Sunderland v West Ham United FC

Sunderland will want to start pulling clear of trouble again when they welcome West Ham to the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats have suffered back-to-back defeats in the Premier League to sit just four points clear of the relegation zone.

Now is the time for them to start stringing positive results together and push towards the mid-table standing they feel they are deserving of.

West Ham currently occupy such a perch, with Sam Allardyce's side having fared admirably during their first season back in the big time.

The Hammers have not been at their best, though, on the road and will be looking to right a few wrongs on Wearside.

There is, however, likely to be little between the two sides, with a 1-1 draw at Upton Park earlier in the campaign suggesting they are evenly matched.
Sunderland
Stephane Sessegnon could return for Sunderland after being forced to sit out last weekend's FA Cup third round clash with Bolton with an ankle problem.

Carlos Cuellar, Wes Brown and Danny Rose will miss out, meaning Titus Bramble and Matt Kilgallon are likely to be paired together at the heart of the Black Cats' four as they attempt to negotiate a defensive injury crisis.

John O'Shea returned to training on Thursday, but is not 100 per cent, while international clearance is yet to be received for new signing Alfred N'Diaye.

West Ham United FC
New West Ham striker Marouane Chamakh goes straight into the Hammers squad for Saturday.

The 28-year-old Morocco international has been signed on loan from Arsenal and could make his debut at the Stadium of Light. Modibo Maiga is missing as he links up with Mali ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations while fellow forward Andy Carroll (knee) is also absent.

Defender Joey O'Brien remains a doubt with a hamstring problem but George McCartney (knee) is definitely out

Facts
Sunderland have won just three of their last 14 Premier League games at the Stadium of Light (W3 D6 L5).
West Ham have conceded just three goals from set plays this season, fewer than any other team.
West Ham have won just two of their last 15 Premier League away matches (W2 D4 L9).

Bring'em on!! I haven't felt so confident in years ... wonder how long it will last?

Until your meds run out

we'll win 4-0

Sir Ian wrote:we'll win 4-0

clearly you are on the same meds !

They buy them in bulk Tone that way they get a huge discount

Just been over to the Safc Fans forum but the tossers aint taking any new members at the mo , there goes my nights entertainment Anyway here is some of their comments on the game this weekend .

johnnydontdoit
WH are poor travellers, think we can nick it but only just. If Rose is out our back four looks very suspect.

keithh17
We are making far too many mistakes at the back. I would get rid of Cuellar,Kilgallon and Bramble all of them clanger prone.
On Sat Cuellar gifted them the first goal with one of his legendary bad passes. I know even the best players make mistakes but this guy makes a career out of it.
And for once and for all let's go out and BUY a quality left back and centre back,these two positions have been a problem for far too long and need addressing asap.

Robanner
Someone in our back 4 is going to have to man up and put in a performance here as they have a lot of attacking options in their side and also have the power to bully people. We can't keep relying on the goalkeeper to bail us out.

Tough game. Winnable but it won't be pretty. All 3 results are possible and I think the best we can hope for is to nick a 1-0 win.
bmbm
Well im asking a lot here my prediction a scrapy one is 3-2 ndiaye to score if we buy him cw and fletch prob asking to much
eh.dont play cuella needs a slap round the head lol.
Our defence start of the season was bullet proof its all gone pete tong ..where scoreing goals now but cant keep them out ..

brianasher
anything but nolan scoring a late one.

bmbm
brianasher, on 07 January 2013 - 19:32 , said:
anything but nolan scoring a late one.
deff mate and doing that stupid chicken dance bukaah or should be cock of the north .

chestermackem
Agree with most of the previous comments.
WHU are bad travellers in the large but we have hardly set the world alight at home. Plus the fact we have a number of defensive injuries, and the players fit are looking very suspect.

I couldnt actually put together a back 4 I think will play on Saturday, and I doubt we will have anyone in by the weekend to slot in there.

I HOPE we can put enough about our midfield to own the game and win, but its a tough one to call.

A scrappy, one goal in it type of game will no doubt be the outcome...

Haway lads, lets send Nolan back to London with his Chicken Wings tucked up his arse!

chestermackem
Hope N'Diaye is fit and cleared for Saturday. Would be excellent for him to get his home debut against West Ham's bully boys..

Feisty bunch are,nt they , seems they really would,nt like Nolan score the late winner and do his KFC dance , lets hope he does

With Tightass Bramble the best of their back four they will be crapping themselves at set plays. This has to be winnable, surely.
COYI!!

