Sunderland love in

[Gerry]

I could not belive the amount of people at the weekend with sunderland jerseys on telling anyone who would listen that "we all should be supporting sunderland as our second team cause of keano and the irish"

Am i the only one who could not care less about sunderland or how they get on this season ?

i dont wish bad luck on them or anything like it i just couldnt care less how they do i was really amazed to hear the amount of so called fans of teams telling me they were going to watch sunderland this seasaon before they even get to see the team they "support" !

[marko]

I agree,i did take an interest in them last season checking the odd result etc but the circus that surrounds them at the moment via sky etc and the whole lets cash in on the irish support angle is a bit rare.

[Dub13]

I posted this on May 6th (I am to hungover to type alot today so its a copy and paste job).

What do you think of these guys..?Like most people I think the Sunderland story has been great and one of the story's of the season and has a big Irish twist.But these new Sunderland fans are a bit much,today alone I have seen 4 Sunderland tops in Dublin.Don't get me wrong if I was in Sunderland on a stags party or whatever I would try to pop along and see them play but these new Roy Keane loving fans are a bit much.

I don't know what it is with us Irish but we have a load of people who just love a bandwagon,it reminds me of the early 90s when you used to see loads of Blackburn tops in Dublin.Not to many of them these days,also a few years ago you would not have seen many Chelski tops in Dublin now they are all over the place.

[sean]

Am i the only one who could not care less about sunderland or how they get on this season ?


You can add me to that list ;)

While I couldn't care less how they get on, I have an admiration for the way they've captured a market over here. Quinn was over and back for the first few months of his reign as Sunderland chairman talking to airlines and travel agents in an attempt to get as many Irish supporters over as possible, whether to support Sunderland as their first or second team.

At the end of the day its inevitable that their are going to be plenty of people out there who have a second team. Plenty out there will claim to support Liverpool, Arsenal, Man U as their first team, yet will still sit down in the pub for the Glasgow derby with their brand new Celtic jersey and roar on Nakamura with the same passion they'd have been shouting for Gerrard/Fabregas/Shrek the day before. Its always been this way and this sudden increase in Sunderland support doesn't really surprise me.

[stamullenredmen]

ive no time for people like that at all.where have all the blackburn fans gone???this open targeting of the irish public is a disgrace.its hard enough getting lads down to eircom games without wall to wall sunderland in the papers and **** all on local teams

[James]

Im still convinced they'll be playing in the Championship next season so their super fans may aswell enjoy it while it lasts.

Their performance for the first hour on Saturday was hilarious, possibly the poorest Ive ever seen in the Premier League. Fair play they kept plugging away and scored a good goal but they just arent good enough.

[Spionkopite]

agree with all above, cant say I wish any misfortune to anyone but the mancs and Marinmoan. But I could never understand this whole second team cr*p. I mean, if you have time or money to spend on another team it means you're not 100% dedicated to your number one team, thus not a real fan. I would say fairplay to Quinn for tapping into the whole irish market, fans have no one to blame but themselves if they fall for all the hype. Let them get on with it is what i say, they're no threat to the Pool anyway. YNWA.

[dubit10]

Couldnt give a toss about any other team but the Reds.But i agree with what your saying about the whole media hype with the whole Ireland/Sunderland angle.I was in the shop earlier and looked through a few of the papers.The sunderland game took up nearly as much pages as a Man utd game and more than the liverpool game.The media will have a complete wankfest when Keane becomes the Man Utd manager.I cant see them staying up this year mind you.The standard of the football they play is third world and will not not be enough to cut it so they should enjoy it whilst they can.Ive got a feeling a few of those Sunderland shirts will be making there way to charity shops next year:D

[reder]

Along with all the other teams in the north east I cant stand them. I predict and hope they get relegated. This whole irish love-in really gets on my nerves. I can only imagine that most of the hardcore Sunderland fans are sick of it already.

I strongly predict the whole thing will turn very nasty when they hit a bad patch.

[liverbird!!]

