Dazed Review – Sunderland at the KC

So, after being knocked out of the Carling cup midweek it was back to business and a visit by Sunderland ? the ex Premier club had found it difficult in the Championship but were slowly finding their feet with Roy Keane at the helm ?

There was an optimism around the tigers and a few were already calling this a must win game ? my own opinions were dealt a blow when I heard the team news from City ? he had made a numbers of changes to the side that lost to Watford, without a doubt the most unusual one being placing Delaney as a left winger? This guy is not renowned for pace and my only guessing could be that he was trying to add more defensive cover to Dawson who returned at Left back ?

So the game got under way and the away fans (all 4000 of them!) were in fine voice, the atmosphere was good and it was Sunderland who started as they meant to carry on, the were creating chances at will almost with Dwight Yorke especially carving out and dictating the game, we were not at the game, we offered way too much respect to Yorke and stood off him throughout the game ? the only chances of note in the first half on our part was a weak header from Turner and a half chance from Ashbee ? Fortunately, down to Sunderland`s lack of finishing, it remained goalless at half time

Half Time – Hull City 0 – 0 Sunderland

As the second half got underway we looked like we had more about us with Fagan going close before he picked up yet another Yellow card ?. 7 in the season so far ? that is simply not good enough ?

Forster went close almost but then Sunderland started to get back in their stride and carved out more chances on our over worked goal ? with the chances they were creating you knew it was only going to be a matter of time before they scored ? we tried to freshen things up a little by bringing on France for Forster (!) this put Fagan up front and baffled me completely ? Forster was our only forward who looked anything like as Parkin was lumping around doing absolutely nothing ? Barmby then came on for Welsh who looks like he has picked up a knock, Delaney then was moved to the middle of the park and Barmby placed out on the left were he simply went missing ? not that he was the only one, Dawson, Turner, Delaney, Parkin and France all might as well not been on the pitch ? we were doing nothing and looked like we were desperately holding on for the draw ?

We made our last change bringing on Bridges for Fagan ? why he insisted on keeping Parkin on I will never know ! Bridges got a great reception from both fans which was nice to see ? he had a half chance towards the end before the inevitable happened ? Sunderland scored in the 92nd minutes through Wallace and then got himself sent off for his celebration but it did not matter, the game was over and we had been taught a lesson, this was the first game that I really now question is Parky the man for the job? We are in trouble and Tuesday is now a do or die game, not only for the club but I feel it is for the manager as I feel he will, rightly, offer his resignation if we lose at Southend ? sad to say this but maybe it is for the best ?

Full Time – Hull City 0 – 1 Sunderland





Anyway Player Ratings



Myhill – 7? Kicking much improved, straight down the middle and with more pace ? at least the opposition had to deal with them then ? could not do anything about the goal to be honest ? had no help from the defense



Dawson – 5? Poor game from Dawson, he should not be our first choice left back in my opinion ? we have been shown what a left back should be like from Ricketts ?



Turner – 5? Invisible for most of the game and I am questioning whether he can handle the championship at all? Surely long term will be a back up to Delaney and Coles ?



Mills – 7? The best defender by a mile I think ? not a centre back though, roll on Coles coming back!



Ricketts – 6? Not bad but not great either to be honest ? prefer him on the left hand side if you ask me ?



Fagan – 6? A lot of huffing and puffing again and again showed he is not a striker and yet again got another yellow card, one area of his game he really needs to work on ?



Welsh – 6? Tried to motivate the middle of the park but in that midfield that would be impossible ? should have got onto Yorke a lot more though ///



Ashbee – 6? I think I prefer Livermore in this role to be honest, Ashbee is good at certain things but I think Livermore has a lot more composure on the ball, when Livermore is fit we should bring him back in ?



Delaney – 6? Considering where he was being told to play the guy did ok ? Please please Parky put him back in the centre of defense though!



Forster – 7? The best of our forwards by some way, tried to create stuff and was close to finding the net himself, baffles me why he was the one brought off though!



Parkin – 4? Where was he? falling down at every small sniff of getting a free kick is becoming all too familiar ? now the goals seem to be drying up for him we should give Forster a Partner up front who can create more e.g. Barmby or Bridges ? would be a much more impact player coming on for the last 20 minutes or so like he did at Birmingham ?



Subs



Barmby – 6 ? Pretty invisible when on and was left exposed by Dawson for Sunderland`s goal ?

Bridges – 6? Did ok when he was on and would really like this guy to get a start again, surely he will against Southend?

France – 4? First of the subs and what did he do when on, what is his position? As he is not showing like a right winger at the moment!



Top Tiger? Mills and Forster I think, two players trying to carry a whole team at times!



Tigers Tail? Take your pick, there were so many ? my vote for yesterday goes to Parkin though ?



Parky`s Performance – 3/10? Got it simply wrong from the first eleven through to the subs that he made!



Ref Watch – 6/10? Not too bad I thought, we have had a lot worse ?



Crowd Watch – 8/10? That mark is for the away fans mainly, they were fantastic and it was great to see the North stand full for a change ? our fans tried to rally the team in the second half which was good but let`s be honest nothing could have lifted those players yesterday!



where to from here?? Oh lord help me I really do not know ? its Southend away on Tuesday and we have to win this one ? depending on that result will decide a number of things, most notably Parky`s future I think ?