5 Questions with Roker Report

Many thanks to Roker Report, SB Nation’s Sunderland blog, for taking the time to chat with us ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup match at Goodison Park.

RBM: How badly do Sunderland miss Jordan Pickford? Is there any regret over how relatively small the fee looks now?

RR: If you're one of the few Sunderland fans that agreed with the decision to sell Jordan Pickford, you'll be shrugging in as nonchalant a fashion as you can manage with one eye on his career, and claim that it was for the best and it was the right thing for the club to do.

Of course, this would make you a pillock. For the rest of us that aren't comfortable with our club being shredded and our only assets sold off to pay debt incrued by the bastards that run us into the ground, it's fair to say that you can't really be pleased about any of it. 30 million was always cheap and both sides knew it, Jordan is an amazing player with an instinct for the game rarely found at any level, couple this with his distribution and reactions and you've got a world class keeper. Someone at Roker Report stated at the time of the transfer that it was like taking a pay day loan to buy a packet of crisps, and I can't agree more. We'll never replace him and the money we got won't stop us freefalling into financial oblivion. Shameful decision.

We miss him loads. He was such a fantastic person to have around the club and even when we were losing every week, having a local lad pull on a Sunderland shirt every week gave us something to look forward to. I personally feel we undercut ourselves with the sale, and when you look at what some other players went for in the window

RBM: From the outside, it doesn't sound like Brendan Galloway or Tyias Browning have exactly covered themselves in glory so far. Are there any reasons Everton fans can be encouraged regarding their development at Sunderland?

RR: Tyias Browning has the makings of a really solid defender and he's a credit to Everton, in both his work ethic and the potential he has at his age. He clearly will progress beyond his current ability, there's no doubt about that.

Brendan Galloway. I have to say I'm impressed with this. Before he arrived I didn't realise there was a place you could go to buy a life-sized, animatronic waste of space in the form of Everton academy players, much less loan them for actual money. These things are so lifelike that you can actually place them in various hilarious positions on an FA officiated Football match, and no one can tell the difference! The wonders of modern technology.

RBM: Ronald Koeman is calling this match a must win for the Blues, and it's hard to disagree. How badly do Sunderland need a result?

RR: Sunderland need points and money, but in the absence of either a good old fashioned, rabbit out of the hat thrashing of a top team will do wonders for regional happiness. But so would me winning the lottery and buying the club, neither will happen.

I don't want to put my own team down but I'm not stupid, and surely no one is to the point where they believe a team that gets thrashed by Leeds and struggles to earn a draw against a weak Hull team, is going to outplay Everton right now. Your tea lady currently has more momentum than our squad. I just can't see anything other than a pasting coming our way.

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

RBM: The Black Cats are already hanging around the relegation zone. Is there concern they might go down again, or is the early season form considered more of a blip on the radar?

RR: It depends entirely on who you ask. For the realists among us it is a distinct possibility when you consider the lack of funding and support from the owner, and the huge levels of debt seeping up to our necks like swamp water. We desperately need reinforcement because sitting on our hands waiting for Watmore and McGeady to come off the treatment table and somehow solve all our problems, there's no tangible plan in place to protect us from sinking further than we have already.

RBM: Projected Sunderland team for Wednesday?

RR: Hmm. I honestly don't know! I'm expecting a load of changes.

Steele; Kone, O'Shea, Wilson; Love, Gibson, Rodwell, Oviedo; Honeyman, Gooch, Asoro.