Tony P wrote:

Sir Ian wrote:we'll win 4-0

clearly you are on the same meds !

Having supported the Hammers for close on 50 years it seems strange us being called bully boys

Yes, we were always the southern softies.
Still have a good feeling about tomorrow game.

Tony P wrote:

Sir Ian wrote:we'll win 4-0

clearly you are on the same meds !

ok i'll change that prediction, i think we'll win 3-0 hows that

We should be looking to beat Sumderland by 3 or 4 goals IMO , I would if I was BFS start chamakh from the start and let him show us and the arsenal fans what he can really do if given the chance
I would go with : 4-5-1/4-3-3
Jussi,Demel,Collins,Reid,Potts,J.Cole,Noble,Nolan,Collison,Jarvis,Chamakh
SUBS:Spiegel,Tomkins,O`Neil,O`Brien,Cole,Vaz Te,Moncur

Iam going to go 3-1 West Ham ( Chamamkh,Nolan and Cole and flethce for them )

Arran H wrote:We should be looking to beat Sumderland by 3 or 4 goals IMO , I would if I was BFS start chamakh from the start and let him show us and the arsenal fans what he can really do if given the chance
I would go with : 4-5-1/4-3-3
Jussi,Demel,Collins,Reid,Potts,J.Cole,Noble,Nolan,Collison,Jarvis,Chamakh
SUBS:Spiegel,Tomkins,O`Neil,O`Brien,Cole,Vaz Te,Moncur

Iam going to go 3-1 West Ham ( Chamamkh,Nolan and Cole and flethce for them )

I love your predictions Arran, they are so detailed!!
Have you ever got one completly right yet?

SemiOldIron wrote:

Arran H wrote:We should be looking to beat Sumderland by 3 or 4 goals IMO , I would if I was BFS start chamakh from the start and let him show us and the arsenal fans what he can really do if given the chance
I would go with : 4-5-1/4-3-3
Jussi,Demel,Collins,Reid,Potts,J.Cole,Noble,Nolan,Collison,Jarvis,Chamakh
SUBS:Spiegel,Tomkins,O`Neil,O`Brien,Cole,Vaz Te,Moncur

Iam going to go 3-1 West Ham ( Chamamkh,Nolan and Cole and flethce for them )

I love your predictions Arran, they are so detailed!!
Have you ever got one completly right yet?

Think I have once got the score right but not the scorers but Iam yet to get it all spot on lol

Arran H wrote:

SemiOldIron wrote:

Arran H wrote:

Iam going to go 3-1 West Ham ( Chamamkh,Nolan and Cole and flethce for them )

I love your predictions Arran, they are so detailed!!
Have you ever got one completly right yet?

Think I have once got the score right but not the scorers but Iam yet to get it all spot on lol

Keep trying, mate, but don't give up the day job!

Oops did,nt turn out how I expected , but you get the gist

I might use this every week from now on when i do my team predicted line up lol

Oops swap collinson for taylor

Q & A from a Sunderland fan

Firstly, what do you make of Sunderland's season so far? Was you expecting to be in a better position at this point in the season?

It's been a little bit of a disappointment, but not one that we aren't capable to turn around. Whilst results have been in the main pretty poor, there's only been maybe 1 or 2 games that we've been completely dominated in and been completely out of.

I was expecting us to be comfortably in the top ten at this stage and looking to consolidate that position this season, however that looks a bit of a fight now. It will only take a good little run of two, maybe three wins to put us back into contention there though.

All is not lost!


Is Martin O'Neil the right man for the job?

Yes, absolutely. He's got his flaws in loyalty to certain players and his often poor or wasteful substitutions, but in the main you can't really fault him. He dragged us away from the relegation zone when Steve Bruce had us firmly headed down the leagues and has attracted quality players in Fletcher and Johnson. He's still building his own team, so I'd give him at least another 3-5 years at the helm without any qualms at all.

Plus on the other side, there's not really anyone else out there on the market who is within the reach of Sunderland that I'd particularly want over O'Neill.

How is your transfer window coming along?

Strangely quickly. Usually we're a very last minute type club but it looks as though O'Neill knows what he wants and is headed after them without hesitation.

The biggest plus is that he's filling the problem areas. We know we needed muscle in midfield, and we now have N'Diaye. We need at least once central defender and it looks like one is coming in Kader Mangane. He knows we're in need of another striker and Danny Graham is being heavily linked.

They're all positions we need and they're all very decent looking players. It's good to know that he sees what we all see. Under previous managements they'd just buy more and more of the same position without too much thought.

