#onthewhistle returns at Blackpool
Phil Smith and James Copley answer fans questions following Sunderland's 1-0 win over Blackpool on Saturday
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00:00Good afternoon, we are back for a latest edition of On The Whistle, the standard lawnmower
00:16is back in the background, but we have some new tech, so I'm hoping, hopefully it works,
00:20yeah hopefully it works and hopefully you can hear us alright. So we're here at Bloomfield
00:24Road, some of the beaten black up, 1-0 in their latest pre-season friendly, thanks to
00:28a really good late goal from Jack Clarke, Dan Neal won the ball in midfield, really
00:32good challenge, Chris Rigg really good off the bench, slid a lovely ball in Patrick Roberts,
00:36nice little cross, Jack Clarke hammering it home, easy as you like. Interesting game,
00:41first half Sunderland were a load the better team, controlled the ball, actually had some
00:45fairly decent chances without really cutting Blackpool open, Blackpool made loads of changes
00:49at the start of the second half, completely dominated for 20 minutes actually, Sunderland
00:52were really cold, then Sunderland came on quite strong and I think in the end just about
00:56deserved the win, what do you think? I think so yeah, I was really impressed with Dan Neal
01:00in the middle, I thought first half Sunderland were fairly dominant, then Blackpool changed
01:04it didn't they at half-time, they brought back eight subs on and that's always going
01:07to be a little bit of a challenge when you've got fresh legs on, they want to prove themselves
01:10as much as anybody on the pitch. I thought Sunderland's goal did leave a little bit of
01:14a charmed life at times, certainly start of the second half and Blackpool should have
01:18scored. A bit of a pre-season game, then Sunderland did come on strong and once we started to
01:24play then you sort of get those passes together and the goal was real quality actually, I
01:29thought with Dan Neal winning the ball, getting it out to Chris Rigg who found Roberts with
01:33a nice pass, Roberts then gets it over at the clock, that would be lovely to see more
01:37of that going forward these next sort of three pre-season games actually. We've seen throughout
01:40all the pre-season games actually most of their, although some of them aren't like an
01:43open or high-pressed team, they're not constantly in the opposition's face with everyone on
01:46the pitch, most of their chances are coming from winning the ball back and breaking quickly
01:49and that's quite encouraging because that's something that just seemed to evaporate from
01:52the game. But it was interesting just chatting there to Regis Lebris since he's coached my
01:55press conference with us, I thought it was really encouraging to hear because I thought
01:59it was an OK performance but not a great performance and I still felt some familiar issues that
02:03bring the opposition down and he said this was a really good test for us because Blackpool
02:06were the back five sitting deep, it was really difficult to use the word unbalanced, it was
02:10really difficult basically to cut them open and he said I know this is going to be one
02:13of our biggest issues this season, especially when we play at home and he said it was a
02:16really good exercise for us but we know we've got loads to do to be quicker, to come up
02:20with some new ideas going into Saturday defence and while I sort of came away a little bit
02:24nervy about seeing some of the stuff that we saw last season, it was quite good that
02:27the head coach was totally on that and he wasn't like what a performance, we've won
02:31the game, it's amazing, he was like we've seen today some of the challenges we're going
02:34to face and we've got a lot of work to do, quite encouraging.
02:37Yeah, I was just chatting to Adji Elissi there with Nick Barnes and he said it can be really
02:42difficult when a team does just sit in and you can't play in between them and it's tough
02:47and when they do come out and play a little bit, it makes it a lot easier to pick up those
02:50passes and I think that's ultimately what we saw. I think there are a few little issues
02:54maybe but again, it's pre-season and I think there are some encouraging signs as well.
02:59I'm going to get it out of the way before we go into questions, we asked Lebris about
03:03transfers, he's given nothing away. He likes to talk about tactical detail, Lebris, I think
03:06people are going to be really interested to hear him over the course of the season but
03:08he's not going to be someone who talks about transfers a lot so all he would say is that
03:12both on him and his backroom staff, the club are working really, really hard and we'll
03:16have to wait and see but I'm afraid I've got much more for you than that.
03:19So, we're going to go into the questions. Peter says, Bram, tell us all, is he the answer
03:25in midfield, even if not Corey Evans for Bourne, can he make a stouter in a tough match?
03:29I've been really encouraged by Alan Brown's two performances, there's been a theme for
03:33both which is that he started really, really well and then he's faded but I'm not concerned
03:37about that. When we spoke to him in Spain, he said he was a couple of weeks behind on
03:40his match fitness because obviously he joined a little bit later in the pre-season programme
03:44so that's definitely a work in progress but there's been loads of quality designs, hasn't
03:47there? He is definitely not the new Corey Evans, he's much more attacking, you saw especially
03:52throughout the first half that he was getting beyond Robertson's game, he was trying to
03:56crash into the box. Actually, it's Dan Neil who's playing more of the sort of, I wouldn't
03:59say holding midfield, they're not playing with a holding midfielder, but a more withdrawn
04:02role so I definitely think Brown is a great addition, he looks experienced, he definitely
04:05brings some steel to midfield but he's not Corey Evans' replacement, he's much more
04:09attacking from the lats and what have you seen?
