Sunderland 0-1 Watford FC - 12/12/2015

It's hard to dislike Sunderland but good grief, I really try. Seemingly perenial relegation candidates, they've stayed up over the past few seasons in spite of such managerial luminaries as Paolo Di Canio and Gus Poyet.

Far from the fun side they were in the big-man-little-man days of Phillips and Quinn, they've morphed into a side low on quality but with enough nous and hard work to stay afloat.

Plus it's really far away.

This season Sam Allardyce has come in for Big **** and begun to steady a ship that previously seemed late for a date with an iceberg. Allardyce, despite his fairly agricultural reputation, is doing a decent job with a limited squad and stands a decent chance of keeping them up. His stock inside football remains high, with England's leading amateur philosopher and professional Smiths fan Joey Barton giving him the retrospective glad-eye as he perhaps looks for an escape from deepest darkest Burnley.

(As an aside, it's become de rigueur to write these previews with fancy graphics and to align the text centrally, but **** all that noise. Here you'll just get the usual drivel and lots of links. Enjoooooy the preview!)

Factfile

• Name: Sunderland Association Football Club
• Nicknames: The Black Cats, The Mackems
• Founded: 1879, the same year as the Anglo-Zulu War and the death of electromagnetic fiddler James Clerk Maxwell
• Ground (capacity): Stadium of Light (49,000, or 2.3 Vics, or 4.7 Kennels)
• Chairman: Boy-band acolyte Ellis Short
• Manager: Sam Allardyce
• Forums: Ready To Go, SunderMad (brilliant name, lads), Black Cat Chat
• Rivals: Newcastle and, to a lesser extent, Middlesbrough

Previously

• Head to head: won 9, drawn 13, lost 17
• No match in ten years. Last time round, Paul Jones played one of his 9 games for us. 9? Really?
• We've only won three times in our last 16 meetings, the most recent a 1-0 FA Cup victory in the 2002-03 season
• A famous 8-0 victory in 1982: highlights, BSaD report
• Remember when Gifton's career was all but ended by Paul Butler? What a ****.

Played for both

Alec Chamberlain, Danny Graham, Nyron Nosworthy, Adam Johnson, Kevin Phillips, Wilf Rostron, Mart Poom, Will Buckley, Tony Coton, Ray Train, W4BS, Mick Henderson (who dat), Tommy Smith, Michael Chopra, Colin West, Calum Davenport, Liam Bridcutt

Dangermen

• Forward Duncan Watmore, a local lad who has a first in Economics and Business Management. Much better than the usual footballer who has an HND in spit-roasting. He's showed more fight than most this season, but might not start as Defoe comes back to fitness. Based on my adventures with FM16, he will become full-time player-chairman and part-time (working with Kevin De Bruyne) Prince Harry lookalike by 2019
• Defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila has perhaps been their best player this season, somewhat akin to being the tallest dwarf, the classiest IACGMOOH participant or the most attractive Osbourne

Who's missing

• Lee Cattermole (back, returning later in December)
• Jermain Defoe (hamstring, could be back for the game)
• Seb Larsson (knee, Jan)
• Wes Brown (knee, unknown)

Season so far (with gifs)

• Watford
• Sunderland

A poor start to the season led to **** Advocaat leaving in mid-October. Sunderland didn't record a win until they beat rivals Newcastle 3-0 at home towards the end of the month in Allardyce's second game in charge. Newcastle dominated the first period until Coloccini gave away a penalty and was sent off just before half-time. They've since beaten Palace and Stoke in consecutive games before losing 3-1 to Arsenal last weekend.

Predictions

I don't think Guediora will start. Although I think he should. Sunderland are strong in the air but vulnerable to through balls and have low possession stats so I think we'll see Abdi and Jurado rather than Anya. They've played 4-2-3-1 more often than any other formation but Allardyce has started the last couple of games with a slightly lopsided 3-5-2 that can become a back four as needed.

Watford (4-2-3-1): Gomes; Nyom, Cathcart, Britos, Ake; Capoue, Watson; Jurado, Deeney, Abdi; Ighalo
Sunderland (3-5-2): Pantilimon; Coates, O'Shea, Kaboul; Yedlin, Lens, M'Vila, Cattermole, van Aanholt; Fletcher, Defoe

Ever the optimist, 2-1 to Watford. Allardyce has got his squad going again, but I don't see that they have the quality to break us down very easily. Ighalo and Deeney with another penalty. Watch out Vardy.

#ForGiftonForEurope

 

Top marks for the no frills presentation and acidic humour a la the HND comment.

p.s what's IACGMOOH?

p.p.s Mick Henderson played left back in the 80's. Not a bad player as far as I recall.

 

Can we change the CSS so links are more visible on desktop computers? Not great for accessibility nor link perverts like me.

 

I'm A (quote-unquote) Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here

 

Sunderland have been at this 352 business for 2 minutes.

We played 352 like we invented it. Even so we were susceptible to an overload on the wing back or a ball in behind.

Away win.

 

Many historians now agree that the death of James Clark Maxwell just months after the formation of Sunderland Association Football Club is too convenient to be a coincedence. For that reason it's hard to see past an away win. Cathcart with the winner from a corner.

