With the 2018-19 League One season coming up, The Football Lab spoke to Sunderland fan Michael Oates (@afootyeducation) from the superb Roker Report. For some time there have been cultural problems at Sunderland, off the field as well as on it. Do you think new owners Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven could provide the drive… Read more →
With a two-week break from the Championship for internationals, this is a good time to review how all 24 teams have looked in their first five league games. Here’s our assessment of Sunderland. What we said in pre-season “After the horrors of last season, Sunderland face a tough season ahead and the midfield performances of… Read more →
George Honeyman netted his first goal for Sunderland, helping the Black Cats through to the second round of the EFL Cup with a 1-0 win at Bury – but how did players on both teams fare? Here’s our ratings. Bury Joe Murphy – made an excellent save from McGeady early on and used his experience… Read more →
George Honeyman netted his first goal for Sunderland, helping the Black Cats through to the second round of the EFL Cup with a 1-0 win at Bury – but what are the seven talking points from the game? Using the left We saw an end-to-end opening to the contest with both teams attacking down the… Read more →
Sunderland and Derby kick-started the 17/18 Championship season with a 1-1 draw – but how did each player fare? Here’s our ratings… Sunderland Jason Steele – His confidence looked damaged by Celtic’s pre-season mauling, but recovered at the death to deny Nugent from close-range. 5 Billy Jones – excelled in the defensive third, but questionable… Read more →
Though Newcastle United won the Championship title last season, one might say that Brighton and Huddersfield won the hearts of the neutrals. The duo ended 34 and 45 year top flight exiles respectively, the former with three games to spare, the latter via a Wembley shoot-out. Who will make history this year? Here’s our predictions.… Read more →
Sunderland’s policy has long been to sign old players in an inflated January market and change manager frequently. They always just about stayed up with that approach, but always with the sense that they were treading water. Last season, those years of short-term thinking caught up with the Black Cats, as supporter Michael Oates –… Read more →
The big news at Deepdale this summer is that manager Simon Grayson has left after four years at the helm. In that time, Preston have grown from being League One relegation strugglers to become a respected top half Championship outfit. Supporter Ben – who runs the excellent Ben HD Championship channel – is grateful for the job Grayson did. He did brilliant… Read more →
Sheffield Wednesday have been the Championship’s nearly men over the last two seasons. On both occasions, they made the top six with relative comfort but were undone in the play-offs by fellow Yorkshire outfits, Hull and Huddersfield. Supporter Steve Walmsley from War of the Monster Trucks reflects on the recent highs and lows in Owlerton.… Read more →
Here is The Football Lab’s Championship Team of the Season for the 2016-17 campaign, with only one player picked per club. If you disagree with this team, let us know at @_FootbalLab. Goalkeeper – Alex Smithies: Prior to positive mid-season recruitment, QPR were kept out of the relegation zone only by the work of Smithies.… Read more →