we certainly need to work on our back 4 as sunderlands and charltons looked noticeably stronger than ours,can we not find an accomplished defender somewhere abroad maybe.and a wing back who gets near the last third would be nice,think carlos edwards was the last good attackling full back we had

Nothing has changed in respect to owner's lack of financial support! People need to stop patting him on the back, declaring without him the club wouldn't exist! Under his ownership the club has steadily declined in all aspects! If Evans can't offer anything better going forward he needs to actively look for a new club owner, who can stop this awful slide into oblivion! Simply not good enough Evans!

'The budget Sunderland have got' - I thought they too were in financial straits?...anyway what Lambert says is what you'd expect. By the way other than them what other 'big' clubs are in League One?...

Promotion is the only acceptable outcome but doesn't necessarily mean it will happen. Sunderland May have a bigger budget, but we should also be in the top two in regards to budget. No excuses, we will sell players and should be able to attract the right replacements. Norwood is a good example of that.

Reading Matt Plummers article on Ken Goody sums up what has gone wrong with the club( Colchester daily gazette this Tuesday ) Ken tells a few home truths and sums it up with his views on Hurst and Mm.Well worth reading .

i would class sunderland portsmouth ipswich as the big 3 clubs so to speak but i always look at coventry as a relatively big club at lge 1 level for those old enough to remember them winning the fa cup good fan base there, and poor old bolton as well although they are in a bad way at the moment,and charlton as well but they just made the jump so counts them out now.mind you being a big club means nowt now really.

......“We have to rebuild from top to bottom, on and off the pitch. The standards have dropped for a club of this stature and with the history behind it.”( Lambert).

.........So it beggars the question just wtf did billy big bollox McCarthy do at this Club for 6 years doesn't it?

He was happy to sit and take his £1m salary every year, bringing in a key (expensive) loanee, and injury prone journeymen each season and maintains a mid table mediocrity by playing 10men in a defensive line up. He BUILT NOTHING in his time here.

I really do trust Paul Lambert to rebuild this Club. He's already reunited the Club with its fans. Let's see what he can do with “ his” squad.

# Every Saturday we follow .........

I have faith in PL. I believe that he has the ability as a manager to deliver on his words in public.

But, we all know that it's going to be tough - there is much work to do to get ITFC back into the Championship, never mind the PL.

Forget the past - look to the future.

How very very sad we still see people looking back in anger , & seeking desperately for culprits to pick upon !
Hindsight is the only exact science ,but I'm far from sure we get scientific minds reflected in this column always .
For heavens sake , the season is over , put disasters behind , look forward , get on board AND give your whole hearted support to the Club, everyone who works for it and looks after our interests AND above all let's concentrate on the positive !
COYB

Can't believe we didn't sign Tyler French he only lived 15 miles down the road, great signing Bradford

With captain calamity Chambo leading the team onto the pitch for the next 2 seasons.
A guaranteed place in the starting 11 regardless of howlers in previous matches.
Those who think L1 will be a stroll have a big surprise in store.
While the above continues to be the norm, no promotion party any season soon.

Lamborghini is a master in deception, always talking a good game but where are the results to back all his hype up? Also our physio has a lot to answer for

In many ways, a statement of the bleedin' obvious. And this said in no way to show any disrespect.

But it's words. What's required is action, backed by proper funding, to get us back to being the sort of club PL clearly believes we once were, and should be in the future. If standards have been allowed to fall, then on whose watch, and why?

If - and it's still "if" for me until confirmed - we manage to snatch Norwood from the jaws of Swansea and Hull City, then that is a big plus. Good vibes all round.

busterjames1: You're right. Interesting article with a few home truths from someone who can see things from the inside and seems unbiased in his assessments: https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/sport/17659389.from-john-lyall-to-paul-lambert-ke

Nothing of any depth at all in that gazette column.

This article (not the gazette column) is about PL explaining that the club needs long-term plans. Something which has been missing since the days of Burley & Sheepshanks.

Everyone should read the Gazette 'Ken Goody' article (thanks for the link, Steve ITFC Sweden). From Goody himself we now know McCarthy was a popular manager with the staff and players alike, but was unable to communicate to the public why he was unable to play a more expansive game, but then I suppose he couldn't say, ''Eee you should try and manage these rubbish players and no money to by better to boot''. Goody is also right in saying that if MM had stayed on we would still be in The Championship - even if the crowd attendance was in the hundreds, not thousands.

I'm sorry, but the more I hear from Paul Lambert the more I become convinced that he is a spoofer. He talks and talks in terms that fans love to hear but there is no substance behind it. Results since he has come on board have been awful.

Now he is talking about the ' big' teams in League 1 and the financial clout of Sunderland! Sunderland? A club that has been in dire financial circumstances for years. He is trying to lay the foundations for excusing a poor upcoming season. Taking about standards in the club is also self serving nonsense. The club was relegated during his tenure, not helped by Hurst. If standards are low it's because he has allowed them to drop. He has no idea what standards were like over the last number of years but it serves his purpose to blame dropped standards for where we find ourselves. Maybe a little introspection might be in order. We plummeted like a stone under Hurst and were even worse under Lambert until the last game of the season against a tired and unintetested Leeds. I have no faith in this man at all.

You have given chambers a further 2 years deal that for a start is taking the standards well below par.
How he got player of the season is beyond the realms of stupidity as ive seen lorries tuen quick than him.
As of yet i havent been excited one bit with whats goinf on at the club under shambert