Phil Smith answers Sunderland fans' questions after Norwich City defeat
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00:00 Hello and welcome to another edition of On The Whistle. Thanks again for sending your
00:15 questions in. I'm sorry that again I can't bring you a Sun and Wind to talk about four
00:19 defeats in a row and if we're honest the season drifting very, very quickly. Frustrating one
00:24 today. I think you've kind of summed up where Sun and the Rat in a way in that personally
00:29 I didn't think it was too bad of a performance today collectively in terms of I don't think
00:34 there was a huge amount between the two teams and I don't think there was a huge amount
00:37 between the performance level this time last year when Sunderland came here and won 1-0
00:42 with a fantastic Abdullah Barghol and the performance level today. I thought that Sunderland
00:46 worked quite hard, they pressed quite well. I don't think Norwich created loads and loads
00:50 of opportunities but I think in the absence of Jack Clarke, in the absence of Patrick
00:54 Roberts and in the absence of that centre forward that we talked about all year, I just
00:59 don't think they had enough quality to go on and win the game. Ultimately I think that's
01:04 the difference at the moment. I think that we're seeing injuries are a bit of an issue,
01:08 the recruitment has therefore come into focus because we're seeing that the depth just isn't
01:12 there and Sunderland haven't got the top six, the top ten probably quality outside of those
01:17 sort of regular starters that you can really hang your hat on. So it's a strange one. I
01:22 don't feel like today, with Norwich aside in really good form at home, I don't feel
01:25 like that's where the season's being lost if you like, where the top six race is being
01:29 lost. I think there have been worse performances than today and more damaging results than
01:35 today actually but I think it did sum up Sunderland whereby going forward they're nowhere near
01:39 good enough at the moment. They don't create enough, they're not clinical enough and I
01:43 think it's quite concerning at the moment and the season's only going in one direction
01:47 at the moment. So let me get into your questions. A lot of you have asked about whether Sunderland
01:53 are in a relegation battle. Some of you may be a bit tongue in cheek, some of you I think
01:57 really concern genuinely about the direction of travel and I can understand that because
02:01 it's four defeats in a row and it's the same issues every single week and the upcoming
02:05 fixture list is really difficult. Leicester on Tuesday night, Southampton next weekend
02:09 and then even teams like QPR the week after that. The Championship has completely changed
02:13 in the last few weeks in that a lot of teams at the bottom are coming on really strong
02:16 and Sunderland are one of the teams that were losing a lot of momentum and so even those
02:20 games where before you were probably looking at a potential respite are now looking like
02:24 really tricky games. Swansea last weekend was probably another example of that. I'm
02:29 not hugely concerned about Sunderland in that I think they will get enough points between
02:34 now and the end of the season. I think that although Jack Clarke's obviously going to
02:38 be out for a while, I think they will get some key players back after the international
02:42 break. Patrick Roberts is going to be a really important one. Adge Olesay is going to be
02:46 another important one. So I think they are going to be okay but I have to say that I
02:50 think it might get worse before it gets better and personally although we've just been speaking
02:54 to Mike Dodds who has said it's fine margins and he still believes Sunderland can impact
02:57 the top six race, I think it's very difficult to see that as it stands. So while I do think
03:02 Sunderland are going to be fine, I don't have any concerns on that front. I do fear that
03:06 it might get a bit worse before it gets a bit better and we shouldn't either, I'm not
03:09 trying to duck the issue either and that is a really damning indictment of the way the
03:15 season has gone because this is a team that was, even when it wasn't winning, it was giving
03:19 us some frustration. It was playing really good football, it tend to create quite a lot
03:22 of chances and the season has really, really, really fallen away now. Ultimately while injuries
03:31 are a big factor in that, I do believe that. Clarke was a big miss today. I do think it's
03:35 because the recruitment probably since the summer window hasn't been good enough and
03:39 the players who might be good in time, at the moment aren't ready to impact the games
03:43 at the level Sunderland need them to. I go back to, I know everyone has their opinions
03:47 on Tony Mowbray and a lot of people felt that his tenure was running its course but as now,
03:53 it's a series of really bad decisions and I think a lot of what's happened to Sunderland
03:56 this season is self-inflicted and that makes it all the more frustrating. One topic that
04:01 a lot of you have asked about, a few different angles to the question but hopefully I'll
04:05 try and cover it off as best I can, is about Job and I suppose more specifically people
04:10 desperate to see Chris Rigg get an opportunity. I completely echo that. I think that Chris
04:15 Rigg had a huge impact when he came on today. He played again in that sort of right wing
04:19 role. He brings so much energy, he gets up and down the pitch, he clatters into challenges
04:24 and he's got a lovely left foot. He played some gorgeous little passes out onto this
04:27 flank which looked like it could actually yield something for Sunderland because Barr
04:31 was looking a bit of a threat. For me, Chris Rigg has to get a start soon. Ultimately,
04:36 he's here and he's not one of those big Premier League clubs because Sunderland had
04:40 that, said that there would be a pathway for him and a chance to start games. Where we
04:43 are in the season at the moment and with the general level of performance across the team,
04:47 I don't think you can deny Rigg a start soon. What I would say as a caveat to that
04:51 is in fairness to Mike Dodds is that when I spoke to him, I asked about this at the
04:56 pre-match press conference on Thursday, he made very clear that Rigg was close to starting.
