Rare midweek off for the Lads this week, the rest will do them good. No match obviously means, no match preview, no match review, no need to bother writing anything til the weekend. Given there’s nowt to do apart from work and gardening, (must be even worse for the gardeners out there?), it’s still a full week til I can play golf, it’s ages til I can enjoy a cold one at The Cockwell Inn, so may as well write something?

We change manager on a fairly regular basis, arguably too regular, at present we seem to be happy with our manager, we are in the mix for automatic promotion, so why not have a look at how it’s going for Lee Johnson.

“Don’t Look Jack In Anger…”

Generally speaking I’m not a huge fan of looking back, but given that the remit for Lee is promotion from Division 3, it’s relevant to make quick reference to those who went before him with the same remit.

Sunderland is a massive club, Jack came very close to achieving the task, literally at the very last hurdle. The expectation at SAFC is that we win this league, given Jack was the first to try, expectation was almost assumption, after we won at Donny in October to make it 5 straight wins, I honestly thought we’d walk the league. We didn’t, we came up short, with hindsight Charlton at Wembley should probably have been jacks last game, although I understand why it wasn’t and I didn’t have that opinion at the time.

It’s easy, and somewhat fashionable, it seems to dismiss Parkinson’s tenure, it was actually ok, (opinions etc), he got us fit, he got us on a good run, in a game of margins it was again very close to perhaps being very different, a Manadaron 97th minute goal and a spineless Governing Body means we’ll never know. Given I’m sat at a keyboard writing this, there’s obviously a degree of irony, but for me Parkinson was dismissed by keyboard more than by turnstile?

Both of the aforementioned are testament that time is something rarely afforded to Sunderland Managers, given the expectation I can understand why this is the case to a certain extent?

The Here and Now…

Things are pretty good at the moment, results have been good, we have a chance of promotion. Lee will be delighted with our rise up the table, although it heightens expectation, surely, (please), if we don’t go up he’s given the time required? Given we are now owned by people who are much better people than our previous owners, I’m confident he will be given time.

I enjoy football, ultimately I don’t really know a right lot about it, but I love the fact that we all have different opinions etc, so given the pubs are shut and there’s nowt to do, here’s my appraisal of Lee Johnson so far…..

“It’s been 107 days, 3 hours and 51 minutes since you took the job Lee”

Like the majority of managers, Lee is an ex professional footballer. Whilst it’s nothing to do with Lee, it’s always baffled me that most managers are ex players, like everyone else, I’ve met people who have excelled in life, I’ve also met quite a few footballers, it’s rare that a footballer comes across as particularly smart in comparison to those who have done really well in industry, professional life etc. Ryan Giggs managed Man Utd and is now a National Team Coach, John Terry will be a Premiership Manager soon enough, Chris Coleman managed us and his Country…. its like the CEO of Burger King being recruited because he’s a good burger flipper……it’s fucking madness really? Obviously it’ll be a bold shout for the first team to break up the old pals act, but if I was the owner of a club, I’d be searching high and wide for the best man or woman and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be courting ex pros, but what do I know?

Back on Topic…

I’m generally pretty positive about SAFC, I normally think we will win, I get excited to watch us, I will always give players and managers a chance as I’m desperate for them to succeed, in simple terms if they are successful it makes us all happy, and feeling happy is better than feeling sad. I like Lee Johnson, I like him a lot, he just seems like a class bloke, nothing arranged at present – but he’s the type of bloke you’d be happy to go on a Lads Weekend Away with, he’d be good value for a laugh, but not a liability.

Family Ties…

It’s done Nigel Clough and Darren Ferguson well, it can’t do any harm having a dad who has been a decent football manager for a few decades, my dad was good at gardening, it was handy if I had a vegetable related question, having a dad who is a football manager has to be helpful if you’re a football manager.

What not to Wearside…

Lee is of an age where he shouldn’t really be sporting a Club Issue Nike Coat, but after last Sunday at Wembley, I’m inclined to suggest he sticks with the Club Coat….

Man Management….

Just like fans, players are happy when games are being won, the team spirit at present seems as good as it’s even for some time, Max Power has the air of a captain, we’ve not had this since Cattermole.

Aiden McGeady is a very good footballer at this level, he wasn’t part of the squad before Lee arrived, he’s probably been the best player in the league since Lee reintroduced him, credit for this has to go Johnson. Just as results are all that matters, I’m not really fussed why McGeady is performing, I’m just happy that he is. It would be unfair not to give Lee credit for this, I suspect it’s as much a decision by McGeady as it was the management. He was overweight, he was shit when he went to Charlton, credit to McGeady as I thought he was finished, although I suspect at 33 he realised it was he last chance? We don’t officially know what happened between him and Parkinson, but whilst it’s correct to give Lee credit, I’m not sure that Parkinson got it wrong either.

All managers need this league would like to have a squad with the quality of ours, keeping them happy is another thing altogether, you’d have to say that the early indications are that Man Management is a huge strength of the current boss?

Making Ch,ch,ch,ch, Changes….

My main criticism of Parkinson would be his reluctance to make changes from the bench, Lee is certainly a bit bolder in this respect. Without checking, I’m pretty sure we’ve not had a red card since Lee took over, he was proactive taking off Jack Diamond at Lincoln, (and someone I can’t remember at Wimbledon), when they were on a yellow and looking like being sent off, once again credit for this.

Transfers…..

Too early to say, one for the summer I guess? We’ve signed some absolute shite over the last few years, but the analogy of you buy cheap you buy twice, rings true, M&S Ready Meals are better than Morrison’s, now we have a pot to piss in I expect to see better players coming in, although there’s no guarantees, after all Co op pizzas are the best by a mile.

In terms of Loanees, Jones looks very good, the bloke from Southampton less so, although I suspect these are players offered to us, rather than actively sourced?

Media…

It’s all about results, but media is a huge part of the job, it must be boring as hell answering the same questions every Thursday, he does say some strange things though? I quite like that, as I like people who are interesting and a bit unusual, random analogies are brilliant in my opinion, I guess if we are not winning, they can make you a target? But on balance, being a bit wired and different has many more positives than negatives, 100%

The SAFCBlog Verdict….

We are winning games, that’s all that really matters – fucking brilliant Lee, long may it continue, someone was going to get it right here, I hope it’s you. It’s all coming together, we are minted, promotion is possible and those silly twats up the road are in full shop shouting, bedsheet meltdooon..….. onwards and upwards⚽️🔴⚪️⚫️

Headed in the right direction…..