Sunderland 2-0 Stoke City My View

Sunderland 2-0 Stoke City My View

Ill pick over the bones from yesterdays disappointing defeat away at Sunderland.Not that bad a performanceStoke by no means played well yesterday, but we did do enough to frustrate Sunderland for three quarters of the game yesterday, and it seemed we were heading for a point until Etherington was sent off. We never really looked like scoring when we attacked, but then neither did Sunderland, though it was hard for them when facing two goalkeepers in Thomas Sorensen and Danny Pugh.Not so shrewd loan moves?Stokes two new loan signings, forward Henri Camara and full-back Stephen Kelly made their debuts yesterday, Camara coming on for Koda Martin Jersey the stricken Ricardo Fuller after half an hour and Kelly playing the full game. Camara looked reasonably lively, seeing a lot of the ball and putting in a few decent shots, though he looked rather lightweight, something were definitely not used to seeing in our strikers. Also, he mi sed a great chance to give us the lead just after wed gone down to ten men, hitting the bar from close range.Kelly was though, very poor, he started the game at left-back, andI hoped his dodgy play wasa result of playing away from his favoured right-back position, but he continued to struggle when he switched sides. He misplaced numerous pa ses, was outfought and outpaced by wingers, and should have cleared the ball easilybefore their second goal. Not a good debut.Tony Pulis has always brought in very good loan signings at Championship level, but these are his first two in the Premier League. I thought Camara showed flashes of his cla s, but Kelly showed very little at all. More is needed from Camara and KellyRob f**king StylesI dont feel Stoke were wronged by Stlyess poor refereeing any more than Sunderland were, but the referee and football fan in me says that something must be done to stop this incompetent moron of a referee ever going any where near a football pitch again. He denied Sunderland two clear penalties for handballs, Danny Pugh punching the ball off the line for the first, an offence for which he would have to have been sent off, and Kelly committing the second in the second half. He stopped the game to award Stoke a free-kick whenadvantage should have been playedthen promptly sent off Matthew Etherington, though Im not arguing with the latter part of that decision, it was just about the only thing he got right all day. Finally, he failed to spot yet another blatant handball in the run up to Sunderlands first goal, Andy Reidcontrolling with his armbefore cro sing. Sadly, its what weve come to expect from a referee like Styles.CostlyindisciplineMatthew Etherington was sent off for Stoke for aiming a kick at Sunderlands Danny Collins with a David Wells Jersey quarter of the match to go. It looked like we were going to hold on for a point up to this point, but with a man advantage Sunderland were able to break us down. How vital could that point prove come May? We will also now be without one of our best players for a month because of stupid petulance. It was our fourth red card in six weeks, and the third for petulant offences, this recent spate of ill discipline must be halted by Pulis.Really a red card offence?I am not trying to defend Etherington at all, it clearly says in the laws of the game that a kick out at an opponent warrants a Arizona Cardinals Hoodies Sweatshirts red card, and he would have been well aware of this. I would like to question the validity of this blanket rule though, which I am sure is in place to stop players being injured by opponents kicking them. We see yellow cards awarded for pushes to the chests of opponents, as they are deemed not to be potentially damaging to the opponents health, and I would suggest that Etheringtons kick, little more than a trip on a moving opponent, should fall into the same category. That being said, he still should never have done it and deserved to be sent off for being so indisciplined.Fuller despair?Top-scorer Ricardo Fuller went off with a shoulder injury that according to Pulis could keep him out for the rest of the season. If Fuller had been on the kind of form he displayed back in August, I would be lamenting a huge lo s, but given the lazy, mardy performances we have grown used to seeing from him in recent weeks I would suggest that we can copejust finewithout Anquan Boldin Jersey him. With James Beattie an obvious goal threat, and Mamady Sidibe coming back to fitne s, while Camara and Dave Kitson wait in the wings, we have a strong forward line with or without Fuller.Its time for more goalscoring and le s sulking from FullerLack of fighting spiritWe have been hailed this season for our brave, all-in performances. Sadly, little of this was on display yesterday after we fell a goal down. With just over ten minutes left we should have been pushing forward in search of an equaliser, but it truth we seldom look le s like scoring than we did in those last ten minutes.The oppositionUntil Etherington was sent off, I was not impre sed by Sunderland, they looked shaky at the back and hardly razor-sharp going forward. Credit to them that they did manage to break down the ten man Stoke side, something we have previously seen it is hard to do, and get a 2-0 win that does seems rather flattering to them. Theyre too good a side to be relegated, but not good enough to do much else.Player Ratings:Thomas Sorensen (gk): Sorensen was a hero during his time at Sunderland, but didnt really recapture that form in yesterdays game. He made an error early in Rodney Hudson Jersey the second half that could have cost us a goal and probably should have done better with their first goal. 5Andy Wilkinson (rb): Wilkinson went off injured after eighteen minutes so didnt really have time to make a huge impact, but he did seem to be dealing comfortably with most he had to do in that time. 6Ryan Shawcro s (cb): Much the same as Wilkinson, Shawcro s having gone off after 26 minutes. I hope hes not badly injured as he would be a major lo s given his excellent recent form. 6Abdoulaye Faye (cb): Faye wasnt quite as a sured as he usually is for Stoke, and let Kenwyne Jones get away from him oo easily in the build up to their second goal. He does look like one of the few players in our side who is happy with the ball at their feet though. 6Stephen Kelly (lb): A very poor debut from Kelly both at left-back and at his preferred right-back where he played after Wilkinsons injury. He looked slow and uncomfortable on the ball and misplaced a lot of pa ses. He also let the ball run acro s him instead of clearing itjust before Healy scored their second goal. He did save us at one point in the first half with a good goal-line clearance though. I si

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