04:11No, I thought it was interesting, his first game against Al Dentsley, obviously it was
04:14his first 45 minutes in quite some time, we knew he was a little bit behind the group
04:17and I thought he played pretty much as that six and kept taking the ball off the back
04:21four. Today he played very differently, he was playing in that sort of more number eight
04:25role and I thought what was really interesting Phil actually was when Hulme was bombing
04:29on, overlapping Roberts or coming inside into the middle which he did quite a lot. Alan
04:34Brown had the street smarts, the know-how, just to knock back into that right back slot.
04:39I think his positioning, his intelligence is really, really impressive but what caught
04:43my eye today is that he can pick a pass and his energy actually going forward, I was like
04:48alright okay, there's that box-to-box midfielder you told us you were and that little bit of
04:53extra fitness, that extra week I can just see his play developing a bit more so I think
04:57he's going to be a good signing for us for midfield and it's one that's made a lot of
05:01sense. I thought Dan Neal in the middle today, he was a level above everybody else on that
05:05football pitch, he did make a couple of mistakes but he recovered so well, he is a Rolls Royce
05:09of a footballer, he's brilliant. If that's his base level, Nick we'll get you in in a
05:14minute, don't worry. Come on Nick, get yourself in. If that's Neal's level with a couple of
05:18weeks to go before pre-season starts then that's a really exciting prospect. Tony Byrne
05:23says we could do with a specialist set-piece coach, we produce very little from attacking
05:26corners and free kicks and could be woeful defending them. Here comes the main events
05:30here. I definitely think something could do with a set-piece coach, however they are never
05:34going to be the best set-piece team, it's just the profile of the team, they're never
05:38going to be the biggest team. Something Lebris said at his opening press conference when
05:41all of us were there, that actually was something he wanted to add, some specialist coaching
05:45and I wonder if that's something that will happen a bit down the line. It might be that
05:48the assistant, this enigmatic assistant whenever he finally emerges brings set-piece coaching
05:54in his armoury but it's interesting Lebris has actually mentioned that so at some point
05:57I think there will be someone who comes in with a bit more of a specific reliance on
06:01set-pieces but I agree with that. Process, trust the process. I'm going to put them
06:08all into one, basically everybody's asking is the main issue the lack of a striker and
06:13when are some of them going to get a striker? Well the first thing is, I thought Mienda
06:17did okay today, she got in some decent areas. She was scored in the first minute. Yeah and
06:20there was a couple of crosses that were only just beyond him, I thought he did okay, I
06:24don't think today it was all about the striker because it's not as if someone created loads
06:28of chances and the strikers didn't score and they didn't actually open Blackpool up
06:31all that often so while I definitely think clearly some of them need an experienced striker,
06:35I think Mienda did okay today, I wouldn't be too harsh on him and I think actually the
06:40problem with some of them today is they just needed to be a little bit more quicker, they
06:42needed a bit more urgency in their passing rather than necessarily having a number 9.
06:46Obviously they need one at some stage. I thought Mienda was fine but I don't think he's the
06:50answer for Cardiff. No I don't think he's the answer but I do think there is a number
06:579 issue still, I don't think you can get away from that. I think the fact today that they
07:00put balls in the box in the first half and I think an established number 9 possibly with
07:06a little bit more height but someone who knows, goal coaches I suppose basically is it because
07:11that ultimately is where the likes of Clarke and Roberts, Brown etc are going to prosper.
07:17That's putting balls, how many times did they get to the edge of the penalty area today,
07:21get in the box, pull one back and you're crying out for a, I mean dare I say, I'm going
07:27to use his name in vain but Ross Stewart, who was the sort of player, he's the sort
07:37of player who instinctively would finish the sort of track, even look, I mean dare I say
07:43you go back, Magic, Josh Magic was another player who instinctively knew how to finish
07:47in those situations. I can immediately sit here from this position
07:50in the press box and remember Stewart and Magic both scoring front post tackles.
07:54I was just about to say, it's somebody who makes front post runs.
07:56And I think they would have been one or two up in the first half today.
08:00And I think it's a question of experience as well because I don't actually think he
08:04can knock Meander's work every day. I thought it was very, very good and he was very willing
08:08but he just lacks a body of championship games.