04:59 He's just said that to me again in the post-match press conference because I asked
05:02 the question again. He said he's really pleased with him, training really well and
05:05 he's really close to the team. There are another two games coming up in the next week.
05:10 So I feel like we should revisit that one after the Southampton game because I feel
05:13 and hope that Rigg might have had his first start at that point. The job aspect of it,
05:18 I have to say that I can only give you my honest opinion. For me today, I don't think
05:23 there was a huge issue in midfield. I thought Sunderland battled pretty well. I thought
05:27 at times they moved the ball into some really encouraging areas out wide. If you actually
05:31 think about the game, I think there were a lot of times whether it was Barra towards
05:34 the end, whether it was Hulme on the right wing, Ealdon even yelled at him next end.
05:38 Sunderland actually got into some pretty promising wide areas because I thought the midfield
05:41 won a lot of challenges and played a lot of good forward passes. I thought Joe put in
05:45 a really big shift. I thought he pressed really well. I thought he offered a lot of support
05:49 to Jemimah and then Roos in that front in terms of getting up the pitch. Really, really
05:53 put in a big shift. I've said loads of times of late, I think there's a question, is he
06:00 playing too much football? I think that's probably fair. I think at some point this
06:04 season he's going to have to be rotated and I think that moment's probably coming. But
06:10 I would say as well, I thought Neil Ekker and Job, I don't think that was a huge issue
06:14 for Sunderland to date. I thought Neil created a lot in the second half and I thought that
06:20 was one of Job's best performances for a little while. But I do agree with the point
06:23 that I do think he's maybe been overplayed a little bit of late and I definitely think
06:27 it's time for Rigg to get a start. I don't think he can do much more coming off the bench
06:30 and I think we all want to see him.
06:33 So let's have a look at some of the other questions. This one's from The Boy Jones.
06:37 So he says, was the squad overachieving under Mowbray or does the current tactical plan
06:41 not suit it? I think it's a little bit of both. I think we're seeing that the team is
06:45 definitely overachieving under Mowbray. I think what we've seen is that the issues in
06:49 the final third aren't easily solved. Louis Hamier, I think there was aspects of his performance
06:58 that I quite liked. I think you can see that he's getting fitter and that he's pressing
07:01 better. Sometimes the service into the box isn't very good. Sometimes you feel like Sunderland
07:08 could cross a bit earlier, but there were actually some really good balls played into
07:10 the box today. I do just feel that if you compare where Sunderland's strikers are at
07:14 to say Josh Sargent today, who even when he wasn't at his best, I thought was a real threat
07:19 throughout the game. I just don't think they're quite at the level yet and that's not necessarily
07:23 a reflection on them. It's just their experience and where they are in their careers. So I
07:27 think that Sunderland were overachieving under Mowbray and I think that ultimately, regardless
07:31 of whether you think he should have stayed or whether he should have gone, I think it's
07:34 very obvious that he was getting more out of this group of players than what we've seen
07:38 since he's gone. I think that's something that Sunderland, for me, I think the decision-makers
07:44 of the club have to reflect on because they're an evidence-based operation. That's what we're
07:48 seeing. Well, the evidence was that Sunderland were a really good top-six contender under
07:52 Tony Mowbray in the first half of this season. Yes, they had some issues, but to me, that
07:57 looked like personnel rather than tactical and I think what's happened since then has
08:00 borne that out. So I still think there are a lot of real questions about the path that
08:04 Sunderland took and why they made those decisions that they did. I agree with some supporters
08:09 who say that the service isn't really there for the strikers and that we could feed the
08:14 strikers better early and play earlier. I do think that goes a little bit of both ways.
