Sunderland vs Fleetwood – All big games now

As a rule I try and not worry about other teams results or the table, as it’s something we can’t influence and the only table that matters is the one at 2pm on the 1st Sunday in May. That said, tomorrow is a huge night of L1 football…..2 of the form teams meet at the SOL and Coventry play Rotherham.

Obviously a win for us is a good thing, the other game is a tough call…. for me a draw or a Coventry win is preferable, as I don’t think Rotherham are that good and could fall away – whereas Coventry look like they will go up anyway, (ideally with us). Whilst it would be great to win the league, both footie wise and betting wise for me – if we come 2nd that’s job done.

Fleetwood town, any good?

It only 8 weeks since we played Fleetwood, they looked organised and physical – but didn’t create much. Their goal should have been credited to the referee and we probably should have won 3 or 4-1.

After playing us they had 1 win and 4 draws in the next 5 and for all the world looked to be drifting to mid table oblivion…. They have won their last 5, and some really good wins, so they are in form and come here full of confidence. I’m sure they’d take a point, especially as they will fancy beating Tranmere on Saturday?

The men to watch out for….

Lots has been said about Ched Evans over the years. Not only has a court of law proved him to be an innocent man, he’s also a quality finisher. Realistically he’s a Championship striker, fair play to Barton and Fleetwood for having the balls to let him ply his trade, whereas many were scared to.

Confidence is everything for strikers and top scorer Paddy Madden is on fire at the moment.

We’ve had clean sheets galore lately, it has the potential to be a really good tussle tomorrow night.

Joey Barton..

Yes he plays up to criticism etc, but he’s done a brilliant job at Fleetwood – we’ve seen in the last few months the importance of fitness – and no team works harder than Fleetwood?

I’m not denying he says daft stuff occasionally, but he’s a bright lad – he was great on the radio and his book is one of the few football autobiographies that is any good, especially is it was written by him, a rarity in this field. Football is changing and we are on the verge of a pandemic of depression in retiring footballers – Barton’s grasp on mental health etc is very much the future of football management?

Of course I’ll give him some stick tomorrow, but sometimes, the easiest judgements aren’t always the best judgements?

Panto villain ✅ easy target✅Decent manager✅

anything else we need to know about Fleetwood?

When I started this blog last March, match previews were about the town rather than the team. The more astute readers will have noticed a shift in content, in that I now preview the match rather than just look at celebrities from the town, random facts about the town etc.

I perhaps should have thought about it on inception, but this is the 3rd preview of Fleetwood in 9 months… very little has happened in Fleetwood in 9 years, so it became a tired formula. Worry not, this is not a shift to being serious…..

I can’t imagine Fleetwood bringing many fans – understandable when you look at the size of the club, home crowds etc….. conversely if I lived in Fleetwood I’d quite fancy going somewhere else for the day?

SAFCBlog predicts……

This is tough call, part of me says we should beat anyone at home on current form… another part of me almost can’t believe that something isn’t going to go wrong soon!?

SAFCBlog predicts…. A 1-0 home win courtesy of a Charlie Wyke goal….

FTM

No one could accuse Fleetwood of being a hotbed of music! Thankfully Blackpool is just up the road, and they have spawned some real talent….. The genius behind The Pet Shop Boys that is Chris Lowe, Cure frontman Robert Smith and……,. SAFCBlog favourite and daytime TV hottie, Coleen Nolan

https://youtu.be/0DJgMhg-gbU