Sunderland AFC Blog

Back in the SAFC Saddle

2011-10-13T12:59:00.000+01:00

I will be back into the groove on here after a long lay off, you can look forward to plenty more SAFC rants, raves and observations.

Support the Beard!

2010-06-12T23:33:00.005+01:00

This is a "real time" interview with my other half!

For all those that get "the nagging of the other half", i have an exceptional missus who is watching these games with me. For every England game. My other half @tracy_chapman will highlight the best and worst of what she sees. None of mine. Just the Mrs.

Final result USA 1 - England 1

What did you expect from this game?

I expected them to play well. keep the ball, attack, cross well. Play as a team

How do you think the game started?

The game started well with our first goal. A bit slow, we were defending well.

Team performance who stood out?

Heskey, he done ok suprisingly. Rooney did not seem up for it as i expected. Shaun Wright-Phillips done really well when he came on. Could have expected a little bit more from daddy long legs (Peter Crouch), but he was not on that long.

What do you think of the USA`s Equalizer?

Unexpected goal, hit full on at Green, which he spilled, this could have happened to any goalie, he came back after that and made a great save. He did not have much action in the game other than that one and the spilled goal. He held his hands up and got on with it.

Look this is one player with one mistake. If it was another player who had made "one mistake" would you look at it the same way? The goalie has made one and it is "if Rooney had made one" would you replace him? No. he has made one. he is a great player. You can not outcast one player. they are all there to play for England.

Would you pick him for the next game?

Yes.

Is there anybody that stood out?

Gerrard, stood out. He was "everywhere". Shaun Wright-Phillips. In fact most stood out they all played well. Crouch after replacing Heskey did not really get into it. Heskey was played offside probably too many times and i think Rooney did not really get into the game. He missed a few opportunities and lost posession too much.

Glen Johnson i saw with a lot of the ball and played some real good crosses.

OK, what do you think of the immediate media coverage?

Bullshit!

Why?

Putting us on an immediate downer and putting us out of the cup.

Even if we won 1-0 there would still have been bullshit. ITV touted it as the end of the world.

What did you think of James Cordens show after the game?

Hilarious! don`t know what the fuck Katy Perry was all about but other wise hilarious. All posistive and great that we had Gordo Banks on that show.

Lasses support the beard! - upstairs and downstairs.!

You Were Absolutely Right to Include Heskey

2010-06-01T16:04:00.006+01:00

Are you shocked that Emile Heskey has been included in the England final 23?

You shouldn`t be, after all he has been selected for his ability to provide more off the ball than he ultimately provides on it.

"10 - In 58 caps for England, Emile Heskey has provided 10 assists, 7 of them coming in 2004 or earlier and none in tournaments" source - @optajoe

Obviously this is blistering form in comparison to Darren Bent at international level.

Emile Heskey finished this season as the 103rd highest goalscorer in what is regarded at club level as the best in the world. The Premier League where Benty only managed a measly 25 goals, Yes a full 100 places behind Darren Bent, Emile banged in a lofty total of 3.

Emile has also trotted on to the pitch and played 31 games (15 as a substitute) during the 2009/10 season. This is clearly an in form player and Fabio after all did say he would take the in form players.

via @Gabriellesafc_x

From the post match interview with Fabio;

"I already knew my final 23 before these games"

What? You knew? So these friendly auditions and a chance to take a last look at a few players were a waste of time?

The cracks in Capellos ability to make decisions are starting to show.

Is it wrong for me to be sarcastic about taking Heskey over Bent?

Well i put the scenario to my daughter (she`s 8)

"I don`t think Darren Bent is going to the World Cup"

Her response.

"Wow"

My Eight year old daughter is up for the England managers job at the next opportunity @thefadotcom.

Even less than 24 hours to go Fabio was still undecided apparently.

The FA`s official twitter;

"One more day until the 23 is named, tweet us your picks to #EnglandSquad"

Source @thefadotcom

I am not the only one shocked at all of this, sure i am concentrating on 2 players, but that`s my prerogitive right?

Well just for those of you who needed to know the final 23 (these can be changed up until next Friday)

Goalkeepers Robert Green, Joe Hart, David James

Defenders Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock

Midfielders Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips

Forwards Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney

Final words.

It is unbelievable to think that England after so many dissapointing tournaments and so many failing England managers that in this day and age, the one that matters, The England manager is succumbing to soothsayers or media hype. Get a backbone, stick by your words. Take the form players, take the best.

This is not an attack on Emile, he will give his all i am sure, but i am afraid to say it`s not going to be enough. Big mistake.