08:18 I think at times you can see that the players maybe don't quite trust the strikers to make
08:22 the ball stick and I think that's sometimes why they turn down the option to play forward
08:26 a little bit quicker and I can kind of understand that sometimes because if you're under pressure
08:29 in a game against a side like Norwich who are really good at home, I think you fear
08:33 just sort of coughing possession back up and giving them that momentum and getting sort
08:36 of caught back in your own half by giving the ball away. So while I agree that sometimes
08:40 I don't think Sunderland feed their strikers and there's clearly not enough balls going
08:43 into the box for Jermain to feed on because we saw him pre-season and that's what he's
08:46 good at. I do think it goes a little both ways and I ultimately personally think at
08:51 the moment all the issues come down to recruitment. I don't think the players that have come in
08:55 over the last two transfer windows are ready yet to play in a side that gets the level
08:59 of results consistently that you need to be a play-off contender. Now that's not me saying
09:05 like you have to tear up the model because I think a lot of the signings since the new
09:08 regime came in have been very, very good and they've delivered a lot of progress but I
09:12 think at the moment the balance hasn't quite been right. It's something we've spoken about,
09:15 there aren't enough players in the team at the moment who you can consistently depend
09:18 on to play the certain level and I think we're seeing that reflected in the performances
09:22 again. Couldn't knock personally the endeavour of the players today. Mundell was a great
09:26 example, I thought he worked really, really hard, gave the elder a lot of support but
09:31 ultimately, understandably he's not quite at Jack Clark's level yet. So let's have a
09:37 look at what else we've got here.
09:43 Few questions asking where the next win's coming from and how many games do I think
09:46 someone can realistically win before the end of the season. I do think that the results
09:53 will level out a little bit because I don't think that there's been a huge amount between
09:58 the two teams of late. Last week, the Swansea game, ultimately Mike Dodd's tried something
10:04 that didn't work for the first half. The second half, even though something went very creative,
10:09 I thought was a lot more level. I stand by, I don't think there was a huge amount between
10:13 the two teams today. I think it's about fighting margins and I would go back to the game between
10:17 the two last year with regards to that. So I do think at some point, something will pick
10:23 up a few wins, maybe it'll be in a game we don't expect them to against a strong opponent
10:26 because I think the endeavour is there and the hard work is there. What I would also
10:30 say is they're not, for me, going to win anywhere near enough games between now and the end
10:34 of the season to really threaten the top six. I think they're probably going to finish maybe
10:40 in the top half just because I just don't think the quality is there in the final third
10:44 at the moment, especially without Clark and Roberts. Again, a lot of questions about the
10:48 recruitment and the model. I think there's two aspects to it. I think they really destabilised
10:52 the team by getting rid of a manager who I feel was getting probably just about the most
10:57 cut out of this young and experienced group with some of the issues in the squad. And
11:01 also that I think the failure to address the obvious shortcomings in the January window
11:06 continues to bite, especially up front. I understand there's a desire to not push the
11:13 club financially, to make good decisions, to not panic. But I think the lack of nous
11:18 and experience in the final third, I think is really telling. Someone like what Kiefer
11:23 Moore is doing at Ipswich, I think it shows that even if the market has become hugely
11:26 inflated, someone needs to reassess a little bit in the summer and find a better balance.
11:30 I totally understand the point the fans make that at the moment the service isn't good
11:33 enough to the Strikers. But I do think if you have someone who's experienced at this
11:37 level and has a stature about them and has that experience, I think they'll bring themselves
11:42 into the game. And I think you'll see the players around them look for them more and
11:45 look for them earlier because they'll have that trust in them. Again, not a knock on
11:49 Jemaior at all. I thought his work rate was really good today. I think you can see signs
11:53 he's getting fitter. I think there's a promise there. But I think he's probably one of the
11:58 few Strikers who isn't quite at the level that you need to be at the moment. And again,
12:03 that comes back to recruitment. So, yeah, thanks very much for all your questions. I'll
12:09 be doing a written version of this one, a few that I haven't got to, I'll answer as
12:13 well. I think I'll probably go into a bit more detail about the model and some of your
12:16 other questions around that. So look out for that on the website on Monday night. We'll
12:19 be back with a podcast on Monday sometime, I assume. And I'll be back with another edition
12:24 of On The Whistle on Tuesday after the Leicester game. So thanks very much for sending your
12:28 questions in. I'm sorry again that it can't be a more upbeat one. And yeah, let's hope
12:34 that someone can sort of produce some for us on Tuesday. But it's really worrying. And
12:39 a lot of you just sending your messages and really saying how sort of apathetic you are.
12:43 And I think I totally get that emotion. It is so frustrating to watch a season that,
12:48 you know, from a very promising position has really, really unravelled. And ultimately,
12:53 I think so much of it is self-inflicted because I think Sunderland have made some bad football
12:56 decisions from sort of the middle of December onwards. And that makes it all the more frustrating.
13:02 So yeah, sorry, I couldn't be a cheerer on the whistle there. And see you again on Tuesday.
13:07 Thanks again for sending your questions in and keep them coming.
13:09 Thanks.
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