Wes Tender

Come on, both Greenridge and I have now called you out on whether you have any evidence that Pochettino has lost interest in the project. Stop playing puerile games and either put up or shut up.

Thanks for showing us what you look like. And kindly justify this comment of yours with some evidence:- You cant, can you? So as the whole basis of your argument is undermined by lack of any verifiable evidence, then all it is, is hot air and blather. As usual. Take some gripe water.

Your thread isn't that dissimilar to the one started by 110 persaint, who just went a little bit further and called on the club to sack Pochettino. That post got him banned. I must say, if you were banned to for your persistent wind-ups, it wouldn't be any great loss to the forum. Maybe you and he are the same person. A sort of bad cop, bad cop routine.

When you begin a thread that is worthy of some sensible debate, then I might deign to respond with something a bit more serious. In the meantime, pray tell us how you felt about the Skates getting hammered by Scun thorpe.

I'm totally convinced that Pastor Patron must be a Skate on a wind-up

You have to give credit to the old fox Allardyce for doing his homework on us and coming up with a strategy that largely worked to their advantage. The possession figures of nearly 70% don't mean a thing unless it translates into possession in or around their penalty area. And neither do shots on goal mean much if you aren't going to get them on target and then score from them. The question needs to be asked again of Pochettino, where is the plan B? If a team like West Ham closes down our passing out from the back and also closes down our width by marking our full backs, what do we have in our locker to counter it? Playing the ball over the top isn't going to work against a tall strong defence like West Ham's. Bringing on Ramirez gave us extra options for him to play the balls to intersect the channels, but we didn't have the shots on target from them to make them count. In the absence of having players who can more consistently score from their shooting, we are not able to bring in any that can until the summer, so more time needs to be spent on the training ground with shooting practice. Lambert and Rodriguez don't seem to be very consistent at the moment, both misssing their opportunities, as did Lallana. But at least we should be thankful that the team showed some commitment and desire today, which they didn't last Saturday. But it is galling that with over 20 shots on goal we only managed half a dozen on target, whereas West Ham managed to get about 6 shots on target and scored from three of them.

Let's accept it for what it is. It is a knock-out competition leading to a semi-final and final at Wembley. Nobody with any sense would blame the fans for not turning out in their masses to watch us play a lower division team like Yeovil when the Club believe that they can charge those prices for watching our second team play somebody like them. However, had we met Yeovil in the semis, then there would be some justification for fans attending and being prepared to pay much steeper prices. Had we met some glory team in the Cup and played at home, then no doubt higher prices would be acceptable and a fuller stadium attendance would ensue. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that had we reached the final, we would be able to sell our seat allocation three or four times over, which rather shoots down the argument that the fans are disrespectful of the Cup. And it is also true that the closer we would have got to being there at the final, the higher the crowd levels would be as expectations rise. It isn't rocket science. It's the simple law of supply and demand, with additional factors like fans having already paid for season tickets and entrance to other away matches, convenience of the fixture in terms of its timing and distance, etc. Had the club decided to employ a policy of cheaper tickets in the early stages against lower division opponents, then they would have achieved higher attendances, even when playing our second string players. There was the opportunity to encourage parents to bring their nippers to indoctrinate them into the Club, at the same time improving the atmosphere and increasing the take from the catering and merchandising. I do hope that the new regime will be more inclined to consider these things than the last one did. It is disrespectful of the fans to take them for mugs.

Well, you would say that, Mark, wouldn't you? The best referees don't have any club bias, whereas a succession of controversial decisions awarded against us prove that not to be the case.

Well, you would say that, Mark, wouldn't you? The best referees don't have any club bias, whereas a succession of controversial decisions awarded against us prove that not to be the case.

There seems to have been a typo in this statement, which I have amended accordingly.

Well, after Liverpool, it will seem like paradise, whatever the cost of living comparisons.

As you say, time to draw a line under it. Our work is done. Pochettino has received the message loud and clear and responded to the flack he received, albeit that his response does not ring true to some. Both he and the players are now in no doubt whatsoever how much a decent FA Cup run means to most of the fans and the next time around they will know what to expect should they consider playing a weakened team (the manager), or not putting in 100% effort (the players).

