Sunderland 'Til I Die - Netflix Documentary (December 14th Release Date)

Zico !

Ardent wrote: »

That's a bit harsh. He was effectively left with zero forwards by the time the transfer window closed. I don't think anybody could have kept them up with that squad.

Allardyce would of coleman is one of the biggest spoofers in the game

PTH2009

Did that fan who approached Coleman and had verbals with him get any sort of ban ?

ERG89

4 episodes in and I noticed this years ago but the Sunderland fans are at a decibel level of around 4 when they are winning but go up to around 9 when they get a beaten.
I get the feeling Martin Bain really loves the camera too. He hasnt an easy job but he fair talks a lot without saying anything.

eh i dunno

PTH2009 wrote: »

Did that fan who approached Coleman and had verbals with him get any sort of ban ?

Just watched that last night. Fair play to Coleman standing up to him

Chumpski

I don't get why they sacked Coleman? The documentary wasn't clear on reasons for it.

The only thing was McGeadys criticism about losing Grabban and not replacing him. But not sure that was Colemans fault, Grabban did not come off well at all and seemed like he wanted out no matter what.

Sugarlumps

Grabban's facial hair is very reminiscent of Cartman's pube beard.

Paully D

Chumpski wrote: »

I don't get why they sacked Coleman? The documentary wasn't clear on reasons for it.

The only thing was McGeadys criticism about losing Grabban and not replacing him. But not sure that was Colemans fault, Grabban did not come off well at all and seemed like he wanted out no matter what.

There was a clause in his contract that stated he would be given a £2m payoff if new owners came in and wanted to sack him. He obviously knew the club was likely going to be taken over so his agent negotiated that clause. It only cost £300,000 otherwise.

So the new owners wanted to bring in their own man, which is understandable, and asked Short to dismiss Coleman before signing off on their takeover and saved themselves £1.7m.

the whole year inn

Could Sunderland not bring Rodwell to court for not futfilling his contract.
I wouldn't leave a cushy contract like that either but you have to complete the contract at as well.

I enjoyed it I liked Chris Coleman, he seemed to try his best but it was just sh it show. I watched it in one sitting aswell ,it was a great watch.

franglan

5 episodes in, they really didn't go into the sacking of Grayson much. Sure he was under pressure but we needed more of the thought process involved in sacking him. Not exactly all access was it.

Ardent

franglan wrote: »

5 episodes in, they really didn't go into the sacking of Grayson much. Sure he was under pressure but we needed more of the thought process involved in sacking him. Not exactly all access was it.

I thought it was explained quite clearly by the CEO: a message needed to be sent that results were not good enough.

LuckyLloyd

Finished it there. Quite limited access and they stretched out 6 episodes of content to 8 through a lot of fluff, repetition and aeriel tracking shots. It’s still the most interesting behind the scenes football doc I’ve seen, though that’s more a commentary on football docs generally.

On Rodwell, I can see both sides (decent debate up thread) though it had reached a point where him leaving and freeing up his salary on a weekly basis could have been a massive difference maker. He was smart, at the facility each day and ostensibly declaring himself available for selection. Terrible to see that stuff though, nasty situation.

McGeady’s comments on Coleman probably close to the truth of the matter I reckon. Nice fellah, good media nous but probably limited enough tactically.

But the real problem here is clearly the ownership and the squad management the year or years before the documentary begins. There’s no money made available at a crucial point when a short term investment in a striker could have had a big long term payoff of survival. Ellis Short doesn’t come across well, but there must have been a string of people in Bain’s position or the management position squandering his money for years.

Finally, John O’Shea: ****ing stealing a living. Captaining that defense week in, week out and leading that squad culture. Disappointing to see.

ERG89

LuckyLloyd wrote:

Finally, John O’Shea: ****ing stealing a living. Captaining that defense week in, week out and leading that squad culture. Disappointing to see.