I could not belive the amount of people at the weekend with sunderland jerseys on telling anyone who would listen that "we all should be supporting sunderland as our second team cause of keano and the irish"

Am i the only one who could not care less about sunderland or how they get on this season ?

i dont wish bad luck on them or anything like it i just couldnt care less how they do i was really amazed to hear the amount of so called fans of teams telling me they were going to watch sunderland this seasaon before they even get to see the team they "support" !


Couldn't support a team run by that b****x!!
I'll never forgive him for siapan.:mad:

[dougal]

Couldn't support a team run by that b****x!!
I'll never forgive him for siapan.:mad:

But Mick Macarthy doesn't manage Sunderland anymore - Roy Keane does! ;)

I'd like to see them do well if only to bring on the likes of McShane, Murphy and Stokes. Miller even did ok when he came on Saturday.

Interesting to see how O'Donovan gets on too.
Fair play to them for playing the Irish angle - I have no problem with them generating support from here. It would be more deserving than all the Chelski support that has sprung up over here anyway.

[Gerry]

How is it more deserving than any chelski support ??

[dubit10]

Couldn't support a team run by that b****x!!
I'll never forgive him for siapan.:mad:

100% behind you on that.Scumbag to the end

[paddypower111]

i watched there game saturday and i was hopeing they would beat spurs to shut up the spurs supporters. cause every year when the priemer starts. in forums or on sky sports news its always spurs saying how great they are so i say nice 1 sunderland yee shut them up 4 another season

[YNWA]

All this sunderland shite is rediculous, makes the irish look stupid really! I'd say the real sunderland fans are going to start getting pretty angry!

[Shay]

I have to admit, im not sure if its because of all the publicity surrounding the Irish contingent there but I found Myself keeping an eye on Sunderlands results last year.

[stamullenredmen]

ever watch setanta last season the only championship flash they would give was sunderland.when you consider the fan base "super" leeds has here shows you the media hype going on

[dougal]

How is it more deserving than any chelski support ??

Well if you are going to start supporting a football team you need to have a reason.
If that reason is because Chelski are top of the league at the time then fair play.
If that reason is that the team is Irish owned and brings in a lot of Irish players and manager then you have something to identify with.

IMHO that would be a more deserving reason.

Also Keane is a massive hero to most of the football fans of this country so will bring a lot of interest on his own.
Of course he is also hated by the rest but that is besides the point really.

[Gerry]

Well if you are going to start supporting a football team you need to have a reason.
If that reason is because Chelski are top of the league at the time then fair play.
If that reason is that the team is Irish owned and brings in a lot of Irish players and manager then you have something to identify with.

IMHO that would be a more deserving reason.

Also Keane is a massive hero to most of the football fans of this country so will bring a lot of interest on his own.
Of course he is also hated by the rest but that is besides the point really.

Cant agree at all mate that they are more deserving of support because of the irish link, say chelsea for example (you did point them out earlier) play far superior football and have much better players so how are a team like sunderland more deserving ??? this is a typical irish band wagon jumping its just like the whole follow celtic if your irish thing !

[ianmahony1977]

Sorry lads/ladies, second team?????

I don't mean to sound glib but I don't understand this whole concept.

[Gerry]

Sorry lads/ladies, second team?????

I don't mean to sound glib but I don't understand this whole concept.

Could not have said it better myself !

[Shay]

Haha Sunderland are no second team of mine let me clear that up!

I keep an eye on most leagues and their results and Sunderlands season was extraordinary in that they went from bottom to top so dramatically. But it could have been wigan or any team for that matter that went from bottom to top and id have kept an eye on their results, I also kept an eye on Leeds results year does that mean they are my third team:p

[yodabenitez]

I'm not sure I agree with the general sentiment being expressed here so here are some random thoughts on the subject.

I don't think the bandwagon thing is peculiarly Irish, support for pretty much anything ebbs and flows with success and / or hype all over the world, sport, politics, tv progs etc, etc

There is always a hard core of support, those who remain when things don't go well or don't leave stadia early when their teams are getting stuffed. As to the rest, well methinks they like their prawn sandwiches...now who said that? Football supporters, in particular, have been like this as long as I remember, don't see too many Derby County shirts around these days and they were a spectacularly good team.