I'm delighted that Pochettino has been stung by the fans' disappointment into commenting on the backlash that has ensued in the media. But the timbre of his response shows that he still doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. I suggest that if he is still with us next year, that he educates himself by researching a bit of history of the Club and watches some media footage of our win against Manchester United in 1976. He should recognise that by the simple expedient of scoring the winning goal, Bobby Stokes became a folk hero for this club. He should also watch the celebrations in the City, and observe the incredible percentage of the population that came out to share the teams' celebration parade through the City on the open-topped bus, which also made the National News. Then he should observe the opening video that introduces the FA Cup matches on the box and look carefully at the vignette of Lawrie McMenemy holding the Cup, amongst all of the footage of the glory teams. Having done that, he should then note that 3 years earlier, a Certain Bobby Stokoe, the Sunderland manager, produced a similar shock defeat of mighty Leeds that is forever ingrained in Mackem folklore. Here is a short YouTube video of it:- Underneath, he might gain some insight by reading the comments of SouthCoast Mackem:- SouthCoastMackem 2 years ago That was written two years ago and is still firmly engraved in his memory and I would imagine that his hopes of a trip to Wembley are sky high, in two Cup competitions. When discussing disrespect, it is against this sort of background that any context is relevant. I will excuse him as an Argentinian for not recognising the passion that fires the ambitions of most of ours and Sunderlands' fans when they have an opportunity to win the FA Cup, but if he wonders what all the fuss is about, a little research along these lines should show him.

Ah! All of those clubs being so comparable to us, with their billionaire owners, well respected young and dynamic managers, academy produced starlets, etc. I can see why you would think they were in a similar position.

Having made a lifelong commitment to support my local club, all I ask for during a match is that the players give 100% in return. They are extremely well paid professionals and I therefore expect them to understand that the fans who pay their hard-earned cash to watch them are entitled to that at least. I accept that there will players who for one reason or another will make the occasional mistake and that some players have more natural ability than others. However, there really is no excuse for any of them not playing to the best of their ability. Against Sunderland, it was certainly the case that even though Pochettino had not chosen the most capable players, the ones he did choose did not give that commitment that the fans were entitled to expect. I worry that if Pochettino somehow does not recognise the importance of a good Cup run and the positive effects it could have on morale and confidence, then it could transpire that the feeling that many of us have, that the season is effectively over could become a reality and that we replicate the closing stages of last season and limp towards the last game like we did then. In order to undo the damage to the fans' diasappointment at our half-hearted exit, Pochettino will need to produce a storming finish to the season, starting with a comprehensive win against West Ham.

There's enough material here for an entire Psychiatrists' conference

No, but eminently possible that through their intervention in tightening up the midfield together, they may have prevented Gardner from scoring.

Well, any shirt pulling in the box by West Ham players and I'm fully expecting Clot 'n' Berk to be consistent and award us a penalty. But with luck, our complaints about him and his apparent victimisation of our club over severall matches historically, will have him walking on eggshells and predisposed on a 50/50 call to err in our favour in order to redress the balance and avoid us complaining to the FL about his anti-Saints bias.

I don't see why a comment that there were over the top reactions to our failure in the Cup match on Saturday couldn't have been posted on either the matchday thread, or one of the several other threads. You hardly ever post, but you felt the need to start your own thread. Just when most have vented their anger at our exit from the cup and the hullabaloo was dying down, you come along to give the pot another stir. Apart from the comment from FF that the club is not for the fans anymore, I think that other comments have some validity and are the genuine opinions of fans, which they are entitled to hold. Some might be knee-jerk reactions, thus perhaps exagerated a little in the heat of the moment, but they do express the bitter disappointment both at the team selection and the lack of effort from the players and they are just as entitled to those opinions as you are to yours. Ironic really that these "silly" opinions "make you so angry", get a grip man! It's only posts on a football forum. I don't see anybody calling for Pochettino to go, or not acknowledging the fantastic job he has done since he arrived. At the most, opinions have been expressed that either he had greater priorities elsewhere this season, or that he underestimated the importance of a successful Cup campaign to the fans. You don't feel that he needs to apologise to the fans, but a couple of the players read the mood of the fans and did so. Ticket sales will fall? We are talking Cup ticket sales of course and yes, they will the next time around, unless the manager makes the right noises about wanting to win some silverware. After all, if he isn't prepared to have the ambition to win a cup, why should the fans pay their hard earned money to travel hundreds of miles, when they can sit at home and watch them instead?