I thought the whole place seemed poisonous. Owner with absolutely no interest, CEO who just acted like he was doing more than he was.(both windows they needed a striker and he let them down both times). McGeady blaming Coleman for Grabban going was idiotic as Bournemouth brought him back from loan and tried to sell him. Not like Sunderland sold him, Grabban knew going anywhere else was an upgrade as they were f**ked.
What they did show of the squad in the gym they didn't look bothered. Gibson drunk in the pub was sad but also fitting after seeing the damage he caused.
Rodwell seemed quite content doing nothing, he's entitled to do it but what club are going to view it that way? No top ones anyway. The goalie Steele moaning before he left for Derby (which fell through) was awkward when he got recalled. Not sure what to make of Johnny Williams, he just seemed to not want to be a footballer anymore. Not sure if it was depression at realising that or a lack of belief in himself to recover from the injuries.

artanevilla

the whole year inn wrote: »

Could Sunderland not bring Rodwell to court for not futfilling his contract.
I wouldn't leave a cushy contract like that either but you have to complete the contract at as well.

I enjoyed it I liked Chris Coleman, he seemed to try his best but it was just sh it show. I watched it in one sitting aswell ,it was a great watch.

He turned up to training everyday as was available to play, he was fulfiling his contract.

ctrl-alt-delete

46,039 in the crowd at the Stadium of Light today.

Unbelievable attendance for League One.

Underground

I'm about to start episode 7, really enjoying it.

What an absolute clusterfcuk of a club it had become, i can only assume it must be being run a bit better now.

Felt a bit bad for Bain, seemed to be a bit in over his head in the role but was making the most he could out of extremely limited resources.

Jonny Williams seems like such a humble, likeable guy. Like a lad you'd play 5 a side with, doesn't seem to have the airs and graces of a professional footballer at all.

JoeA3

Watched it all too over the last few days.

Whether intentional by the filmmakers or that’s just the way he actually is, Bain came across as a David Brent type. I was cringing for the guy. Lots of meaningless soundbytes. The “Thank You” card prominently displayed on his desk in every shot, the expensive Espresso machine, the lingering shots of him in the swimming pool...

Coleman came across as a decent fella, doing his best (e.g. getting stuck in with a shovel getting the pitch cleared of snow!) and he seemed genuinely loved by the staff. Still, a 2nd relegation within 12 months was really poor stuff, so it was hardly shocking he got the bullet.

I wonder would things have worked out differently (for both himself and his club) if Gibson hadn’t picked up that injury in January. He seemed to be just coming into good form, a key player, then gets injured and they’ve no real replacement. And then he has his personal meltdown. A real cluster fcuk.

J. Marston

JoeA3 wrote: »

Watched it all too over the last few days.

Whether intentional by the filmmakers or that’s just the way he actually is, Bain came across as a David Brent type. I was cringing for the guy. Lots of meaningless soundbytes. The “Thank You” card prominently displayed on his desk in every shot, the expensive Espresso machine, the lingering shots of him in the swimming pool...

Coleman came across as a decent fella, doing his best (e.g. getting stuck in with a shovel getting the pitch cleared of snow!) and he seemed genuinely loved by the staff. Still, a 2nd relegation within 12 months was really poor stuff, so it was hardly shocking he got the bullet.

I wonder would things have worked out differently (for both himself and his club) if Gibson hadn’t picked up that injury in January. He seemed to be just coming into good form, a key player, then gets injured and they’ve no real replacement. And then he has his personal meltdown. A real cluster fcuk.

And a fondness for getting that expensive looking watch in shot often too.

As a few have said, Jonny Williams seems a nice lad. Interesting to see the mental toll injuries can take on a footballer. Checked to see how he was getting on this season and only one appearance in the League Cup for Palace unfortunately.

Felt sorry for the club staff, in two years the place was more or less gutted I'd say.

marklazarcovic

Morzadec wrote: »

What are people's thoughts on Sunderland after watching it? Does anyone have a soft spot for them now? I'll certainly keep an eye on their results and will be curious to see if they go up

Finished it yesterday,great insight, lovely people .

Wanted to start up footie manager and help them out via the editor feature

DeanAustin

Binge watched it and loved it. Gave a great insight into how clubs are run and also captured what it means to be a fan very well.

