Big deal out of nothing

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Originally Posted by Albionic68

...... because we had a very good manager who played with systems and structures in place to get more from the squad than the sum of it's parts.

However, you can only oil rusty parts for so long before wear and tear takes it's toll which it did as exampled by some very tired mental and physical performances.

The older members of that squad were absolutely and utterly knackered by the end and would have benefited from having more youthful legs scattered amongst them.

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Spot on there Dan. Bartley, Furlong and the Slow Boat to China ( Mowatt ) were certainly in need of bucket loads of WD-40 as seen geriatrics in a care home move faster.

Proof of the pudding - Sunderland one of the youngest squads in the league with talented youngsters and a great manager gain promotion.

Very pacy young players!

I agree that some older heads are useful, but only a few. We need assets and that only comes from having young talent on long contracts.

Premier league clubs aren?t looking to pay a lot of money for someone taking a step up at 27 and over.

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Originally Posted by baggieal

Proof of the pudding - Sunderland one of the youngest squads in the league with talented youngsters and a great manager gain promotion.

Very pacy young players!

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Sunderland were absolutely dominated yesterday for 75 minutes by the older side (2 years squad diff) It means nothing.. Very lucky. All good goals though.

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Originally Posted by baggiematt

I agree that some older heads are useful, but only a few. We need assets and that only comes from having young talent on long contracts.

Premier league clubs aren?t looking to pay a lot of money for someone taking a step up at 27 and over.

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Agree completely Matt. I still in my opinion feel our midfield ( the engine ) is the worst cog - Mowatt far too slow and JM lacks talent and creativity. This is one area where you need pace and talent.

Oh for another Pereira. Bartley now too slow along with Mowatt and Wallace.

I would like to see Styles given a go in midfield. His defensive abilities are not the best but his pace and determination could be a useful asset in midfield. He certainly couldn't be any worse than Mowatt.