good to see the any city in the north on the up 🤝
We’ll do you on the 2nd Jan though.
#hcafc#sunderland
✍️Been stewing on this and something Carra said. The results were fine margins and underlying numbers thing and it got me thinking, why is this always used in negative narratives? It focuses on moments and plays on the what if's it didn't go so well but no one ever picks up on the narratives of what if it went better?
🔴⚪️Personal bias and all that but I'd imagine certain fans and pundits could cherry pick and spin last second game winning goals as luck and run on the story of what if they didn't get them? Rather than framing it as the teams' tenacity and resourcefulness it's they didn't deserve those points so they will do bad because luck has to turn 🤷♂️
😱Here's the thing what if we reverse that change the story and look at all those times we came within inches of a win. I'll cherry pick a few here.
❓️What if Isidor scored his 1v1 vs Liverpool
❓️What if Diarra scored his 1v1 vs Villa
❓️What if Ballard wasn't sent off vs Wolves for "hair pulling"
❓️What if Sadiki scored his 1 v1 vs Man U
❓️What if Sunderland were awarded the penalty for clear handball vs Everton at home
🏆Obviously not going to list all but I've went for 5 significant coin flip type incidents which if they went our way would've changed the game. Much as the way pundits frame if we didn't get the own goal or last second goals in the derby we'd have been lower etc. Now look at that list alone 5 incidents if all went our way that's 11+ points on our tally and takes a points off Villa, Man U and Liverpool. That would've taken us to 65 points and would've left us 4th with Villa on 62 points behind us. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BAYBAY!!
🍀But this is the thing pundits spin the lucky narrative sprinkle it with a negative "underlying numbers" spiel and bang Sunderland are poor. But no one is looking at some very legit moments where Sunderland could've won even more games if they were luckier/ more clinical. 5 flash points of the coin falling the other way and we'd be talking about Champions league Sunderland finiahing above previous champions Liverpool.
👍👎2 polar opposite arguments one negative on Sunderland being lucky and one positive on Sunderland being unlucky both would have merit but we don't talk about the unlucky one because we accepted it happened we missed chances and didn't get the rub it's in the history books. We moved on happy to be 7th. Yet rather than move on and objectively look at a team going into the new season with new players, more experience and a tactical understanding they get shackled with lazy takes like this paired with old data disguised as relevant and current somehow.
💩It's fallacy. If I was to seriously spout 'Hey Sunderland were 5 moments away from ending up top 4' it'd hold the same weight as it's the same talking point pundits like Carra make. And it's this bias take that Sunderland shouldn't be where they are that has people putting us 17th and below spouting crap. I'd hold the argument that all the experience gained will benefit the squad this season Diarra, Isidor and Sadiki ain't missing their next 1v1s, hair pulling now a yellow at best, and we hope VAR would give the right decisions. Fuck, even Enzo learned how to not take a penalty 🤣 The opposite arguement on the other hand is "last seasons poor XG". This isn't how you use XG it has no bearing on this season, fuck, it didn't even have bearing on last season 😂
🧠Now if we can keep the majority of the same squad with learned experience why is no one seriously asking if Sunderland can get Champions League after all if we can start winning games by flipping those almost moments into solid wins and get the points we just missed out on last season which were the difference between 7th and 4th.
⏳️Anyway, let's see how the season plays out. Not gonna be cocky as it's a very tough league and the landscape changes a lot but it'll be interesting to see if we are as shit as the majority of these paid professionals say we are.
@supersupersalty@cm_nufc Im a sunderland fan - if there was genuinely full families in sunderland tops that is horrendous
I get the kid(s) but not the whole family 🤣🤣🙈🙈
@CRVisuals_ Cant see Talbi going anywhere, not this summer atleast
Also think isidor will stay, reckon he will be this years Mayenda and be on fringes (unless of course we receive a substantial offer)
@Capt_Fishpaste TBH think we forgetting that Abdullahi and Geragusian are here too although i think come end of window we may one, if not both of them out on loan
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How crazy is it, that Sunderland get Europa League after promotion, probably the biggest football Fairytale since Leicester, and the news doesn't comment on it at all?
It's all, Spurs staying up, Spygate or the England Squad.
Congrats Guys, doesn't seem you hear that much 😇
EUROPA LEAGUE was never the dream.
Not because I didn’t want it.
Because if I’m being honest, I never thought it was possible.
What kid would?
Especially when 12 years ago I was playing non league football in the Ryman Premier and Conference South, just trying to stay alive in the game.
What kid dreams about Europe when, two weeks into the off season, his dad has to tell him he’s been released by Watford F.C. over the phone?
I was heartbroken.
My dad looked at me and said:
“What are we doing tomorrow?”
To which I replied with the words he’d drilled into me my whole life:
“We’re training, Dad.”
So we trained.
Every single day.
My dad emailed every EFL club asking for an opportunity.
One club replied.
One.
That was all I needed.
An opportunity.
@WealdstoneFC and @wwfcofficial , I’ll always be indebted to you.
Then came the move to @SunderlandAFC .
A massive club.
A massive opportunity.
And I couldn’t wait to prove myself.
But 45 minutes into my debut… hooked.
“Rabbit caught in headlights. Waste of money. Get rid.”
Then came the Championship.
“He’s not good enough for this level.”
Then the Premier League.
“Let’s give him a debut and then get rid of him.”
I understood the doubt.
I’ve faced it my whole career.
And truthfully, you doubt yourself too at times.
But I’ve always tried to live by one mindset:
Outwork your doubt.
You don’t always need to see the full journey.
You just need to take the next step.
Then the next one.
And then another.
Even when social media tells you you’re not good enough.
Even when the voice inside your own head whispers the same thing.
Keep working.
Keep learning.
Keep showing up.
Because sometimes the places you end up are bigger than anything your younger self could’ve ever imagined.
To any young player reading this, don’t put a ceiling on yourself too early.
You genuinely have no idea where this game and life can take you.
And to the boys… thank you.
You removed the glass ceiling I’d placed on myself.
What a team.
What a club.
What a fanbase.
Sunderland… rocking all over Europe ❤️🤍
And in the words of Granit Xhaka:
“This is just the beginning.”
Sunderland getting Europe via beating a 10-man team by them scoring an open goal, factually the luckiest team in Premier League history and I’ve said it all season