Personally, I thought Bain came across pretty well. He had a very tough job. Although he was very well paid, I think he was sort of in a position where nobody could have done the job successfully because of way the owner withdrew funding but Bain was always going to be a lightning rod for peoples frustration.

I thought Coleman came across brilliantly. You could see he had a presence and charisma. Right man, wrong time. He’s a very good manager and his track record is good. He seems a nice guy who really gets what it means to be a fan. I know McGeady gave him a bit of stick but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad manager, that’s just McGeadys opinion and most managers will have players who don’t rate them. It seems McGeady wanted Coleman to haul people over the coals. It’s not as straightforward as doing that when you’re a manager.

Rodwell is a disgrace. Don’t get me wrong, I’d normally be the first to say that he only signed the contract the club gave him but when the club is on its knees and you could help them out, it’s a dick move not to when you have more money than you ever dreamed of anyway.

Finally, I disagree with people saying Sunderland aren’t a big club. They aren’t big compared to the elite clubs in England but they are bigger than about half of the Premier League clubs. They got 40,000+ in League 1 the other week for Christ sake.

As I said though, it captured the condition of football fans really well. A defeat kills your week but there is always next week to put it right. Get relegated? **** it, just win the last meaningless game for me. Two relegations in a row? We can start again in another league and get promoted. If a husband or wife put you through that ****, you’d get divorced.

There are only two certainties in life - your kids and your football club.

gmisk

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Finished it there. Quite limited access and they stretched out 6 episodes of content to 8 through a lot of fluff, repetition and aeriel tracking shots. It’s still the most interesting behind the scenes football doc I’ve seen, though that’s more a commentary on football docs generally.

On Rodwell, I can see both sides (decent debate up thread) though it had reached a point where him leaving and freeing up his salary on a weekly basis could have been a massive difference maker. He was smart, at the facility each day and ostensibly declaring himself available for selection. Terrible to see that stuff though, nasty situation.

McGeady’s comments on Coleman probably close to the truth of the matter I reckon. Nice fellah, good media nous but probably limited enough tactically.

But the real problem here is clearly the ownership and the squad management the year or years before the documentary begins. There’s no money made available at a crucial point when a short term investment in a striker could have had a big long term payoff of survival. Ellis Short doesn’t come across well, but there must have been a string of people in Bain’s position or the management position squandering his money for years.

Finally, John O’Shea: ****ing stealing a living. Captaining that defense week in, week out and leading that squad culture. Disappointing to see.

I think that seems harsh, didnt they give him player of the season?
I thought it looked like he was doing his best, he cant be responsible for the behavior of every player.

ThunbergsAreGo

An odd thing that sprung to mind was the difference in body composition between the Sunderland players and the elite PL players.

At least all of them carrying a few pounds and very few six packs on show, was surprising as whether you are a top level or mid level, it should be something you can control

The goalkeepers were all sh*te

rob316

What I want to know is who signed off on a 5 year 70k a week contract without a relegation pay cut clause for a player to a club who consistently fought relegation in the premier league.

His wages could of paid for 4 or 5 players they desperately needed.

Paully D

rob316 wrote: »

What I want to know is who signed off on a 5 year 70k a week contract without a relegation pay cut clause for a player to a club who consistently fought relegation in the premier league.

His wages could of paid for 4 or 5 players they desperately needed.

Well, ultimately the owner (Ellis Short) would have had final sign-off, but Lee Congerton was the Director of Football at the time and Gus Poyet was manager, although Poyet would have had very little if nothing to do with the financial side of things.

Paully D

I maintain that goalkeepers cost Sunderland at least 15 points last season. Here's Lee Camp yesterday - a brilliant example of what we saw almost every week:

https://twitter.com/EmiratesFACup/status/1081532217023709184

rob316

Ya the keepers were diabolical, ruiter especially.

McGeady was right about Coleman, your desperate for goals why push the one player who's scoring out the door? Grabban could of kept them up.

I see both sides of the rodwell situation but his attitude was awful, he could of negotiated a good payoff and gone on to kick start his career somewhere.
Behind all the multi millionaire pro footballers are a bunch of hard working Joe soaps and the series did a great job of capturing that human element. People at the club genuinely worried about their jobs if they're relegated. Those are the people rodwell was kicking in the teeth by hanging around.