I have heard Alfred N’Diaye is unlikely to feature tomorrow due to not sorting out his international clearance in time. Is this going to be a blow for Sunderland?

Well he now has international clearance and O'Neill seems very excited about him so I'd imagine he'll start in central midfield with Seb Larsson as we have problems at full back so Jack Colback will be in at left back and Craig Gardner at right back. It's the perfect storm for him to start the game.

What are your thoughts on West Ham in general? Do you like us, can't stand us, or just not really pay attention us?

Hmmm. I don't particularly want to offend anyone here but I guess I lean on the side of dislike, but only a tad.

Generally I feel pretty indifferent towards West Ham, they're a bit like us in that they're just always there not really doing anything and not bothering anyone. On one or two occasions the whole "Academy OF Football" and "World Cup" related stuff makes me just want to scream "just shut the f--k up!"

It's mainly indifference though.

If you could pick a West Ham player to join Sunderland who would it be and why?

There's quite a few to choose from. I'd probably plump for one that would likely never leave though in Mark Noble. I think he's a very, very fine player and would add a lot to our midfield.

Failing that, I've always quite liked Joe Cole and wouldn't have minded us taking a look at him this window, or we could just take Kevin Nolan and lock him in a shed somewhere to stop him scoring against us.

Who from your squad should West Ham fans keep their eye on as a potential threat come Saturday?

Well everything comes through Fletcher, so you'll have to keep an eye on him. Away from that we need to see a bit more of a consistent Adam Johnson, and we really need to see Stepahne Sessegnon feel up for the game.

That is if Sess plays mind you. He cried off against Bolton and may well be in O'Neill's bad books. Not the worst thing as Connor Wickham has looked very impressive of late and his bulked up to beast-like standards. He could be a handful when teamed with Fletcher.

What do you think of Big Sam as our manager? The media love to label him as a long-ball merchant, but this season we have played good football under him, but journalists like to turn a blind eye to those matches.

I don't mind Big Sam. There was a time when he was linked with a move here and I wasn't against it at all. He seems to have knack of getting that bit extra out of limited and aging players, which is what teams like yours and mine are in the main full of. I know that will probably nark a few people, but lets face it, we wouldn't be mid-to-lower table if we had really good players.

Big Sam's alright in my book though. Equally I find his self-confidence amusing and actually interesting, which is more than can be said for many other managers. I'd quite like him to be my Uncle or something.

What are your predictions for the match, will u burst our bubbles or will we be blowing them into the east London sky line?

I think we'll burst them. Following the (undeserved) comeback against Bolton and the new signing's there's lots of confidence about. It won't be pretty, but I think it will be a 1-0, 2-1 sort of game.

And finally, what are your predictions for the end of the season? Where will both teams finish and will there be any cup glory?

Well we've got Everton in the cup, so we're not going anywhere after the Bolton replay next week. For some reason they have our number so we might as well be playing Barcelona -- we've no chance. West Ham may have a cup run, and good luck to you if you do. I think both teams are destined to end up trophy-less this year and in the 10th to 14th positions come the end of the season.

If Fletcher is fit for Sunderland he needs watching and then I think we can reasonably expect a point

Team sheet

Where u get that from Geezer?

Isn't it interesting seeing other fans opinions of our players:"If you could pick a West Ham player to join Sunderland who would it be and why?

There's quite a few to choose from. I'd probably plump for one that would likely never leave though in Mark Noble. I think he's a very, very fine player and would add a lot to our midfield.

Failing that, I've always quite liked Joe Cole and wouldn't have minded us taking a look at him this window, or we could just take Kevin Nolan and lock him in a shed somewhere to stop him scoring against us.

ITK Alfie and heres the others

West Ham Jaaskelainen,Demel,Collins,Reid,Potts,J.Cole,Nolan,Diarra,Collison,Jarvis,C.Cole
West Ham BenchSpiegel,Tomkins,O`Neil,Diame,Taylor,Vaz te,Chamakh

SunderlandMignolet,Gardner,O`Shea,Bramble,Colback,Larsson,Vaughan,McClean,Johnson,Sessegnon,Fletcher
Sunderland BenchWestwood,Bardsley,Kilgallon,N`Diaye,McFadden,Campbell,Wickham


Where`s Mark Noble !?!?
Great to see Diame on the bench

Team I would have pick and if Diame was match fit would have had him in for Nolan.
Things looking good so far with a strong sub bench.

PS.

Noble to go? What do you think guys / Jiggs?