The better team lost but….

I think we were the better team today, certainly much more attacking than last season.

But ultimately we gave the game away.

First goal was a set piece and terrible defending.

Second was a bit of quality by Clarke when they were on the break.

We had our chances, Robinson and Ramsey could have done better with their’s.

On to Burnley next, there are things to be encouraged about but also things to be not happy about.

Long journey home now.

I agree

We were the better team, we had more shots, we had more chances.
But to some that doesn't matter.

One backwards pass gives them the reason they were looking for to carry on with their dross.

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

We were the better side up until the goal and then we were found wanting.
Good debut from willock, tidy 1 on 1 save from Horvath.
Who was at fault for the first goal? I thought Goutas left a gaping hole in behind him and I’d like to have McGuiness back if he’s not injured.

FFS

We lost!!!!!! At home again!!! It wasnt a free kick, we should have had a penalty , we were the better side. NO!!!!We lost to a very young team who were clinical. We did not test their keeper, striker again isolated because of Buluts system.

I liked Willock very much.

I don’t buy the relegation battle comments on here, but those saying play offs, sorry not for me. Man, I hope I’m wrong.

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

Hard to disagree.

It must be so reassuring for teams know we won’t run at them, you move forward quickly, won’t shoot or put in a decent cross.
Tanner is awful. Hopefully 10 games will be different when the new recruits are up to speed. I think bulut is out of his depth though.

My 9year old summed it up for me. “It’s just a game of back and forth”

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

In terms of gameplay, Sunderland were not the better team.

Anyone who says otherwise is watching the scoreline not the game.

First goal was a set piece mistake. Second came on the counter when we were pressing.

Second half we controlled the tempo.

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

In terms of gameplay, Sunderland were not the better team.

Anyone who says otherwise is watching the scoreline not the game.

First goal was a set piece mistake. Second came on the counter when we were pressing.

Second half we controlled the tempo.

Watching the scoreline sums it up perfectly.

The amount of times I've read we made no chances is funny.

We had a good chance with Robbo who didn't connect properly. Tanner should have scored just before half time with his header.

Rambo unlucky to not get his foot on it as the ball came in quickly.

So the ones saying not creating chances were either jumping on the bulut hate bandwagon or just watching the scoreline and not the game.

I felt the same way and all. I felt we lost it ourselves though.
1. Tanner, can't start.
2. Final third wasn't good enough link play or crossing
3. Poor ref decision on colwill, 100% foul.
4. Pen.

Good ref there that's a different result. But it's football. Dust themselves off on to the next.

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

In terms of gameplay, Sunderland were not the better team.

Anyone who says otherwise is watching the scoreline not the game.

First goal was a set piece mistake. Second came on the counter when we were pressing.

Second half we controlled the tempo.

They had 11 shots we had 12

They had 4 on target as did we

I would argue they had much better chances... Through on goal...

Do you really think this team is any better than last year...

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

In terms of gameplay, Sunderland were not the better team.

Anyone who says otherwise is watching the scoreline not the game.

First goal was a set piece mistake. Second came on the counter when we were pressing.

Second half we controlled the tempo.

They had 11 shots we had 12

They had 4 on target as did we

I would argue they had much better chances... Through on goal...

Do you really think this team is any better than last year...

My point is three of those shots on target were on the counter when we had nobody back.

I do think the team is better. One of our new signings played the whole game, only two of them played more than half the game.

Two of them didn’t feature at all.

Remember when everyone said we should be patient?

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

Agree Ng is bang average, really struggles against pace and is slow to react to danger, woeful defending for the second goal

Ned,

Same old story, we can look good , but once again in front of goal very poor.
So we can play well but if we don’t score as matches go on we will lose confidence

We're no threat and easy to defend against.

I dont think we're a balanced 11 today.

I hate playing Sio, Ralls and Ramsey. Id like to see 2 out of those 3 at any one time.

O'Dowda at left back isn't the answer for me. He's significantly better going forward. Major gap we need to fill of play Walcott.

Robbo as a #9 wont work throwing the balls above shoulder height. Easy for 2 centre backs.

Willock, played well but floated alot today.


Miete and Rubin settled the play more in the last 15 mins. NG went through the gears when Miete came on.

We controlled the ball, but they were clinical and we never felt like a threat.

Not panic stations after 1 game, but we need to sort the balance out and hopefully sign a LB and Striker.

Home performances HAVE to be better than today.

I thought we started really well and popped the ball around fast which caused them problems

I thought Clarke and Crikin were miles ahead of our Right side and the goal came from Tanner being beaten far too easily by Crikin which led to the free kick.

Goutas too weak to get beaten at the back post for the first goal.

I hope MM is injured because we miss his physical presence at the back. He wins that first header for me.

That suck punch goal played into Sunderland's tactics and they played it well. We struggled to create chances with no space. Unfortunately we moved the ball way too slowly to break down a well organised physical team.

Robinson worked hard but looked isolated. Would like to see the penalty appeal again as looked a push in the back from the throwing.

Willock looks like an excellent signing

I thought Meite had a positive impact when he came on.

No shock the same poor standard of officiating.

Not going to get too carried away but lots of work to do if we're going to be anywhere near top 6

How is the team that played today better, I'm not looking for an arguement, just debating it. I respect your position on it.

