I thought we were very good. Passing to feet, good movement, two up front working together. Better second half. Deserved a draw. Early days but very encouraging.

Very encouraging. Stubbs has obviously hammered home playing the ball out from the back. They did it very well. Of the new guys, Forde looked very comfortable on the ball and was impressive when operating in midfield. Foster-Caskey was mobile and keen to get involved - again, good on the ball and put out a couple of excellent long passes. A pity Vaulks wasn't available. Yates made a real claim for a starting place - composed in the area with one well taken goal and one very unlucky turn and miss in the second half. Don't get carried away but he looks a bit Aguero-ish to me! Good to see Tom Thorpe get a good run out - did well at right back and got up the line well to support attack. Worrying early knocks for Halford and Mattock - removed as precautions I think. Danny Ward looked sharp (nice celebration when credited with Yates' goal over the stadium PA)! Back four looked reasonably solid against a talented Sunderland front line. Midfield was energetic and lots of ball played through them. Frecks tired after an hour. Up front Ward and Yates battled well against two enormous CBs, Kabul and another. Stubbs needs to get the ball away from Smallwood at freekicks. He wrestled the ball off F-C for a free kick on the edge of the Sunderland area and fluffed it completely - not even managing to get a shot away. Campy had an odd off day. From what I saw today, I'm confident that we have the nucleus of a good squad which, with the addition of a striker and mobile CB, could be very competitive. Finally, if today's Ref is a sign of things to come this season, we're in for another frustrating campaign!

First half we were very one dimensional and predictable in our play. Sunderland had a lot of the ball and fizzed it around us very well, we couldn't get near them. Good goal from Borini gave them a deserved lead. Second half different story and Rotherham made Sunderland look very ordinary. Fantastic goal from Yates within a minute of the restart gave the Millers renewed impetus. He collected, spun and shot with all the confidence of a premier league striker - I really like the look of this lad. Millers continued to dominate possession and looked the most likely to win the game but in a rare Sunderland attack they carved us open down the left and the move was finished when Nzogbia collected on the edge of the box to fire home. Yates could have levelled with a similar effort to his first but pulled his shot just wide of the post. Very encouraging, particularly second half as we played some lovely football on the floor and created several chances moving the ball around nicely. Liked what I saw but still feel we need additions to complete the squad.

F-C looked good and all over pitch. Need strikers.

Sounds like the Mackem lads & lasses enjoyed the day, nice to hear.

www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/class-day-out-today.1255299/

Agreed Heman. We offer a great spectacle in a great arena and yet in the peripherals we're embarrassingly poor. From announcing the wrong goalscorer to insufficient catering and staff and a redundant scoreboard. There was great opportunity to use the video screen to let the fans see what the new signings and support staff look like - but no. The incessant noise over the PA for 15 minutes before kickoff, including sirens and big movie music, interspersed with shouts from the announcer, don't give the impression of a sophisticated Championship team. It's difficult putting a good Championship team together but surely it's easy to get the other stuff right?

Smallwood still on set pieces :0