Very few clubs reverse this trend, Liverpool & Everton, Man City & Utd, Newcastle, maybe there are a few others, but not many.

I hope Sunderland do well mostly because they appear to be going about their business in a way that has something approaching a bit of old fashioned honesty.

The support that's attaching itself to them is being drawn from their success, PR and the personalities of Quinn & Keane - first they get the kids and then the parents follow. My youngest lad went on a club trip to Sunderland last year and they looked after them really well, I was very impressed, without adding them to my list of 'second teams' (that dubious honour belongs to Darlington - always has..lol).

A national, in this case Irish, connection is as valid a reason to start supporting anything as any other and is probably more enduring. I started supporting the Reds when Steve Heighway scored in the 71 cup final, would I if he had been Scottish? Doubt it somehow.

A bit rambling I know, but sometimes criticizing johnny come lately supporters is a bit like having a go at learner drivers - you've got to start somewhere.

Stop for God's sake man stop.......:)

[Alex Raisbeck]

One thing that I have worried about with the quinnderland thing is that when it inevitably goes pearshaped then the young Irish lads in the team will suffer, the fans will turn on them and their carreers may never recover.

P.S. I hate Keane and I hate Sunderland now by association too.

[pam]

Keano - Love him or hate him he's here to stay, personally I think he act's like a spoilt brat, I think sunderland will struggle this season and then we will see his true colours, and how his lads perform under his temperment.


as for second teams I do have a soft spot for Bristol City, but I must admit I am pretty obsessed with LFC a Red thro and thro

[Alex Raisbeck]

Thing is I cant wait for when he decides to move on to bigger and better things with a new club we will see what shi£e of an excuse he comes out with , then half the sunderland shirts will disappear from our streets.

[megager]

I'd hope sunderland stay up if we take 6 points off them and they take 6 off the scum. But somehow I think they will do better against us.

To be honest I am happy to see irish people supporting them for a reason other than instant success. The Leeds, blackburn and newcastle jerseys, once so prevalant in Moylough and Mountbellew pubs on a saturday night are now a thing of the past while some have been replaced by sundeland jerseys.

If its a fad it will pass and so we should just go with the flow.

As for Keane, I wish him well. Everyone chooses to remember Saipan, where he behaved like a spoilt child it is true, but really, is slagging off an inept manager, and a joke of a football organisation a good reason to send home your best player? Remember 1986, Maradona stayed at a separate expensive hotel to his argie team mates. In 1994, Romario refused to sit beside Bebeto because he was a bigger star. Both won world cups. I have forgiven keane long ago for that. I find it harder to forgive him for being a prat now and again.

Sunderland have a very poor squad, anyone can see that, so Ill be happy if they can do enough to say up. IBut I wont support them, maybe toward the end of the season Ill casually glance at where they are in the table.

[YNWA]

P.S. I hate Keane and I hate Sunderland now by association too.

I second that!

To be honest I am happy to see irish people supporting them for a reason other than instant success.

What? If they hadn't been title/promotion contenders there wouldnt have been half as many of these eejits, and if they go back down, half will disappear!

[James]

Im going over on Saturday and I hope we have every one of their plastic fans reaching for the sick bags on their flights home. These fools would be at Turners X, Richmond Park,RSC etc if they were Irish football fans.

[sean]

As for Keane, I wish him well. Everyone chooses to remember Saipan, where he behaved like a spoilt child it is true, but really, is slagging off an inept manager, and a joke of a football organisation a good reason to send home your best player? Remember 1986, Maradona stayed at a separate expensive hotel to his argie team mates. In 1994, Romario refused to sit beside Bebeto because he was a bigger star. Both won world cups. I have forgiven keane long ago for that. I find it harder to forgive him for being a prat now and again.


I agree with most of the above. Granted folks will say I'm from Cork, and so am fairly biased. With 2002 there is no doubt I favoured Roy Keane, not only cos I think everything he argued about was spot on, but also for the way he was set up and sent home.

