One thing that has bugged me a bit over the last couple of months to be honest, is how often Steve Bruce has mentioned the Halloween disaster at St. James’ during TV interviews. We all want to exorcise the ghost of that game which should not still be haunting us after what has been an excellent recovery and turnaround to hit 6th spot in the Premiership, despite the catalogue of injuries suffered by the Lads. So Steve, my advice is forget about that game and its post-traumatic shock, and get on with the real business of overhauling Chelsea, and looking at realising the Black Cat’s somewhat understated ambition of Europa League football next season.
One thing is sure, and that is the players will be motivated for this derby game. Newcastle come looking a bit thin up front, with Lovenkrands and Best potentially standing in for Ameobi and Carroll if Ameobi does not pass a fitness test. With other absentees for the Mags, and Sunderland possibly looking to welcome back Cattermole as their inspirational “ball-winning” captain as well as Onuoha and perhaps Welbeck, this game looks to have an entirely different complexion to October’s encounter.
Lars Knutsen was born in Sunderland of Norwegian parents across the Wear from the SSOL back when shipbuilding not car manufacture was the city’s main industry. His first game was in 1968 and he has followed the Black Cats since then, with great memories of the 1973 FA Cup. He hopes the “yo-yo” days are over and defines supporting a team by whether the result affects your mood (but maybe not in the way portrayed in the book “Fever Pitch”!) so has been cheerful recently. He endured school in Newc**tle, has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, a Professorship at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and works in the Pharma industry as a consultant Medicinal Chemist.
Lars Knutsen was born in Sunderland of Norwegian parents across the Wear from the SSOL back when shipbuilding not car manufacture was the city’s main industry. His first game was in 1968 and he has followed the Black Cats since then, with great memories of the 1973 FA Cup. He hopes the “yo-yo” days are over and defines supporting a team by whether the result affects your mood (but maybe not in the way portrayed in the book “Fever Pitch”!) so has been cheerful recently. He endured school in Newc**tle, has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, a Professorship at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and works in the Pharma industry as a consultant Medicinal Chemist.
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