I hear they have continued filming this season and the new owners have given even greater access but they are waiting for Netflix to sign off on another season.

Paully D

rob316 wrote: »

I hear they have continued filming this season and the new owners have given even greater access but they are waiting for Netflix to sign off on another season.

Yeah, that's true.

Probably waiting to see how the season ends or if there's any scandal or controversy to come before progressing with it.

Automatic promotion or a dramatic playoff run would be a good follow up from their point of view, whilst a playoff semi-final exit probably wouldn't be of much interest to them.

Gavin "shels"

Binge watched the 8 episodes yesterday, was a good watch and a good insight to how an English team is run (compared to what I've seen at a League of Ireland level, no comparison). Thought it was dragged out a bit and the Dream Team-esque match snippets probably weren't needed as much.

PARlance

Watched it a few weeks ago.

Would have to agree with a couple of the more controversial points. JO'S didn't come across as a real leader, nice guy but not someone who would grab things by the scruff of the neck in troubled times. I thought they painted Coleman as some sort of messiah... despite him doing a really poor job. Again, a nice guy but he came across as a bit of a spoofer.

Sunderland itself wouldn't be on the list for a city break. Christ, I hope they get promoted as it really seems like the only thing to cling onto.

TFBubendorfer

rob316 wrote: »

Ya the keepers were diabolical, ruiter especially.

McGeady was right about Coleman, your desperate for goals why push the one player who's scoring out the door? Grabban could of kept them up.

All the keepers were shown in bad light but I't not sure how bad they really were - if all that's shown is their howlers but never any decent stops it's hard to say how bad they really were.

I thought their strikers were the bigger problem, though. It's hard to win games if nobody seems capable of putting the ball into the net.

McGeady shouldn't shout too loudly - he was crap himself all throughout the year. I don't think Grabban was pushed at all - he left because he did't fancy playing for such a dysfunctional club.

All in all it was car crash TV at its best. It's almost a shame that you know how it's going to end right from teh start, a bit of tension would have increased the wow factor even more.

Paully D

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

All the keepers were shown in bad light but I't not sure how bad they really were - if all that's shown is their howlers but never any decent stops it's hard to say how bad they really were.

I watched about 40 games live last season and can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that collectively they cost Sunderland at least 15 points.

The documentary was actually kind to them I thought, compared to how bad they were. Lee Camp for example got very little mention despite being the worst goalkeeper I have seen in the history of the club, remarkably somehow overtaking Jason Steele who held that honour until Camp’s arrival in January.

I genuinely can’t remember any of the 3 keepers earning us points at any stage throughout the season.

We’ve always been lucky enough to have good goalkeepers over the years but Christ, I’ve never seen anything like those 3. Normal service appears to have resumed this season as Jon McLaughlin has been a breath of fresh air and has won us numerous points already.

Sebastian Dangerfield

Really enjoyed the show.

I thought neither manager came across particularly badly, and the fact that they both came up with similar outcomes with contratsing styles probably tells you that very few people could have turned it around. The club seems to have been at the extreme end of the Premier League desperation cycle for a while - appoint new manager, load the team with his players, sack said manager halfway through the season when it's not working, load the team with his players while being stuck with the underperforming ones of the last manager. Some clubs get away with it, Sunderland didn't probably due to an absentee owner who lost interest long before he stopped signing cheques. I'm only working from memory, but it seemed like everything went downhill from the point they sold Darren Bent to Villa. They seemed to be aiming upwards, and that one seemed to deflate them. Queue constant short term fixes rather than medium to longer term planning.

Ive heard a few people talk about O'Shea coming across well in this. They must have green tinted glasses firmly on - for the captain of the club he's barely featured. Maybe he asked not to be, but considering the state the club was in you'd expect him to be a lot more vocal, supporting the manager, criticising underperforming players etc. There was nothing.

