I never saw Fashanu or Jones as intimidating, if I was playing on a Sunday against either of those they wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest. Keane, Souness those two had a real edge of genuine, nasty violence about them as did our own Lee Bowyer they would have been horrible to compete against and would have brought out the worst in me. The Leicester centre half Walsh was a genuine hard man and no centre forward wanted any part of him
Billy Whitehurst is reckoned to be one of the hardest men of all time - and he did actually play for Sunderland for a short time.
The most notorious episode he had been involved in, is recalled by the star himself as Billy Whitehurst remembers like it happened yesterday. He was playing for Oxford at that time when he entered a pub for a drink. Inside he started arguing with “this kid”. His opponent was joined by other two guys, but that didn’t stop Billy to put his thumb in his eye and smash the kid’s head against the wall. This situation escalated very quickly one of the other guys, who pulled a telescopic bar and smashed Billy’s Whitehurst’s nose with it. The third guy also hit Billy on the other side and then the telescopic bar hit him again in the cheek. This last hit made a hole through Billy’s cheek close to the side of his nose. It took 30 stiches to fix the wound at the back of his head and his nose was hanging off right after the fight got over but got stitched back on.
Whitehurst’s hard-man persona and colourful off-field antics made him one of the most feared players to face. As Paul Lake recalled: “I felt my elbow make full contact with the bridge of another players nose and to my horror realise it’s one William Whitehurst Esq. ‘Oh Christ, anyone but that f***ing monster.’ I thought. I nervously glanced over at my partner Brian Gayle who just smiled, made the sign of the cross and jogged away.” Even former managers were intimidated by the striker with Hull’s boss Colin Appleton changing an XI he had pinned to the wall which saw Whitehurst dropped to the bench only for a knowing stare from Whitehurst persuading Appleton to rethink his selection.
Watched a few episodes last night and echo the thoughts on the editing. For example every clip they show of Simon Grayson at the Brentford away game is actually Simon Grayson at the KC Stadium. It's really sloppy.
Just watched the first episode. Fans and players all hopeful and excited, confidence seems high, they're all looking at going for promotion back to the premier league, Cattermole saying they can win the championship etc.
Pre-season friendly, Sunderland 0 Celtic 5. Fans boo them off!
Thought the editing of the match footage really poor but the bits with Rodwell and Grabbon showed what young players are like nowadays.
Martin Bain came across far better than I expected but he was on £1.3m a year so he should be.
Grayson was so weak, amazing how guys like him (in shit casual designer clothes) get jobs like that.
Worth watching but did get fed up with a lot of it.
That's the most annoying part of it for me, in highlights of the same game it flicks between crowd footage that is blatantly obvious isn't from the same game.
Thought this was compelling viewing and a million times better than the Man City doc...because it is an observational documentary, warts and all, not a PR piece for the Asia market. The dismantling of Bain from slick morning swimmer in sharp suit to desheveled broken man who can’t complete a transfer is fascinating. Similarly the interviews with Grabban, McGeady and Rodwell. Great access by the crew particularly to convince the club to allow the cameras to continue rolling when it was all going to shit, on what they would have thought was going to be a doc about their triumphant march back to the Premier. Loved it.
One other thing that stood out, Ashley Fletcher is absolutely shit. How does he keep getting moves to fairly big clubs. Man U as a kid, then West ham, then Middlesbrough plus a couple of loans.
His goalscoring record, 8 league goals in 75 appearances (although something like 40 of those were as a sub).
I never saw Fashanu or Jones as intimidating, if I was playing on a Sunday against either of those they wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest. Keane, Souness those two had a real edge of genuine, nasty violence about them as did our own Lee Bowyer they would have been horrible to compete against and would have brought out the worst in me. The Leicester centre half Walsh was a genuine hard man and no centre forward wanted any part of him
Agree with that. Van den Hauwe, Mark Dennis, Thommo and any number of 80s players were harder than Fashanu and Jones.
