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Gav says… I think this is a huge sign of how the club’s ambitions are viewed internally. If he’d wanted to leave us in the summer (and to be fair, he still could, but signing a new deal is a pretty good sign that he’s happy), he’d have been able to pick his next destination […]
10 days ago | 2 reads
Want to have your say on all things Sunderland? Drop us a line and we’ll publish your views! [email protected] Dear Roker Report, Jarred Gillett: what a farcical performance yet again from a sub-standard referee and the bollocks you call VAR. Yet again, Sunderland have been robbed by inept officials and VAR. Hang your heads in […]
10 days ago | 2 reads
If Sunderland’s players walked off the Vitality Stadium pitch with a sense of righteous indignation bordering on fury after Saturday’s contentious draw with Bournemouth, they would’ve been well within their rights. Excellent value for at least a draw and perhaps even a victory against Andoni Iraola’s men, it took a ludicrous refereeing display from our […]
10 days ago | 2 reads
It might have been bloody infuriating at times, but we couldn’t help being bloody proud of the Lads in our relegation scrap during 1990-91. It may have been down to how we were promoted, or the fact that two years earlier we’d just got ourselves out of the Third Division for the first time, or […]
10 days ago | 1 read
It’s the morning after the Bournemouth game… so have we calmed down when it comes to officiating and VAR? Of course we bloody haven’t. Joining Gav and Martin is James Copley from The Sunderland Echo! All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The Podcast so you never miss another episode of our free daily […]
11 days ago | 2 reads
Graeme Hedley is best known as a long-term servant at Middlesbrough, but the Black Hall lad did once get a brief outing for Sunderland too – and on his 69th birthday Roker Report looks back on a varied employment career that did then bring him back to the city. Starting at Ayresome Park in 1975, […]
11 days ago | 3 reads
Sunderland stifled by bizarre officiating Anywhere else on the pitch, shoving your opponent in the back results in a foul — so how was it possible for a Bournemouth defender to shove Enzo Le Fée in the back inside the penalty area and get away with it in the first five minutes? It’s particularly frustrating, […]
11 days ago | 4 reads
Ciaran McKenna says… A good away point I would’ve taken a point before the game, given our form and heavy injury list, and coming up against a Bournemouth team that was unbeaten in seven. I thought we played really well in periods of the game and defended terrifically throughout. We definitely earned the point and […]
11 days ago | 2 reads
When trying to sum a game of this nature up — an affair during which an injury-wracked Sunderland performed with the kind of purpose, attacking intent and wholehearted approach that harked back to our displays in gritty encounters during AFCON — it’s tempting to use words such as “pride”, “passion” and “togetherness” as the Lads […]
11 days ago | 3 reads
There’s a particular sense of calm that settles over a team when the right defender steps back into the heart of the backline. It’s not dramatic and it’s not loud, but it’s something steadier, something that spreads quietly through the pitch until everyone around her begins to breathe differently. That’s what’s happened at Sunderland since […]
11 days ago | 2 reads
I’ve never really commented on refereeing standards as well as VAR. I’ve never felt the need to. In the space of 65 minutes at the Vitality Stadium that stance has changed. We know that every club will find themselves on the wrong end of decisions, particularly the ones which are up for debate. When things […]
12 days ago | 3 reads
It’s been a season of three halves so far for Bournemouth… or something like that anyway! First It’s our 400th episode!! Oh… and the Lads drew on the south coast to halt a run of successive defeats with a draw, but a certain official did his very best to stop us taking anything at all! […]
12 days ago | 3 reads
Robin Roefs: 7/10 Made some decent saves today, with one from a free kick and a follow up to a spill being his best efforts, but had a few dodgy moments. Made a good recovery after that spill, but was lucky with a bad touch in the first half and got caught underneath the cross […]
12 days ago | 3 reads
Well, as far as bad days at the office go, Sunday was right up there, and the repercussions will be felt again at 11.15am this morning when the team news is announced. Jocelin Ta Bi, Norid Mukiele, Romaine Mundle and Brian Brobbey all suffered injuries that will keep them out today, alongside Reinildo and Dennis […]
12 days ago | 4 reads
Martin Wanless predicts… Score prediction: Bournemouth 2 Sunderland 0 Sunderland’s first goalscorer: N/A After predicting positive results over recent weeks and getting nowhere, I’m trying reverse psychology on the world this weekend by predicting a defeat, and no goals. We were poor against Fulham last weekend, so we need to bounce back with a display […]
12 days ago | 4 reads
After a run of 11 league games without a win, Bournemouth are unbeaten in 7 – what the key factors behind your upturn in form? I’d say it’s actually quite difficult to pinpoint what has happened specifically, the make-up of the team hasn’t changed too much and if anything we lost some key players to […]
12 days ago | 1 read
Despite what happened against Fulham, I still believe we’ll avoid relegation this season, so maybe it’s time to turn to what comes next — and what happens to the “model” that’s taken us this far. We know the current model has two major parts: invest heavily in the club’s infrastructure and buy young (and often […]
12 days ago | 2 reads
It took a quick glance at the results from the 2017/2018 season to remind myself why I completely erased this season from my memory. It was a nightmare from start to finish; so bad, in fact, that I would rather watch a film directed by Edward D. Wood Jr (once rated the world’s worst film […]
12 days ago | 1 read
Saturday 28th February 2026 Bournemouth v Sunderland – Premier League Vitality Stadium – Kick-Off: 12:30 Tickets & Match Coverage Tickets: Tickets are sold out. TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via TNT Sports. Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online) Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the […]
12 days ago | 4 reads
I have spent the past year watching Sunderland Women navigate something that feels significant yet strangely quiet; a process that’s unfolded mostly behind closed doors but has the potential to reshape the future of the club in a way we’ve not seen before. It’s been a year of conversations, negotiations, pauses, restarts and the kind […]
13 days ago | 2 reads
It’s been a season of three halves so far for Bournemouth… or something like that anyway! First they were great, then they were crap, and now they are great again, so thankfully Alexander Smith from the Bournemouth Daily Echo caught up with us to tell us more! On today’s show… All of this and more […]
13 days ago | 4 reads
Ciaran McKenna says… This isn’t really the news you want to see when going through a slightly rough patch, but there are definitely silver linings. Nordi Mukiele being sidelined is a real shame. His excellent defensive qualities will be a big miss but his attacking output is something that’s seemingly gone under the radar and […]
13 days ago | 4 reads
If you lose three games on the bounce – regardless of who those games are against – there’s going to be a change in the mood around the camp. If the fans are feeling tense and tetchy, you can imagine that the players are too. The defeat to Fulham was demoralising, but not as demoralising […]
13 days ago | 5 reads
I still think about that Sunday as if it is stitched into the inside of my ribs, 18 February 2024. Sunderland Women 4–3 Lewes. Eppleton in the cold, the kind of cold that gets into your fingertips and makes you tuck your hands into your sleeves until the football warms you up from the inside […]
13 days ago | 4 reads
It’s easy to look back on Sunderland’s 87-88 season as a positive one all told, and ultimately it was – but it wasn’t all plain sailing. Last week, I wrote about Sunderland’s 2-0 win over Brentford as Denis Smith’s team looked to cement its place at the top of the Third Division – a victory […]
13 days ago | 2 reads