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Fan Letters: "I'm not convinced that Sunderland will add another striker this week"
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01/30/2025 01:00 AM
RR reader Steven Ramshaw doesn't expect another forward to arrive on Wearside before the transfer window closes. Got something to say? Email us! RokerReport@yahoo.co.uk
Dear Roker Report,
In my opinion, I don't think they'll bother with a striker.
All the teams at the top can buy players, but we bounce from one forward to another. It's yet another sign that this lot don't want to commit too much to spending money and it's the same old story, as Middlesbrough, Leeds, and Sheffield United have two strikers, but we can't get anyone.
Also, why does Luke O'Nien get into the team ahead of Dan Ballard? It should be Chris Mepham and Ballard at the centre of defence.
O'Nien isn't up to it. He makes stupid mistakes time and time again and it's just not good enough. He's a nice lad but you can't be sentimental — you've got to be firm and fair.
No wonder we leak goals every week with him in the team, as he's simply not good enough. We've moved on since we got him, and he has to go.
I still have my doubts they'll get a forward. I'll believe it when I see him in a red and white shirt.
Steven Ramshaw
Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, Steven. Thank you for your letter.
The possibility of signing a striker during this window feels slightly different than it has previously.
We've got some very good players already at the club and we're by no means desperate for a forward but it's also fair to say that if we could bring in another attacker, their goals could potentially make a lot of difference in the promotion race, and I would expect one or two arrivals before the window closes.
On Luke O'Nien's place on the team, I still believe he's fractionally ahead of Dan Ballard in the pecking order, but I appreciate that might not be a universally popular view.
For me, O'Nien's ability to carry the ball out of defence and get us onto the front foot are his key strengths, and I also think he's far better at the fundamentals of defending than he's often given credit for.
Perhaps Ballard will be brought into the fold for Middlesbrough, and I'd have absolutely no complaints if he was, because he's an excellent defender in his own right.
Dear Roker Report,
I think Patto is an awesome goalkeeper but his clearances are causing losses.
Fix this part of his game and he becomes a great keeper, and Sunderland lose that 'ninety minute disaster area'.
The team is a squad building up to greatness.
Haway the lads!
Michael Gunning
Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, Michael. Thank you for getting in touch.
As with Luke O'Nien, I don't think Anthony Patterson is anywhere near as bad a goalkeeper as he's often considered to be.
Yes, he has weaknesses in his game and I'd love to see him command his area with greater authority, but he's young, improving, and still has plenty of time to eradicate those flaws.
I'm very confident he'll do just that.
Dear Roker Report,
A recent article on the Football Insider website states that Sky Sports refereeing expert Mike Dean, while answering a question live on Soccer Saturday (12:59pm, 25 January 2025) about Wilson Isidor's disallowed goal against Derby, replied as follows:
It is the right decision. I made some enquiries this week because I knew we were going to talk about it.
When the ball is played down the middle, I think it's Isidor's offside in the middle.
He doesn't look offside but he is offside. I'm led to believe he was eight centimetres offside.
Because he's in an offside position, when he goes over to the play and scores the goal, he's impacted the number 32 of Derby so he can't stop him challenging for the ball.
That's the reason why it was disallowed. The reason it took so long is the referee was talking to the Derby players because they wanted handball, which it isn't.
So by the time he's talked about 'Handball! Handball! Handball!', the assistant referee's said, 'Did the 32 impact him?'
He says 'Yes he had', then they give the offside.
After Clinton Morrison argued that it was the Derby man who'd collided with Isidor while also questioning how an eight centimetre difference be spotted, Dean added:
I asked the question because he looks onside but apparently the thing that they use in the Championship is called 'Second Spectrum' which then tells them if he's on or off.
It's like a VAR thing they can use for their facts and figures for the referees and assessors to look at.
The assistant referee doesn't have to flag all the time to communicate with the referee — he has communicated.
It took a long time, a long process, and it could have been done a lot quicker, that's the only downside, but it's the correct decision, I'm told.
The article writer then comments on the above by stating that the 'Second Spectrum' technology may have been able to confirm whether Isidor was in an offside position after the game, but such refereeing aids aren't supposed to be in operation in the Championship.
Sunderland fans may therefore still want to know just how the linesman was able to spot such a tight offside and make that decision without signalling it at any point during such a long process.
I apologise to all of you who've stuck with me so far, but I felt it necessary to pass on the information that Dean was given. It does however raise questions:
What is 'Second Spectrum?'
It appears to be an AI computer vision system which will be installed in all Premier league and Championship stadiums to introduce the Semi Automated Offside System (SAOS).
Rather than relying on a human operator to manually measure relevant players' limb positioning, leagues around the world are supposedly turning to automatic body tracking measures which offer more reliable and faster decisions.
The company that invented the current system say that it can generate full renderings of players, the ball and the so-called 'offside wall' line within seconds.
Those images can then be shown on TV or in the venue, with game officials often alerted to the correct decision via earpiece. The process is only semi-automated because a human referee is still needed to determine which players were involved in the play, among other details.
Use of the system was supposed to have started at the beginning of the 2024/2025 season in the Premier League but has apparently been delayed and is still not in use yet? The system is also intended to be used in the Championship but hasn't yet been approved?
If it hasn't been approved, why was it being used during our game against Derby, or was our game just one of many being used as a trial run of the system?
If true, this brings up all sorts of complications and 'what if' scenarios. I've no doubt that if this system wasn't used during the game, the referee would've allowed Isidor's goal to stand.
My final point is this: the officials at the head of the EPL and EFL need to come clean about the use of this system.
If it's to be implemented, it should be done for every team in the Premier League and Championship at the same time, so that there can be no advantage or disadvantage being given to individual teams playing games with trial runs of the system as against those teams playing under the referee's sole judgement.
I'd be interested to hear any thoughts on this matter from the editorial team of Roker Report and your readers.
Yours in sport,
Chas445
Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, Chas. Thank you for your letter.
You've revealed some pretty interesting information here, and what I'd say in response is that this technology really does sum up the state of the modern game: increasingly cold, clinical, soulless and with the potential to rob fans of the elation of goals being scored for the most marginal offside judgements and the like.
To be honest, this is one thing that I wouldn't be looking forward to in the Premier League, as the thought of potentially crucial games being decided by technology is something to dread and it's fair to say that given our first and foremost aim would be to ensure top flight survival, I wouldn't want to be in a position where it potentially came down to a VAR call here or there.
I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.