McGeady, a veteran player with experience in England, Scotland, Russia, and international football, spitting out the dummy claiming he's never learned how to play 4-3-3 was very odd. Easier to criticise the manager who asked him to play it, then accept he didnt do it properly.

So odd that there wasn't one scene of interactive discussion with a manager, challenging him, questioning him - nothing but passive agreement with everything they said, then complaining after. Honeyman came across very well.

Lewis Grabban is a decent championship finisher who does very little else, and has a bad attitude, which is probably why he bounces from club to club twice a season.

Bain was gas, Brent-esque as others have said. Important to remember though, his main brief was to sell the club, not deliver positive football.

Morzadec

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

McGeady, a veteran player with experience in England, Scotland, Russia, and international football, spitting out the dummy claiming he's never learned how to play 4-3-3 was very odd. Easier to criticise the manager who asked him to play it, then accept he didnt do it properly.

Perhaps but was he not just being honest? At the highest level it may be difficult to be totally tactically astute in certain systems. I found his honesty at that part refreshing and interesting. More interviews like that would've made for an even more intriguing watch.

That part in particular was interesting to see how a manager's style can be so well liked by one player (think it was Williams who loved Coleman's man-management style and hands off approach and talked very fondly of him) but then really disliked by another who wanted more clear instructions.

It shows that chopping and changing managers frequently is often a bad idea as you have no vision / cohesion within the team and managers are forced to work with players who don't respond well to their ideas.

LuckyLloyd

@Paully: how is McGeady performing this year?

Sebastian Dangerfield

Morzadec wrote: »

Perhaps but was he not just being honest? At the highest level it may be difficult to be totally tactically astute in certain systems. I found his honesty at that part refreshing and interesting. More interviews like that would've made for an even more intriguing watch.

I interpreted it as buck-passing rather than refreshing honesty to be honest, but I could be wrong. Hes experienced enough that if hes any way unsure of his role to clarify it. Im sure he said something along the lines of "Ive never played 433 before" which just cant be true of a 15+ year veteran of the game. There arent that many formations a team can play.

This to me is exactly what has gone wrong with the club IMO. No one holding themselves or their teamates to any sort of standards, its always the managers or someone elses fault. If there was a single heated conversation between players in the year, the makers surely would have used it. It looks like no one had the fire or guts to challenge each other to me, just shrug their shoulders and blame the boss.

Just my opinion though!

Paully D

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

@Paully: how is McGeady performing this year?

For the most part, excellently.

He has tailed off slightly in recent weeks, but has 6 goals and 5 assists in 12 starts.

Arghus

I binged it over Christmas. I'd agree with mostly everything people had to say. Totally absorbing stuff, though I'm sure what we got to watch was only a tiny picture of what often went on at the club.

To be honest I thought the only people that came out of it with a bit of credit were the chefs and Johnny Williams, who seemed too nice for this world. We got a bit of John O' Shea talking up a good game at the start of the season, but then as things went pear-shaped he dissapeared from view. One part of the show that stuck with me - and now maybe someone will tell me my interpretation is way off and way harsh - was him saying goodbye and good-luck to the female chef at the end of the season. It struck me as a strange situation, because of the team's performances on the field that season, with him as captain, they'd been relegated and the chef was probably in danger of losing her job as a direct result. I wonder how did JOS feel at that point.

Darron Gibson. What can you say really?

I thought Coleman seemed very media savvy and a pleasant enough guy, but appeared inept on the coaching front.

In a way I sympathise with Martin Bain. It kind of was the impossible job. But he came out with such corporate nonsense that you had to view him as a bit of a fcking ejit. I know his main purpose was to sell the club, but, jesus, surely there should have been some way to keep it in the division. He presided over that shtshow.

They got a lot of really great access and I'd be interested in watching if there's a follow-up, but, jesus, change the intro.

TFBubendorfer

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

If there was a single heated conversation between players in the year, the makers surely would have used it. It looks like no one had the fire or guts to challenge each other to me, just shrug their shoulders and blame the boss.

If there were heated discussion, surely they would have happened in the dressing room? And that's exactly where the cameras never went to, so chances are exchanges did happen but didn't get recorded.