As for him being a prat now and again, aren't we all :) I've seen sides of Roy on day/nights out in Cork that would certainly put him in a more favourable light than he would normally be perceived by the Irish media, or people from outside of Cork. Don't get me wrong, when he played for Man U I would shout as much abuse as any other Reds fan at him, but I won't deny the amount of respect I gave him as an Irish player.

All in all, I don't care really if Sunderland stay up or not, but I do wish Roy Keane the best of luck. He deserves it.

[novasteve]

I can understand people supporting the team with the most Irish players- same thing happened at Villa in the mid 90s.

But I never liked Keano, still dont. We could have won that bloody world cup, south korea in the quarter finals, germany in the semis...

He was a great player though.

[vodkacolly]

Same thing happens every few years as has been stated before. Blackburn, Newcastle, Leeds (when O'Leary had a few Irish lads there) "fans" were all over the place when their team was doing well. Now its Chelsea and Sunderland jerseys that are in fashion. I've no problem with people following a team for whatever reason, but when they stop wearing their colours just because their team starts to stink again or offloads its Irish players? I just dont get it.
We arent the only nation to follow our own: when an asian player is signed by a premiership club, jersy sales rocket in the east. Personally I never bought into the Celtic or second club thing. I know premiership fans who have a favourite Italian/Spanish team etc. For me theres only club and country, which is why I thought Roy Keane was a legend when he wore the green... but an absoloute plank at all other times, including now.

[YNWA]

We arent the only nation to follow our own

The point is we don't really, if they really liked following teams for having an irish theme they would follow teams in ireland, they're pathetic, and they let us down big time!

[willk1977]

The point is we don't really, if they really liked following teams for having an irish theme they would follow teams in ireland, they're pathetic, and they let us down big time!

How can u call them pathetic, I dont see anything wrong with following a team that has a big Irish connection. Everyone here supports a team from England with players from all over the world.

Isnt the Irish connection how most people started supporting their given teams or following in the footsteps of older brothers or fathers ?

Think its also very clever of Quinn to exploite the Irish market as most of the big teams who traditionaly played their pre-season games here, have now started to exploite bigger markets. eg Asia and America
They have to start somewhere

[carragherisgod]

I could not belive the amount of people at the weekend with sunderland jerseys on

Pft. You should see it here in Cork. My God!! It's almost as if Sunderland is the local friggin team or something!!

I couldn't care less about Sunderland. In fact I hope they get relegated!! I'm up to my ears hearing Roy Keane this Nial Quinn that. I know a Poonited supporter who went and bought the Sunderland jerseys just because of Roy Keane!! Don't get me wrong, I love watching other teams in the Prem too (Duffers is awesome to watch on his day) but I don't go buying their kits just because of the Irish connections.

It annoys me so much!!

[YNWA]

How can u call them pathetic, I dont see anything wrong with following a team that has a big Irish connection. Everyone here supports a team from England with players from all over the world.

Isnt the Irish connection how most people started supporting their given teams or following in the footsteps of older brothers or fathers ?

Think its also very clever of Quinn to exploite the Irish market as most of the big teams who traditionaly played their pre-season games here, have now started to exploite bigger markets. eg Asia and America
They have to start somewhere

Wait, whats bigger than an irish connection, oh i know, an irish team! If they're into the irish thing so much they should support an irish team, they are pathetic!

Again it was embarresing how quickly everyone was on their knees for Quinn, running out to the shop to buy the jersey, ringing up the travel agent to sort out tickets for a game against Chelsea probably!

Well i wish they hadn't have started here and i hope they get relegated and all these "fans", disappear!

[Malzheimer]

Wait, whats bigger than an irish connection, oh i know, an irish team! If they're into the irish thing so much they should support an irish team, they are pathetic!

Again it was embarresing how quickly everyone was on their knees for Quinn, running out to the shop to buy the jersey, ringing up the travel agent to sort out tickets for a game against Chelsea probably!

Well i wish they hadn't have started here and i hope they get relegated and all these "fans", disappear!

Here,here hope it all goes pete tong for them....