http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/ en Copyright 2012 Mon, 20 Aug 2012 02:02:06 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The big question on the opening day was could Sunderland, after their less than impressive pre-season, make an impression against a potentially demoralised Arsenal? The North Londoners seem to be making a habit of selling their best players, and have moved their captain on in each of the last 3 seasons. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/08/stalemate_at_the_emirates.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/08/stalemate_at_the_emirates.php Match reaction Mon, 20 Aug 2012 02:02:06 +0000 We have less than 4 weeks to go to attract new firepower to the club in this transfer window, and I do really like the idea of Wolves’ Steven Fletcher joining us, after news of today's improved £12M bid for the Scotsman. He has always done well against Sunderland, he is a proven goalscorer, and he seems to have the right temperament, interacting well with his team-mates http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/08/12m_bid_to_snag_fletcher.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/08/12m_bid_to_snag_fletcher.php Transfer talk Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:22:14 +0000 What is it with Sunderland and strikers these days? And I don’t mean the ones who may hold them up in passport control as they return from the Peace Cup in South Korea. The love-hate relationship with Asamoah Gyan ended a few days ago, with the club recouping their outlay as he signed for Al-Ain in the UAE. I do feel let down by the guy and his agent, as he was part of one of our most dramatic wins in recent times, the November 2010 3-0 rout of Chelsea. But former manager Steve Bruce ultimately lost his job by not being able to provide consistent goalscoring in the first team, which along with the Darren Bent saga, resulted in what was a real slump for the team in 10 of the 12 months of 2011. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/07/a_striker_a_striker_my_kingdom.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/07/a_striker_a_striker_my_kingdom.php Transfer talk Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:17:38 +0000 It’s been a while, and I suppose we are all still recovering in some way from the amazing last day of the Premiership season, despite the start of the Euros coming round in what seemed like no time at all. I am long enough in the tooth to remember Manchester City’s last top-level title in 1968. I was very young, but that amazing final day also stuck in my memory, as Sunderland won 2-1 at Old Trafford and the Blues won 4-3 at a place that was then called St. James' Park, Newcastle. Such days really stick in the mind, when The Lads made sure that the title did not go to the Reds. We did not have such media intensity in those days, but it was still memorable. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/06/its_all_gone_quiet.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/06/its_all_gone_quiet.php Club news Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:02:27 +0000 Tomorrow is a huge day for the Premiership in what has been a very exciting season. To have the title decided on the last day is always something special. It is all just about over in the Blues' favour. Let me first say that I much prefer Man. City to Man. Utd. City to me are just nicer, they have style, and when they lose, they lose with grace. Their rise to the top has been momentous. Their rivals have won too much, and Ferguson is of course talented but arrogant. How, you may ask, has this affected Sunderland? Well in my memory it goes back in part to the way he unsettled a very gifted French striker, David Bellion, who scored his first senior goal for the Black Cats against Aston Villa in September 2002, as related in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bellion). After a game United won at the SSOL in October 2002, Ferguson complimented Bellion after he had come on as a substitute. Following that Bellion completely lost interest in playing for the Black Cats, and went AWOL to France at a time when the team needed him most. Upon returning, Bellion claimed he had been visiting his sick grandmother, and made himself temporarily unavailable for selection, claiming he was "mentally unfit" to be playing in a relegation battle. At the time, speculation was rife that the Frenchman had been "tapped up" by United, and sure enough he agreed a move to the "Red Devils" after his contract expired in June 2003. Luckily, Bellion was under the age of 23, and Sunderland was eligible for compensation, the clubs eventually agreeing a fee of £2 million out of court. Even former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein claimed Bellion had been offered to Arsenal by his agent illegally and that United had been paying for Bellion's mobile phone bills whilst still at Sunderland. You could fault the star-struck player for never really seriously kicking a ball again for Sunderland, but I put the blame firmly at the door of Alex Ferguson, who unsettled a talent that Sunderland had unearthed, and the Scotsman essentially transformed him into an ineffective wreck, in a season when the Black Cats just avoided relegation. These sleaze-ball tactics have made him less popular than such a hugely successful manager should be. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/05/tomorrow_is_a_huge_day.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/05/tomorrow_is_a_huge_day.php Match previews Sun, 13 May 2012 03:19:45 +0000 Sunderland made the surprise choice of Craig Gordon as keeper, and he put in a creditable performance, and was blameless for the visitors’ two goals. Cattermole returned, and came away with his usual booking. Our line-up was 01 Gordon, 02 Bardsley, 04 Turner, 12 Kilgallon (Bridge - 82'), 16 O'Shea, 06 Cattermole, 14 Colback, 23 McClean, 28 Sessegnon, 09 Campbell, (Elmohamady - 72'), 52 Bendtner. Bolton made the short trip north, recalling Kevin Davies in this team: 01 Bogdan, 18 Ricketts, 25 Boyata, 31 Wheater, 32 Ream, 07 Eagles (Miyaichi - 64'), 10 Petrov, 16 M Davies, 19 Reo-Coker (Vela - 78'), 14 K Davies, 24 Ngog (Klasnic - 64'). http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/05/bolton_at_the_ssol_we_scored.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/05/bolton_at_the_ssol_we_scored.php Match reaction Sat, 05 May 2012 01:43:29 +0000 The result of today’s game will depend on 3 factors: who wants it more, which Sunderland team shows up, the one that demolished QPR and almost won at Man. City and how the new midfield functions for the Black Cats. Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill will be without several key players. Midfielder Craig Gardner is suspended following his sending-off at Aston Villa, while Kieran Richardson and Sebastian Larsson both went under the knife this week for hernias and miss the rest of the season. Skipper Lee Cattermole could return to the midfield, after battling a persistent knee problem; he is subject to a late fitness test. We still of course have defenders Brown and Bramble missing. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/bolton_at_the_ssol_today.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/bolton_at_the_ssol_today.php Match previews Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:03:25 +0000 I still blame him for walking, though. The Petrov situation is obviously also hanging over them.]]> http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/newcastle_is_indeed_located_in.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/newcastle_is_indeed_located_in.php Match reaction Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:17:14 +0000 The big question for Saturday is: will Sunderland pull themselves out of their collective funk and win at Aston Villa? Craig Gardner and manager Martin O’Neill both have incentives to impress against their old club – and so does Phil Bardsley, who had 13 games with them under O’Neill in a loan deal when the Scottish International was at Man. Utd. Sunderland are likely to be without our talismanic captain Lee Cattermole, but on the positive side John O'Shea may return to the team for the first time in a month, with Matt Kilgallon possibly making way for the Irish defender. Apparently our chairman and owner Ellis Short has set manager Martin O'Neill the target of a top-6 finish in the Premier League next season. This will require some investment, especially in our strike force, but it does not sound too crazy when one considers we just had 2 wins up to the Northern Irishman’s arrival in December. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/deja_vue_for_martin_oneill.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/deja_vue_for_martin_oneill.php Match previews Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:25:31 +0000 For Saturday's game the weather was quite warm, but there was a strong wind and the players were showing signs of perspiration rather than inspiration. Sunderland welcomed back Richardson and Bendtner, in the following line-up: 22 Mignolet, 02 Bardsley, 04 Turner, 11 Richardson, 12 Kilgallon, 07 Larsson, 08 Gardner (Campbell - 78'), 14 Colback, 23 McClean, 28 Sessegnon, 52 Bendtner. Wolves came to scrap, as their season would have been over with a defeat. It’s pretty well over for them anyway, and that can have a positive effect on a team, when the tension goes and the pressure is off. We forget that Wolves won their first three games this season, and they have been a bogey side to Sunderland in the past couple of years. They featured: 01 Hennessey, 05 Stearman, 11 Ward, 16 Berra, 32 Foley (Zubar - 82'), 07 Kightly (Edwards - 76'), 08 Henry, 26 Davis, 37 Forde (Jarvis - 61'), 09 Ebanks-Blake, 10 Fletcher. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/firing_blanks_vs_wolves.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/firing_blanks_vs_wolves.php Match reaction Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:07:02 +0000 We need a lift after 3 games without a win. Tough games against top teams, but after the heights of scoring 3 goals and almost holding on for an amazing win at Man. City, we played well but drew a blank against Spurs, and had a thoroughly miserable day at Everton when we almost blew our positive goal difference. OK, I had one commenter who said I was stating the blindingly obvious, but this is my blog and I blog what I feel – and as a team we definitely need a pick-up. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/wolves_preview.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/wolves_preview.php Match previews Sat, 14 Apr 2012 02:34:59 +0000 I am pretty sure that these past few games have been an education for Martin O’Neill. The matches have been coming thick and fast, and we drew a blank scoring-wise against both Spurs and Everton. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/blues_again.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/blues_again.php Match reaction Fri, 13 Apr 2012 03:35:50 +0000 Sunderland’s cross-Tyne neighbours put Spurs under pressure to perform at the SSOL by winning at Swansea, who were the North Londoners’ victims last week in what has become a 3-match losing run for the Welsh newcomers to the top League. Richardson may be back for Sunderland – he always seems to play well against Spurs. What will Martin O’Neill decide to do with the side that played so well last week? Why change a team that came away with a point from the Etihad for the first time since February 2011. Bridge could also return, but Colback did well in his place last time out. Cattermole will face a late test on his knee. Our injury list is just Angeleri (knee), Bramble (Achilles), Brown (knee), Westwood (hand), O'Shea (calf). Spurs are missing Gomes (knee), Dawson (ankle), Bentley (knee), Jenas (Achilles), Huddlestone (ankle). Ledley King (knee) and Aaron Lennon (hamstring) may still feature. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/spurs_at_the_ssol.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/spurs_at_the_ssol.php Match previews Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:14:25 +0000 the best of the season. Forget the 4-0 over Stoke, 2-0 over Arsenal, the 4-1 at Wigan or the previous win over Manchester City on New Year’s Day, this was as convincing as any performance this season, partly because it was so much against the odds. If we had held on for 3-1 at the Etihad, justice would have been done, and the whole day would have been like the 3-0 win at Chelsea 16 months ago, but it was more the style of play and the way in which we took the game to the hosts from the start that impressed. This was eventually the first time Manchester City had dropped a point at home since February, 2011. We lined up with 22 Mignolet, 02 Bardsley, 04 Turner, 12 Kilgallon (Kyrgiakos - 81'), 06 Cattermole (Vaughan - 90'), 07 Larsson, 08 Gardner, 14 Colback, 23 McClean, 28 Sessegnon, 52 Bendtner. In what they probably thought would be a canter, City were represented by 25 Hart, 02 Richards (Johnson - 46'), 04 Kompany, 13 Kolarov, 28 K. Toure, 07 Milner (Pizarro - 81'), 21 Silva (Tevez - 58'), 34 De Jong, 42 Y. Toure, 10 Dzeko, 45 Balotelli.]]> http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/great_33_draw_at_man_city.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/04/great_33_draw_at_man_city.php Match reaction Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:21:10 +0000 I don’t really want to dwell on the Everton FA Cup quarter final on Tuesday night. Everton arrived late for the game, and were more up for it than we were. They started the match a storm, and outplayed us, dominating in most areas. While we were 1-0 down there was still a chance of scoring against the run of play, but after the rush of blood to the head that Vaughan experienced in front of our goal when the ball was about to roll harmlessly wide, gifting the Toffees a second goal, there was no way back. Not that we would not have deserved one anyway. Everton are a fine footballing side, and one can see why we have struggled against them in recent years – what is it now, 15 games since our last win? It shows what a creditable performance we put in at Goodison a couple of weeks back to earn this replay. The semi-final against Liverpool will be a good game for the neutrals. http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/03/get_the_blues_then_the_next_bl.php http://blogs.soccernet.com/sunderland/archives/2012/03/get_the_blues_then_the_next_bl.php Club news Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:41:08 +0000