Having said that, I've never been a fan of McGeady, I've seen him playing really well maybe once in his career and he's one of the most overrated players in Ireland. The fact that he never accepted any responsibility in Sunderland despite being one of the most experienced players speaks volumes.

Paully D

RE: heated discussion and no-one challenging each other. To a certain extent I agree but as mentioned, this likely would not have been filmed anyway and the filmmakers didn't have carte blanche access. For example, after Grayson was sacked directly after the Bolton match John O'Shea stood up in the dressing room and told the players they were almost all a disgrace, that they continually were letting themselves and the fans down and in turn losing good people their jobs. This has since been confirmed as happening by Simon Grayson. It would have made brilliant TV but as it happened in the dressing room, wasn't allowed to be included.

RE: McGeady. People are really pointing fingers in the wrong direction if they want to start blaming him. He was signed for pennies and had 7 goals and 5 assists in 28 starts for a team that finished bottom of the league. He was, quite comfortably, our best performer under Grayson, a manager who had also gotten a good tune out of him at Preston. Coleman came in and didn't really seem to fancy him. He started him in his first 3 games (one of which was a 2-0 win at Burton), then kept him on the bench for the next 3, then inexplicably played him as a centre forward at Sheffield United. He gave him one more game, in which he scored the winner in at Forest, and then was restricted to a bit part role from there on in (January). To be honest I don't think Ferguson in his prime could have saved us last season, but one area in which Coleman did himself no favours was not getting McGeady onside. The main Sunderland forum was also full of posts over the 2nd half of the season wondering why he wasn't playing.

HalloweenJack

Watched this over the course of a few days and it was hard to stop once I got going. There was some good insight into the fans and the people working at the club apart from the footballing side. As for that...

Martin Bain. What a tosser. He's so full of ****e and seemed to forget that the cameras were on him all the time. Tried to talk a good talk but he was just putting an image out there while he was doing different things behind the scenes. He seemed to be gradually changing his message and tone as the series went on, as if trying to convince us it had been that way all along. I don't think he said a single honest sentence to the camera in the whole time. I think the looks of desperation on Grayson and Coleman by the end show how frustrating he must have been to deal with. One scene that stood out from early on was when he had a chat with someone at the club who suggested that they needed to focus on making money on players and that the first team should have 75% of the players under the age of 23 (iirc) giving whoever the manager was the opportunity to play six experienced pros. He then had to sell it to Grayson and, iirc, he then added that they still needed to be competitive. He also backed Gibson, saying that he loved the club, etc., though I'd argue Gibson going on camera while pissed at the start of the season was enough to suggest trouble was brewing with him. I can understand he had a brief to sell the club, etc. but he certainly kept that hidden from the cameras until the latter stages. He mentioned that the owner didn't want to invest as much money but he made it sound a lot more positive than what that really meant.

Stewart Donald, on the other hand, knew what he has to do and it seems like he's got the club on the right track.

Feel sorry for Grayson but I don't think he had the charisma for the job. I remember the motivational speech he gave with a clipboard early on and he looked like even he was falling asleep listening to himself. He did seem up for it and he had experience in similar situations so I wouldn't say he was a poor appointment on that front. I think he just didn't have the experience of dealing with that big a club and the players and fans' expectations.

Coleman was a breath of fresh air. You could see he was a much better people person and far more positive. The bit about him sending a text to the cook after he'd been sacked and how he helped out clearing the snow show much he really cared about the job. He understood what the club meant to the fans and what was needed. I'm sure the fan who confronted him at the end saying he hadn't a clue would feel differently if he watched it. Him and Kit seemed prepared for the task and knew what they needed to do, they just seemed to be caught unaware by how deep the rot had set in.

It was refreshing to see such honesty and down-to-earthness from Jonny Williams and nice to see him fall in love with the game again by the end. Gibson obviously has a lot going on behind the scenes so I wouldn't be too harsh on him but he let the club down big time twice. Grabban wants the glory and doesn't seem interested in loyalty, which is fair enough. He may have been scoring goals but that attitude probably wasn't going to help the team. Rodwell was an even worse version, though how he was the only one without a relegation clause also needed to have been addressed in its moment. McGeady was a bit naive I thought. I'm surprised that someone who has played football for so long needs to have so many instructions. Ruiter seemed to care, even if his performances didn't show it. I thought Steele came across well, too.

