Gutless

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,821]

I'm not sure how many people remember these marks that the Sunderland team got in one of the nationals a few years back, but it did the rounds quite a bit at the time and still crops up in various places online even now. 

It entered my head during the game today, and probably deserves a Norwich City 22/23 outing.

 

Please note that this is not based solely on today, but recent weeks as a whole.

Gunn: Has saved us from a few more heavier beatings.

Aarons: Has guts, but has seemingly become as demotivated and fed up as the fans. Won't be here next season anyway.

Omobamidele: Has guts, and potential, but neither the leadership nor experience required to be lead the defence right now.

Sorensen: Gutless. Get rid.

Giannoulis: Gutless. Get rid.

Gibbs: It's his first season in pro football, so I won't use the G-word. Let's just say he's very timid and inexperienced.

Sara: Probably the only one with the required levels of guts and quality. 

Hernandez: Has guts, but no end product.

Nuñez: Gutless, but it's his first year in a new country, with a new culture and language. I'd keep him, but more guts are required. 

Tzolis: Unfortunately for him, has been given enough of an opportunity recently to show that he's also quite gutless. 

Pukki: See Aarons.

McCallum: Has guts, but dreadfully inconsistent.

Idah: Has guts, but lacks quality and his confidence is clearly shot to pieces.

Rowe: Not ready.

Kamara: A million miles from ready.

Honourable shout outs to Hanley, Gibson and McLean. Nobody, not even those of us who continued to defend them, realised how important their guts were to this team.

[alex_ncfc 662]

If we go into next season relying on the likes of Gunn and Idah then we really are in trouble.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,721]

1 minute ago, alex_ncfc said:

If we go into next season relying on the likes of Gunn and Idah then we really are in trouble.

Not like Gunn saved us from losing 0-5 or anything today

[alex_ncfc 662]

1 minute ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Not like Gunn saved us from losing 0-5 or anything today

As if you think Gunn is up to standard. Bang average keeper and a big part of why we are where we are.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,821]

53 minutes ago, alex_ncfc said:

As if you think Gunn is up to standard. Bang average keeper and a big part of why we are where we are.

He's kept us in a lot of games this season and we'd be in a much worse situation without him. There are lots of players who need replacing, but Gunn is not one of them.

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,310]

We have A LOT of fires to put out, Gunn isn't one of them. Idah though... Wow, something needs sorting there, and quick 

[Mark .Y. 352]

7 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

He's kept us in a lot of games this season and we'd be in a much worse situation without him. There are lots of players who need replacing, but Gunn is not one of them.

Absolutely this

[Conrad 170]

1 hour ago, alex_ncfc said:

As if you think Gunn is up to standard. Bang average keeper and a big part of why we are where we are.

I agree. Whilst Gunn has been one of our better players, the fact that he is considered good enough shows how far our quality has dropped. Adequate Championship goalkeeper, nothing more (unfortunately the rest aren't even at that standard). Total clear out required, but unlikely.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Conrad

[alex_ncfc 662]

12 hours ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

He's kept us in a lot of games this season and we'd be in a much worse situation without him. There are lots of players who need replacing, but Gunn is not one of them.

This "kept us in a lot games" argument doesn't wash - what, so he kept us in games we ultimately lost? We lost far more games with Gunn between the posts than we did before. Not the only component of those defeats for sure, but one of them.

[AJ 1,221]

41 minutes ago, alex_ncfc said:

This "kept us in a lot games" argument doesn't wash - what, so he kept us in games we ultimately lost? We lost far more games with Gunn between the posts than we did before. Not the only component of those defeats for sure, but one of them.

Gunn has become our number one by ousting Krul and will be our number 1 next season. The problem with us conceding is more to do with those in front of him rather than his individual ability. We've lost both Hanley and McLean in front of him which has strongly coincided with our downturn in form. 

[Capt. Pants 4,236]

Funny how Sorensen looks better when he doesn't play than when he actually gets on the pitch.

If we can get £2m for him I would be tempted to get rid.

Rowe and Kamara need to go out on loan.

[Walcombe canary 69]

Find it hard to throw any blame at Angus Gunn. He needs a settled Defence in front of him. the Defence need a settled Midfiled in front of them. And we need Movement and Goals from a settled Front Line.

Winning Teams don't change much. Always Fortunate with less injuries & the Team picks itself.

Any Team will miss Experienced players, such as we did in Hanley, Gibson & McLean in such short notice

This is Stuart Webber's Last Chance Saloon though. The pressure is on him. It has to be

 

[king canary 7,607]

15 hours ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

He's kept us in a lot of games this season and we'd be in a much worse situation without him. There are lots of players who need replacing, but Gunn is not one of them.