No. I've slept on it and am still livid over 24 hours later. Naturally I'll still support Pochettino and the players, provided that they make more of an effort than they did yesterday and provided that they don't take our support for granted. Both Pochettino and the players fell well short of the standard of application that any Saints fan is entitled to expect from them and I hope that the message has been received and understood by them that the next time we have as good a chance in the FA Cup, they had better be up for it.

Well, I'd take Hull or Brighton any day. And then of course, there will still be a lower league team left in the cup after the matches between Sheffield Utd/Notts Forest v Sheffield Weds/Charlton. If Sunderland draw one of them and go into the final, yes, you're right. The forum will go into meltdown at the opportunity we missed and rightly so.

Well, of course it would and justifiably so too. Why wouldn't you expect it to be so, that on paper, having beaten a Premiership rival, we were handed a match against a lower division side and an enhanced chance of progressing into the last four? And even then, there is the possibility that another lower division side would get through as well. No doubt you'd then be moaning even more at those who expressed regret that we didn't grasp the opportunity of a cup run taking us into the final with both hands by fielding our strongest team and our players not seeming up for it.

The situation regarding Pochettino and how he is regarded by the fans is this:- He arrived as virtually an unknown to most of us, replacing a popular and successful manager in Adkins. Cortese's judgment and faith in him has proved to be justified and we have played some very attractive, exciting and entertaining football under him. In general, his team selection and match tactics have proven to be solid. Steady growth and development of the youngsters into classy players has been a revelation and naturally the expectations of fans has increased exponentially. The ambition's of Cortese to play in the Champions League were initially laughed at by those used to so many false dawns in our history and our once perpetual fight for survival. It is against this background that the media have talked up Pochettino's growing reputation as a young and dynamic manager who could potentially manage one of the European giants in the future. It is against this background too that we fans had increased expectations of progressing further in the FA Cup, and had the potential given a bit of luck and a lot of application to win it. This is probably the one match since Pochettino's arrival where both his team selection and tactics have seriously been questioned by a large section of the fans. Whether he eventually manages a top European super club or not, there will remain the balancing act between achieving success in that Country's League and also in the Champions' League. In order to play in the CL, he will have to qualify as a top team in the league, but the measure of his management skills will be assessed by how he fares in the CL. To a lesser extent, a manager in this country has an opportunity to enhance his reputation massively by not only doing well in the league, but in producing a side capable of achieving some cup success. Whereas it is incredibly difficult to displace the top four glory teams in the league, there is the potential to do better than them in the FA Cup. Although there were chances to have won the match but for some poor finishing, our exit will rightly be placed at Pochettino's door by most of the pundits. Yes, the players didn't seem up for it and didn't put in the effort we expected of them, but team selection, motivation of the players and the tactics during the match are the responsibility of the manager. If Pochettino is to continue to enhance his reputation and progress, either with us, or elsewhere, his reputation has received a knock and he will need to learn from this that the FA Cup means a lot to the fans on the one hand and is an opportunity for a manager to enhance his reputation from successful campaigns.

It isn't my stock answer to anything I don't like to read. It's my opininion that you are one of two or three serial offenders when it comes to this sort of trolling. It is also your habit to post stuff like this and then defend yourself with a pre-emptive clause that nobody is to accuse you of trolling. It really is disingenuous. Anyway, several others have already shot down your assertion in flames with many examples.

What do I want? Naturally the assumption that disappointed fans ought to contemplate the alternative of wanting Pochettino gone/let's have Branfoot back, is ludicrous in the extreme. Ditto the position that we just lost one game of football, so get over it, also devalues the bitter disappointment that the majority of passionate fans are entitled to feel. Let's get some perspective some say. Well my perspective is that we were in the last sixteen of the greatest football cup competition in the World and had a great opportunity to progress into the last eight and just one match away from the semi-finals. With the team we have and the way that we play, we probably had our best chance of actually winning it for many years. On our day, playing our strongest team, we can beat anybody. For all of us who dared to dream, it is a kick in the teeth and when the club next expects us to pay over-inflated prices to watch us play the likes of Yeovil or to travel to distant places like Sunderland to watch us field an understrength team who don't seem to be up for winning the match, then they shouldn't be too disappointed if our support isn't at the level they might want next time around. For all those who just shrug their shoulders, if they are happy to accept this sort of lackadaisical mediocrity, then fine. But for all the others with a bit more ambition and passion, console yourselves that the bitter disappointment felt by a large proportion of the fanbase will manifest itself to Pochettino and the players and if they value our support they will realise that it will not be acceptable next season.