A quicker Bradley Dack. How did we manage to pick both of them up so cheaply. It just shows there are undiscovered gems out there.

Argentina had the best keeper in the shoot out. It came down to that in the end.

He was just what we lack. Somebody to knit it all together in the last third.

When you’ve got Messi you can afford to have 9 grafters in the team.

Shearer just mentioning the ref - I thought he was great. He let a lot go but he kept 22 players on the pitch in what was a fiery game.

Fantastic game. It’s a shame somebody has to lose.

A process of elimination Herbie. It wasn’t Keith Newton and it wasn’t the blond Billy Wilson. So really it had to be Walter Joyce. Plus the fact the guy is the same build as Walter with the same haircut. If you want to perfect “ Calloway “ shirt that red number 3 is what you want.

I think that’s Walter Joyce.

Yep, Souey sorted Jansen’s decision making out.

My son did eventually put the match on the telly - “ Best performance I’ve seen this season, shame it was two games too late “. His M-O-M = Dolan.

If you go on the Sunderland site quite a few of them have already got him sussed. The latest foible to emerge is for him to be singling out certain players for apparently unwarranted criticism. They already detest his press conferences.

Dolan looked great in that game against Ajax reserves. He should have been picked on the strength of that alone. He provides some much needed energy to the team. He’s one of the few that can turn a bad long ball into a good pass. There are no lost causes for him. He’s essential if we’re going to play the high pressing game we were supposed to be playing.

He started out at “ Fieldhouse “ just around the corner from where I live. That was when “ John Brights “ was a huge cotton empire and the ground was in the shadow of their massive mills. Lots of their employees played for “ Fieldhouse “, I think Tommy was one of them before he signed for Lancashire. They also had a very good works football team with their own ground. There are houses on both grounds now although “ Fieldhouse “ moved to a new ground on the other side of town and still have a team. In fact there are houses on most of the works pitches I played on as a young player. I can only think of one that is still in existence and even that has changed hands. Regarding his grip he had a lot of trouble with his fingers later in his career.

A good wrist spinner should be getting more turn than a good finger spinner. That’s why a really good leg spinner is worth their weight in gold. I got a few tips back in the day from Tommy Greenhough the old Lancashire and England leg spinner. He lived close to me in the 1960’s.

Decision making at speed under pressure is what separates the top players from the also rans.

Me too. A very nice guy who you would be proud to have as a son or son-in-law but he’s just not a winner. I won’t live long enough to see us win another trophy unfortunately.

Lenihan never learnt not to follow the ball when he moved into the back four. What might be good for a midfield player isn’t so good for a centre half.

Face to face result says so.

I think there’ll be a few clubs in for Van Hecke unfortunately.

Looks great. There won’t be another one of those in the whole of Amsterdam I’m sure.

Well who saw that coming ? I was right about one thing - nobody had that starting eleven down at all.

It like in rugby league - play in their half and wait for the mistakes to come along.

I just texted my son to see wether he was watching the game. His reply - “ Probably, totally sick of them at the moment “.

Pretty good ? How do you work that out ? He signed loads of players and a handful have been successful. But for the young lads coming through we’d have been in a mess.

Last years January window summed him up for me. Five new signings and not one had any effect in the slightest on the run in.