I think it can both be true that he's not someone we need to replace this summer but also that he is a fairly average Championship keeper. He's a great shot stopper but is glued to his line at all times and doesn't command the space very well.

He's one of those that I'd be looking to upgrade if we went up but not for another Championship season.

[Mello Yello 2,295]

Gutless?....Not quite....but it does feel like we are being gradually disembowelled by comfy comfortableness and the untouchables... 

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

21 minutes ago, Walcombe canary said:

Find it hard to throw any blame at Angus Gunn. He needs a settled Defence in front of him. the Defence need a settled Midfiled in front of them. And we need Movement and Goals from a settled Front Line.

Winning Teams don't change much. Always Fortunate with less injuries & the Team picks itself.

Any Team will miss Experienced players, such as we did in Hanley, Gibson & McLean in such short notice

This is Stuart Webber's Last Chance Saloon though. The pressure is on him. It has to be

 

Yep. A defensive line is only as good as the midfield structure/balance in front of it. I don't think this team is gutless at all - you don't win at Millwall and Blackburn with gutless sides.

Lack of confidence yields a similar, tentative sort of look as being gutless. Same outcome, different underlying cause, and that's where I think we are. I do accept we need a couple of new leaders, more abrasive types on the pitch though.

[Bomber 48]

3 hours ago, AJ said:

Gunn has become our number one by ousting Krul and will be our number 1 next season. The problem with us conceding is more to do with those in front of him rather than his individual ability. We've lost both Hanley and McLean in front of him which has strongly coincided with our downturn in form. 

We lost loads of games with Hanley and McClean playing as well so that does not wash with me - not blaming Gunn more the whole squad

[Google Bot 3,278]

With all the focus on Pukki, I found it quite funny the number of times Sorensen tried to get himself into a midfield position.

Reminded me of when the dog has been up on the worktop and nicked some food, comes sneaking in like he never left the room.

 

[hogesar 9,676]

26 minutes ago, king canary said:

I think it can both be true that he's not someone we need to replace this summer but also that he is a fairly average Championship keeper. He's a great shot stopper but is glued to his line at all times and doesn't command the space very well.

He's one of those that I'd be looking to upgrade if we went up but not for another Championship season.

I don't think he's as good as Krul in his peak for us, but I think he's one of the better keepers in the Championship. He is the best shot stopper in the Championship full stop (xGA shots-faced stats, naturally 😉 ) - but like you say he has other weaknesses which bring him down a bit.

[king canary 7,607]

5 minutes ago, hogesar said:

I don't think he's as good as Krul in his peak for us, but I think he's one of the better keepers in the Championship. He is the best shot stopper in the Championship full stop (xGA shots-faced stats, naturally 😉 ) - but like you say he has other weaknesses which bring him down a bit.

Yeah he's fine. I imagine he'll likely have a career as a Championship starter/Prem back up. 

[Branston Pickle 3,659]

3 hours ago, Capt. Pants said:

Funny how Sorensen looks better when he doesn't play than when he actually gets on the pitch.

If we can get £2m for him I would be tempted to get rid.

Rowe and Kamara need to go out on loan.

To be fair to Sorensen he has only proven that he’s not a cb solution (other than odd games). He could still be a midfield option.  

 

[ron obvious 1,502]

Gunn has turned into an excellent keeper. I can't think of any howlers & there are very few he's conceded where he could have done any better - & he's saved some he had no right to save. 

Something else he's good at is distribution, far better than Krul, & good with the ball at his feet. Very important in the modern game, particularly when you're playing from the back.

[Google Bot 3,278]

1 hour ago, ron obvious said:

Gunn has turned into an excellent keeper. I can't think of any howlers & there are very few he's conceded where he could have done any better - & he's saved some he had no right to save. 

Only getting better with gametime too, he isn't going to be at Krul's level in other areas because of the masses of experience he's had.  But with the Scotland call-ups and being our main keeper, we may be worried about keeping hold of him end of next season.

I really didn't have a lot of belief in him and felt we'd spent un-necessarily, so really pleased to see him getting back to where he was when originally with us.  Just hope his loyalty will be better served this time round.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Google Bot

[shefcanary 2,409]

3 hours ago, Branston Pickle said:

To be fair to Sorensen he has only proven that he’s not a cb solution (other than odd games). He could still be a midfield option.  

 

Also TBF, Lungi only switches off at the back once a match - a bit like the so called experienced CB's we have been missing through injury. It's always been the same back to the days of knocker Powell and Davie Jones, possibly even before then but I'll have to bow to older fans pre-Stringer and Forbes, who somehow never seemed to be made to look stupid.

The real issue has been a lack of creativity in midfield to create the chances for our strikers to score, but if any of you mention Kenny ...