Fitness, Heart and Desire

Welcome to article #210 from SAFCBlog, it’s rare that I write anything without referencing that football is a game of opinions, that’s great and just the way it should be. Opinions aside, football is a results business and as such it’s also a game of facts? Forgetting the reasons why, (for now), we have played really well the last 3 games, 7 points would have been 9 had the referee not given the daftest penalty ever against us at Fleetwood. We never really got going against Bolton and it was a disappointing day, but….. if the referee hadn’t wrongly disallowed Flanaghan’s header – we’d have won that game. I’m never a fan of hanging refs out to dry too much though, it’s a really difficult job and the further down the leagues you go – the harder it gets? Just look at the linesmen at the next game you’re at, they are no help whatsoever / terrified to give a decision. There’s no such thing as a biased referee if you consider how maligned they are at the highest level, by the time you work your way down to our league, it’s unrealistic to expect poor decisions not to be a factor for all teams?

Highlights from the Lincoln game

Whilst we are operating in facts, we won yesterday and we won well. Thanks to the kind permission of the genius that is @LadSunder here’s the highlights of yesterday’s win……… https://twitter.com/LadSunder/status/1213754403632697344

Sunderland players lack of fitness

After we lost to Burton in November, I was pretty vocal about our lack of fitness, now of course the lads are fit – fitter than I’ll ever be… but League 1 fit? Opinions as always, but after 65/70 minutes 4 or 5 of them were absolutely knackered, Maguire genuinely looked like he was going to be sick? McGeady wasn’t fit, I applauded Parkinson at the time for outing him – that’s beginning to look like a great call by our gaffer. Regardless of whether people agree with who holds the position of manager – he is in charge, end of. Not going to add anymore for now as I’m halfway through writing an article about McGeady that I’ll get online in the next couple of days. When we lost at Oxford, (albeit on penalties), if you looked around their team – they were ripped and hungry – we looked lethargic and the signs of hunger were calorie / fitness adding not reducing. It’s absolutely bonkers that professional footballers may not be fit? But…. it does happen? It’s equally bonkers that Sheffield United are in the top 6, that Charlton went up last season, that Fleetwood are a fixture in League 1 etc…. fitness, heart and desire are massive. Januzaj, Rodwell, N’Dong, Sterling, that bloke from Liverpool who went to Rangers, Grigg…. it’s an almost endless list of players who have enough skill to tear teams apart, I don’t doubt they are good in training, great at 5 a side etc ….. but you cannot play football without a heart.

Recent improvements in fitness, heart and desire

We’ve looked like we’ve wanted it recently, whilst Parkinson comes across as calm and articulate, Steve Parkin is clearly absolutely completely mad and fucking nails. Sean Dyche and Chris Wilder are brilliant, they have both regularly said…. giving absolutely everything is the absolute bare minimum.

Sean Dyche……..

……football management royalty

There’s nothing like a few good performances and results for SAFCBlog to get carried away, but I wouldn’t have it any other way? So, is it really as simple as leadership, desire, heart, passion, intensity, tempo? Yesterday Maguire forced a corner and goal in a 5 minute spell – he’s got bags of skill, but in these instances it was desire – yes, Lincoln made errors, but teams in this league are mostly shite – put under pressure they will make mistakes. I don’t expect to see Will Grigg play for us again, so it’s no longer relevant – but….. would Grigg have made those two efforts? There will be people reading this who disagree and yes it is all a bit League 1….. it is indeed, because….. we are in League 1, we play at shite grounds, we get kicked all over, every team who comes the SOL has their biggest away following of the season, we have no divine right to beat teams with shit grounds and no history.