Finished it last night. A great watch overall. Some parts are quite emotional for me - maybe it's the music. Or maybe it's that I followed them when they were in the Premier League. I wish one day we'll have our own documentary series made. I'd be shedding tears watching it.... (I've watched Centenary History before but it's an old production.)
The opening credits are great. Loved the song and the visuals.
Lewis Grabban is an awful awful person. Felt a bit sorry for Jonny Williams (although he's a Palace player). As for Rodwell, one thing I don't quite understand. He eventually left Sunderland so what was the new owner or CEO did that Martin Bain couldn't do about Rodwell? Or was it just that Bain was incompetent?
There was no relegation clause in Rodwell's contract when they dropped to the championship but apparently it was only valid for 1 season, so his wages were due to drop by 40-50% for the current season.
So faced with not playing (again) for the final year of his contract, and the reduced wage, it meant it was easier to reach a mutual agreement and he took a small pay off to leave.
Watched it last night and I believe it was episode 4 or 5 where they played Fulham at home and won 1-0 for the first home win in over a year. Panning the crowd there is a kid with a Charlton hat on ! Thought that was strange a long way from home.
Watched it last night and I believe it was episode 4 or 5 where they played Fulham at home and won 1-0 for the first home win in over a year. Panning the crowd there is a kid with a Charlton hat on ! Thought that was strange a long way from home.
I thought the way that they turned against Rodwell was an absolute disgrace.
The CLUB gave him that five year deal on £70,000 per week - that was THEIR choice and their responsibility.
To then turn around when it blows up in their face and ask him to tear up the deal is absolutely pathetic.
Would the club let him tear up his deal if he was scoring 25 goals per season and attracting interest from other clubs? Er, no.
I note with interest that the oily CEO was trousering £1.3 million per year himself and driving a brand new Range Rover to work so he might want to look a bit closer to home if he wants to make savings.
I thought the issue with Rodwell was that he was going to the press to make himself look good saying he was training hard, wanted to play, was available for selection etc etc...............but the actual truth was the complete opposite and he wasn't arsed at all.
Rodwell was a disgrace . Contract or no contract . He’s exactly what’s wrong with football today . Fact
You’re looking at the symptom not the cause.
Sunderland and other farcically run clubs - including our own - create these situations by handing out these ridiculous contracts in the first place.
How did he not have a relegation clause put in there? Why a flat £70,000 per week, why not make it contingent on appearances?
True, Rodwell may have behaved like an arse but the club allowed him to do it by creating a situation where they carried all the risk and him none.
Its a Chicken / Egg problem though
If one club didnt play Rodwell the £70k then another club will - Trouble is clubs will always take the risk because if they let another team sign the player then they risk that being the difference between survival and relegation
Ultimately needs all clubs to come to an agreement where they wont pander to these sorts of demands from players / agents anymore for it to be fully effective
I thought Chris Coleman came across well. Understood what the club was about and was screwed by the owner and CEO during the January transfer window. I thought he should have been given a chance by the new owner to get them back into the championship.
Had a quick look on a Sunderland forum. Generally they like the series but have all commented on shoddy editing e.g Fans in winter gear during midsummer games and vice versa.
It’s not shoddy editing - it’s just editing. Every documentary or ‘reality’ show you watch has inserts and reaction shots taken from completely different moments. It’s just that when it’s a subject you know, you see beyond the magic of editing.
Next time you watch something like The Apprentice, remember this! They really screw over the contestants with those reaction shots.
Had a quick look on a Sunderland forum. Generally they like the series but have all commented on shoddy editing e.g Fans in winter gear during midsummer games and vice versa.
It’s not shoddy editing - it’s just editing. Every documentary or ‘reality’ show you watch has inserts and reaction shots taken from completely different moments. It’s just that when it’s a subject you know, you see beyond the magic of editing.
Next time you watch something like The Apprentice, remember this! They really screw over the contestants with those reaction shots.