08:11Well to be honest, I think as well the one thing I would say is Meander's made loads
08:14of progress, I really want to be positive about Meander, he holds the ball up much better,
08:18he makes better runs and like you can see his teammates trust him quite a bit.
08:22So I think there's loads of positives in Meander, I think he might have a part to play this season
08:25but definitely there is the absence of that culture and we'll have to wait and see if
08:29and when that gets resolved.
08:30What else have we got?
08:31Well the last one's from Mark, it says 20 quid if either one of you can get through
08:34this on the whistle without making reference to us in the word striker.
08:37Well we got like four and a half minutes in.
08:39If Dennis was me.
08:40I think we got four and a half minutes in and it was Nick who ruined it.
08:43That's where I went downhill when Barnes enjoyed the video.
08:45We'll just end a little bit by talking about Rajeev's LeBreeze in his post-match press
08:48conference that me and Nick did there.
08:50Loads of players absent today so let's break it down a little bit because I think people
08:53will be interested.
08:54So Louis Hemiya, Dewis and Bennett and Jena Tetu were all at Hartlepool, they're playing
09:01in the U21s.
09:02LeBreeze basically said he wants to work with a smaller squad now and they were basically
09:05free to go out on loan.
09:06Elliot Hamilton and Timothy Pembele weren't in either of the squads but LeBreeze basically
09:11said they were going to be on Tuesday at Bradford so it's not as clear cut as they're
09:14going to leave at the moment.
09:16Ekwer and Yelder, minor injuries.
09:18I think that was it.
09:19Thoughts on all of that Nick?
09:21Well I'm not surprised.
09:23I think you've outlined in the past couple of weeks the size of the squad.
09:28It's got to be pared down at some point.
09:31Rajeev LeBreeze making the point today that this is the point now, we're two weeks before
09:35the start of the season, that he's got to start looking at the smaller squad, looking
09:39at who's potentially going to be in his starting 11.
09:42Which was interesting talking to Zac Johnson after the game, suddenly finds himself in
09:47this squad today, not one of those that went to Hartlepool this afternoon.
09:52So as I said to him, his good fortune comes with the misfortune of Dan Ballard getting
09:58injured but nonetheless, sometimes, a sliding doors man.
10:02This might be an opportunity for Johnson.
10:03It's really interesting what Johnson knows because he wants to play football.
10:07He said he's greedy, he wants to play every minute of the game, he wants to play regularly
10:11and it might be that he doesn't get that chance at Sunderland but he still ends up
10:15staying because of Ballard's injury.
10:17They do need that little bit of cover.
10:18Well hopefully Ballard will be fit towards the end of August, at which point you can
10:21say Zac Johnson, you've had a month training with the first team, now maybe who is someone
10:26I want to take a youngster if he's quality.
10:28In the AFL I think we'll be hugely better.
10:29So I think there's a difference isn't there between players like Embolton and maybe a
10:32good Johanneson and Johnson that can't be where they need his cover now but towards
10:37the end of August.
10:38You've got to give him credit that the brief feels he can trust him.
10:40That's important as well.
10:42He's only been back, as he says, three days from two weeks off.
10:45Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:46So there we go.
10:47Anderson's another interesting one as well.
10:48Yeah, I think the fact that Johnson came on, maybe that suggests that Anderson might go
10:51out on loan.
10:52Anderson, I said in this game, is excellent but maybe he just needs another year of playing
10:57regularly to see where he gets to.
10:58But he's definitely, wherever he goes I'll be interested to watch his progress.
11:01We want to get home because it's Saturday and it's pre-season so we're going to leave
11:04it there.
11:05So basically, at Christian Speakman, bring back Ross Stewart.
11:08We solved it.
11:09I'm sure he'll thank you for that one.
11:10We solved it.
11:11Careful what you wish for.
11:12It's bright sunshine.
11:13It's really warm.
11:14I'm not so sure about Paris right now when I think about a season.
11:17Yeah, well there we go.
11:18Well, thanks very much for watching.
11:19We will be back, I think all of us will be back at Bradford if you fancy it.
11:22Depends what I'm driving.
11:23I'm driving the more impressive one here.
11:25We're expecting loads of changes.
11:27I think Barlow will make his first appearance in pre-season.
11:29Rousseau and Archiche.
11:31Yeah, I think there'll be sort of eight or nine changes.
11:33Another chance for Rigg, I think, looked right again today so it'll be interesting
11:36to see how he goes.
11:37But yeah, we'll be back then.
11:38Loads of coverage on the Sunderland Echo as prepared.
11:40Thanks very much for watching.
11:41And the BBC.
11:42And the BBC of course.
11:43Wow.
11:44Some coverage on the BBC.
11:47Never count your chickens.
11:48Thanks everyone for watching.
11:49Thank you.