I'm sure it could have gone deeper but it was an enjoyable watch.

Ardent

Think you're being a bit unfair on Bain. Everyone at the club - him included - had an impossible job due to the owner cutting the cashflow completely and trying to divest from the club.

Paully D

Bain was a slimy scumbag who should never have been let near a football club again after his involvement at Rangers, IMO.

Due to their incompetence, Sunderland at the time were probably one of, if not the only club in the UK who would have let him even in the door!

The scene with the scouting department told us all we needed to know. Bain saying “you’re obviously in the dark about the budget” to them when they produced their list of (ridiculous) targets. You’re the CEO FFS! It’s the first thing you should have communicated to them!

I have absolutely no idea why anyone at the club though it would be a good idea to employ him, of all people. Typical Sunderland at the time!

dulux99

Now that the January transfer window is filly open maybe Zlatan can finally strut his stuff at the stadium of light

rob316

Donald talked more sense and less waffle in one episode than Bain did in 8. All these comparisons, sound bites, adjectives, alot of talk without actually saying something.

Raisins

The fact they spent time planning a reality series while they were relegated out of the championship in itself shows what a basket case the club was at the time. I was pleasantly surprised by the Warts and all type approach to the series, anyone with any PR antennae would have cut out that chat about ibrahimovic it made a total laughing stock out of them. Made great tv though.

Sebastian Dangerfield

Raisins wrote: »

The fact they spent time planning a reality series while they were relegated out of the championship in itself shows what a basket case the club was at the time. I was pleasantly surprised by the Warts and all type approach to the series, anyone with any PR antennae would have cut out that chat about ibrahimovic it made a total laughing stock out of them. Made great tv though.

Could be any number of reasons they did it: a vanity project for Bain (I wouldnt rule it out); the need to generate cash from any source; or most likely they expected a fairy tale return to the PL and thought it could act as a sales brochure to investors

rob316

It was pitched as a phoenix from the ashes type story, a rise back to the PL but whoever was in charge was so clueless they thought they could get promoted by not spending a bob.

Subacio

I really enjoyed it. Could have gone deeper as previously mentioned but still very good nonetheless.

Only minor quibble for me was the editing. Teams lining up in the tunnel for a match in January with poppies on their shirts. Celebrating a goal in sunshine when the match started under floodlights. That's just lazy stuff.

Paully D

Raisins wrote: »

The fact they spent time planning a reality series while they were relegated out of the championship in itself shows what a basket case the club was at the time

Ellis Short felt it would be a good way to attract potential sellers at a time when he was looking to sell up. That was the reason for agreeing to it when pitched.

The producers are a group called Fullwell73, which consists of a number of Sunderland fans (and who also tried to purchase the club before Stewart Donald), and James Cordon holds a large stake in the company.

clickhere

Paully D wrote: »

Ellis Short felt it would be a good way to attract potential sellers at a time when he was looking to sell up. That was the reason for agreeing to it when pitched.

The producers are a group called Fullwell73, which consists of a number of Sunderland fans (and who also tried to purchase the club before Stewart Donald), and James Cordon holds a large stake in the company.

Hi Paully D, thanks for your input from a fan who has watched all the games last Season. I think John Oshea is coming in for unfair criticism here about his attitude. He picked up the supporters player of the year last season. The fans know who is putting in a shift who is swinging the lead. All the staff seem to love him. Just looking for an opinion from some one who knows what's going on. Thanks.

gmisk

Paully D wrote: »

Ellis Short felt it would be a good way to attract potential sellers at a time when he was looking to sell up. That was the reason for agreeing to it when pitched.

The producers are a group called Fullwell73, which consists of a number of Sunderland fans (and who also tried to purchase the club before Stewart Donald), and James Cordon holds a large stake in the company.

Er that explains why he was tweeting saying how amazing the opening song was....