We desperately need a striker and I mean a real striker. Bamford from Leeds type player, some who looks like they will score.

How is the team that played today better, I'm not looking for an arguement, just debating it. I respect your position on it.

We desperately need a striker and I mean a real striker. Bamford from Leeds type player, some who looks like they will score.

Half that starting eleven that Bulut put out needs to be changed.

NG, Ralls, Tanner, Ramsey and Robinson all look like they can’t cope at this level.

How is the team that played today better, I'm not looking for an arguement, just debating it. I respect your position on it.

We desperately need a striker and I mean a real striker. Bamford from Leeds type player, some who looks like they will score.

Half that starting eleven that Bulut put out needs to be changed.

NG, Ralls, Tanner, Ramsey and Robinson all look like they can’t cope at this level.

Spot on

How is the team that played today better, I'm not looking for an arguement, just debating it. I respect your position on it.

We desperately need a striker and I mean a real striker. Bamford from Leeds type player, some who looks like they will score.

I never said the team today was better than last season.

I’m more saying that two players who would be automatic starters didn’t play at all. One new signing got barely any time at all, one played most of the game and did well, the other played the whole game.

So that was nowhere near our best team.

I’m also saying the so called patience everyone called for has disappeared after one game.

I don't agree with patience sorry, they've had two months to sort things out.

I don't agree with patience sorry, they've had two months to sort things out.

The players we brought in need time.

We knew this. We knew we wouldn't be full strength for the first few games.

We played some decent stuff today. Thought O'Dowda was excellent. Hope he knows some of us fans appreciate how he trys to make things happen.

Ultimately though, Sunderland beat us fairly comfortably. Same old same old from last season in that respect. You just knew, once they went 1 up, we'd be unable to break them down.

Judge after 10/12 games...but still a pretty hard watch. Went away feeling deflated

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

In terms of gameplay, Sunderland were not the better team.

Anyone who says otherwise is watching the scoreline not the game.

First goal was a set piece mistake. Second came on the counter when we were pressing.

Second half we controlled the tempo.

You need to remove those blinking Ned. Sunderland did their homework on us like every team we played from November last year. Sit back, let us pass the ball around the back, intercept the telegraphed pass and hit us on the break.

Sunderland got the gameplay spot on, ours was the usual predictable performance.

I was full of optimism for the season but that quickly dissipated as soon as we went one down. I just knew there was no way we’d get back into the game. Depressing and all too familiar.

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

In terms of gameplay, Sunderland were not the better team.

Anyone who says otherwise is watching the scoreline not the game.

First goal was a set piece mistake. Second came on the counter when we were pressing.

Second half we controlled the tempo.

Unfortunately the scoreline is the only thing that ultimately counts.

We can boss the game, control the tempo, win the possession stats but realistically, apart from a brief spell at the start, we never looked remotely like getting anything from the game.

Best team possession but didn’t have a clue what to do with it

They missed a one on one as well

We didn’t look like scoring

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

In terms of gameplay, Sunderland were not the better team.

Anyone who says otherwise is watching the scoreline not the game.

First goal was a set piece mistake. Second came on the counter when we were pressing.

Second half we controlled the tempo.

Unfortunately the scoreline is the only thing that ultimately counts.

We can boss the game, control the tempo, win the possession stats but realistically, apart from a brief spell at the start, we never looked remotely like getting anything from the game.

Did we boss the game ? Did we control it?
I would argue Sunderland did, they executed the game plan well and they let us do what they wanted us to do. They controlled the match.

We can only get better though and I believe we will.

They started brightly but nothing special, as soon as they conceded there was no plan to get back into the game, the second half was comfortable for Sunderland, so light up front, Missed Davies to inject some pace and intelligence. Don’t rate Tanner at all sorry.

Rose tinted specs.

Awful decision to start Tanner.

Our right hand side is a problem. Ng didn't overlap once, his defending for both goals awful yet everyone loves him. No pace. He is an issue.

We could be sitting on zero points after four games.

Look at the team, we've swapped Nat for Chambers... No difference.

Grant for Willock, slight upgrade.

Ramsey looks past it.

Sorry but the better team did win, they sat and defended well, hit us on the break, that was their plan and they executed it. Should've been three.

This does not bode well.

In terms of gameplay, Sunderland were not the better team.

Anyone who says otherwise is watching the scoreline not the game.

First goal was a set piece mistake. Second came on the counter when we were pressing.

Second half we controlled the tempo.

Unfortunately the scoreline is the only thing that ultimately counts.

We can boss the game, control the tempo, win the possession stats but realistically, apart from a brief spell at the start, we never looked remotely like getting anything from the game.

Did we boss the game ? Did we control it?
I would argue Sunderland did, they executed the game plan well and they let us do what they wanted us to do. They controlled the match.

We can only get better though and I believe we will.

Can’t argue that Sunderland came with a plan and it worked.

I wouldn’t say we bossed it, but I did think we were better than them - others clearly disagree which is fine.

I maintain that we will look better when our signings are up and running. Two of them didn’t play today.

All about opinions but people are right when they say the thing that matters is the scoreline.

This was the first serious conflict for our new team. They were playing at home which would have put many players under pressure (wish we had started away) and we were unlucky that they scored first - so we were always playing 'catch up'. Judge this team (squad) when it has had some time together.