Dammit, I thought that filmed an hour of that guy driving to/from the ground for ever game and could only use what he said in chronological order, you’ve ruined TeeVee for me now
Had a quick look on a Sunderland forum. Generally they like the series but have all commented on shoddy editing e.g Fans in winter gear during midsummer games and vice versa.
It’s not shoddy editing - it’s just editing. Every documentary or ‘reality’ show you watch has inserts and reaction shots taken from completely different moments. It’s just that when it’s a subject you know, you see beyond the magic of editing.
Next time you watch something like The Apprentice, remember this! They really screw over the contestants with those reaction shots.
Agree with that, but to edit in a clip from a completely different stadium during game is shoddy.
Comments
Gets weirder.
The most notorious episode he had been involved in, is recalled by the star himself as Billy Whitehurst remembers like it happened yesterday. He was playing for Oxford at that time when he entered a pub for a drink. Inside he started arguing with “this kid”. His opponent was joined by other two guys, but that didn’t stop Billy to put his thumb in his eye and smash the kid’s head against the wall. This situation escalated very quickly one of the other guys, who pulled a telescopic bar and smashed Billy’s Whitehurst’s nose with it. The third guy also hit Billy on the other side and then the telescopic bar hit him again in the cheek. This last hit made a hole through Billy’s cheek close to the side of his nose. It took 30 stiches to fix the wound at the back of his head and his nose was hanging off right after the fight got over but got stitched back on.
Whitehurst’s hard-man persona and colourful off-field antics made him one of the most feared players to face. As Paul Lake recalled: “I felt my elbow make full contact with the bridge of another players nose and to my horror realise it’s one William Whitehurst Esq. ‘Oh Christ, anyone but that f***ing monster.’ I thought. I nervously glanced over at my partner Brian Gayle who just smiled, made the sign of the cross and jogged away.” Even former managers were intimidated by the striker with Hull’s boss Colin Appleton changing an XI he had pinned to the wall which saw Whitehurst dropped to the bench only for a knowing stare from Whitehurst persuading Appleton to rethink his selection.
Pre-season friendly, Sunderland 0 Celtic 5. Fans boo them off!
Martin Bain came across far better than I expected but he was on £1.3m a year so he should be.
Grayson was so weak, amazing how guys like him (in shit casual designer clothes) get jobs like that.
Worth watching but did get fed up with a lot of it.
The dismantling of Bain from slick morning swimmer in sharp suit to desheveled broken man who can’t complete a transfer is fascinating.
Similarly the interviews with Grabban, McGeady and Rodwell. Great access by the crew particularly to convince the club to allow the cameras to continue rolling when it was all going to shit, on what they would have thought was going to be a doc about their triumphant march back to the Premier. Loved it.
His goalscoring record, 8 league goals in 75 appearances (although something like 40 of those were as a sub).
So faced with not playing (again) for the final year of his contract, and the reduced wage, it meant it was easier to reach a mutual agreement and he took a small pay off to leave.
I will post a pic later.
The CLUB gave him that five year deal on £70,000 per week - that was THEIR choice and their responsibility.
To then turn around when it blows up in their face and ask him to tear up the deal is absolutely pathetic.
Would the club let him tear up his deal if he was scoring 25 goals per season and attracting interest from other clubs? Er, no.
I note with interest that the oily CEO was trousering £1.3 million per year himself and driving a brand new Range Rover to work so he might want to look a bit closer to home if he wants to make savings.
Sunderland and other farcically run clubs - including our own - create these situations by handing out these ridiculous contracts in the first place.
How did he not have a relegation clause put in there? Why a flat £70,000 per week, why not make it contingent on appearances?
True, Rodwell may have behaved like an arse but the club allowed him to do it by creating a situation where they carried all the risk and him none.
If one club didnt play Rodwell the £70k then another club will - Trouble is clubs will always take the risk because if they let another team sign the player then they risk that being the difference between survival and relegation
Ultimately needs all clubs to come to an agreement where they wont pander to these sorts of demands from players / agents anymore for it to be fully effective
Next time you watch something like The Apprentice, remember this! They really screw over the contestants with those reaction shots.