#ForGiftonForEurope

 

There was me thinking it was a jock cow.

 

We are a much better side than even many Watford fans yet realise.

We will win comfortably.

 

Is James Clerk Maxwell a 19th Century Jimmy Saville?

 

Weren't Watford the first team to play at the Stadium of Light when it replaced Roker Park?

I vaguely remember it was a cup game we lost.

Pay back time ...

 

No - the ground opened at the start of the 1997/98 season. I don't think we played there until our 1999-2000 PL season when we lost 2-0 in our first away game.

We won an FA Cup 5th round tie there in 2002-2003 on our way to the semi-finals. (Tommy Smith was our scorer in a 1-0 win)

 

That Sunderland GIF is amazing.

Great preview.

 

I think we lost away at Roker in the league the last year that stadium was used but that's all.

 

Memory not wot it used to be - early onset ..

I also vaguely remember we used to have a 3 sided stadium and away fans took the **** ..

As for the game, I was very nervous of Norwich and it was a comfortable win.

We're solid at the back and beginning to score a few so now I'm so confident of a result at Sunderland I'm probably jinxing it ...

2-1 win, Deeney to break another record and an Abdi special .. COYH

 

Reffed by the appallingly smug and barely competent Jeff Winter who made GT as angry as I'd ever seen him by calling their players by their first names and gifting them a goal, from memory.

 

Obviously Big Sam has played his early I'm the boss and I have a January transfer budget, so show me you can play card as soon as he arrived.
Instantly getting results and briefly took them out of the zone. However they will be starting in there and questions remain will they be ending the weekend in there too. A lot of top vs bottom clashes this weekend. So ecstatic to see that we are top half club now.
As for the game, a lot depends on if Defoe is fit. If he is then I think Sunderland may sneak a goal but they will need some really intelligent play to break us down. Cathy and Brittos are establishing a very good partnership, every week I think those 2 can't get any better and they do.
Where as the opposite end Ighalo has been playing like is on a mission to secure 10 goals before Christmas.
I think he will do it this match

0 - 2(Ighalo double)

 

I like the idea of an HND in spit roasting.

I await the architecture photos.

 

This is their proposed team according to one of those forum links:

PANTILIMON
COATES OSHEA KABOUL
YEDLIN VAN AANHOLT
TOIVELIN CATTERMOLE MVILLA
DEFOE
FLETCHER

On paper this team is pretty good... if it was 2012. Seems like a lot of players who used to be pretty handy in the prem a few years back and I'm sure on their day they can still be good enough to give a lot of teams a strong game.

If Defoe is fit, then they are dangerous. If not then I can't see them scoring more than 1, so I feel that it is just a case that if we can break their defence down twice or more then we'll win it.

I also fancy a goal from our midfield this week... You heard it here first!

Watford 2-1.

 

I'm a little worried about Defoe and believe he could have a big impact on the scoreline.

As such I'm going for 8-0 Watford.

Tough afternoon for the er, whatever they're calleds.

 

I sense a hint of apathy in your prediction. Are you OK?

 

You're thinking of Leicester, we were the first competitive visitors at the Walkers Stadium in 2002.

 

Sunderland GIF is perfect!

 

Hope Sunderland don't win this, don't like the idea of them gaining 6 points .

I'd take a 0-0 draw and the additional point for goal difference.

 

Well if we're still allowing a points joke then I'm gonna do a graph!

 

Thanks

How important will the second goal be?

 

Ever since Big Sam took over, I've had a nagging feeling Sunderland will win this. No real logic, other than I think they'll be hard to breakdown, and may well sit back and let us come to them, which is exactly what we don't want. Then they'll unleash Watmore, who, based on what I've seen of him, is quite some player.

He's EXACTLY the manager they've been crying out for for years. Far too many overpaid, complacent players. He'll take them to lower mid table this year, upper midtable next year, then slump in his third season.

 

Hi,

My name is Meh! and I am currently a final year student at University of Watfordshire and I am conducting a research project about the importance of the second goal.

If anybody is interested taking part, please click on the link below. This will only take a few minutes.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z6LWDWR

 

Can't polish a t*rd no matter how hard you rub

 

Very very very VERY VERY interesting that Alex Neil highlighted the importance of the first goal last week.

I have an extremely good feeling about the Sunderland game. All the ingredients are there: They are rubbish, angry home fans shouting "we should be beating the likes of Watford", Ighalo in the form of his life, Deeney on a 4 match scoring run, 2 wins on the trot etc.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

No, it was Southampton and St Mary's.

 

Not that I had much respect for Alex Neil anyway, but the fact that he said in the post match interview that there was nothing between the sides suggests that he talks bolox and shouldn't be listened to.

 

Excellent review. Cheers.

I think we'll draw this one.

 

7am start so let's hope the 2,000 of us that are making the trip are rewarded with an away win. I find Alardyce almost as irritating as Eddie Howe

 

What are you on about?

We didn't play Southampton until 5 years after St.Marys opened.

 

My mate was up there last weekend and took this photo for you architecture fans.

I'm astonished how far it's come on since I last visited. Kudos to the local council.