@DB11TT`s response; (Darren Bents official Twitter)

"Am gutted. But thank you for all your support this season." - source

Ok enough. We don`t i am sure wish England any bad luck, but without the right personnel there in the first place you are going to be hard pushed to win over any kind of support. Fabio you are just another YES man.

Darren Bent now will be armed with extra fire in his belly, every ball that hits the back of the net in this upcoming 2010/11 season should well be accompanied by a whisper, just a whisper of "this is what you could have had England". Englands loss is Sunderland AFC`s gain.

How do other safc fans feel?

"@allyb1979 @DB11TT safc fans r behind u benty, gutted for u but u couldn't have done anymore than u did. Englands loss keep your chin up"

"@DBforEngland We're all guttered for you @DB11TT! it's England's loss. Just keep banging the goals in for Sunderland next season. Legend :D"

"@KingstonSI @DB11TT fans have tweeted so much about you in support for you that you've become a worldwide trend today on Twitter"

Update: Ferdinand Crocked.

Heskey takes out our captain Rio Ferdinand (Friday 4th June)

An unfortunate event as training sessions can sometimes be competitive and we can hardly entirely blame Emile for this. But it must be devastating and could well be Rios last World Cup. Steven Gerrard is expected to take up the armband.

"England players. Protect yourself from Emile Heskey by disguising yourself as a goal." via @GaryDelaney (Saturday 5th June)

Update: (Saturday 12th June) Our first game against the USA

To be fair, Emile put in a shift in this game winning a lot of headers and pinning with a great lay-off to Gerrard for the first goal. Beyond that turning a positive into a negative there was a simple chip in front of him that would have decided this one.

Update: (Sunday 20th June) Second game against ALGERIA 0-0.

The perfect opportunity to pitch in with a few goals for Rooney, Heskey and others, but true to the form HESKEY HAS SHOWN ALL SEASON LONG absolutely no end result. We were expected to easily beat the Algeria and Slovenia. But thanks to the crappy squad you picked Fabio, you are now reaping what you sowed.

All the media that put HESKEY in front of Darren Bent: how fucking stupid do you look now?

Of course you were right to pick Heskey and no doubt you will pick him for the last game as well. Fucking clueless.

Sunderland AFC Fans 2009/10 Season Review

2010-05-18T02:30:00.001+01:00

I was originally going to add my review to accompany these fine contributions, but both have done such a fine job of reviewing Sunderland AFC`s season it would be criminal to take anything away from them.

The first of our 2009/10 Season reviews comes courtesy of Jamie Hous follow Jamie on twitter @jhs2safc (just hover over the link and click follow)

The 2009/2010 season summed up the mentality of Sunderland AFC. We started well, beating some of the best teams in English football but our inconsistency came back to haunt us yet again.

Niall Quinn seemed to have fixed the ‘magic carpet’ after a shaky end to last season with Ricky Sbragia at the helm. Steve Bruce was brought in to help steady the ship and he made wholesale changes in the summer. Bruce’s ability to sell average players at a decent price got everyone at Sunderland excited for the new season. There was confidence, optimism and belief in the Sunderland fans once again.

Fantastic Signings

We made some fantastic signings, including stars Darren Bent, Lorik Cana and John Mensah. We thought this would be our year and we were hopeful that the top 10 finish we crave was in our sights. The season started well with a game away to Bolton Wanderers. Darren Bent’s back post header was enough to seal a 1-0 victory for the lads. We couldn’t ask for a better start.

The next ten games saw us accumulate 16 points, with a draw at Old Trafford against the champions, which could easily have been a win, if it wasn’t for an Anton Ferdinand own goal late in the game. We then went onto beat Liverpool with relative ease. Sunderland fans will never forget the Liverpool game for one reason; the infamous beach ball goal.

We then travelled to St Andrews to take on Birmingham. After beating Liverpool the previous game, the fans went down in numbers hoping that we put in a good performance. However, the game didn’t go as planned and we were beaten 2-1. After accumulating only one more point in October the optimism that was seen at the start of the season disappeared and relegation was well and truly in our mindsets.

No Signs

November started with a 2-0 defeat against Tottenham at White Heart Lane. We then went on to prove that on our day we were able to beat anyone by recording a 1-0 victory against Arsenal. What was round the corner I don’t think anyone associated with the club could have seen it.

Injuries and suspensions started setting in. We were extremely low on confidence and this saw us go 14 games without a victory in the Premier League.

Our first game in March saw us beat Bolton Wanderers 4-0 at the Stadium of Light. This was the much needed win, as going 14 games without a victory certainly took its toll on the fans. We gathered 5 more points in March which seemed to get many fans in an upbeat mood.

April saw us beat Tottenham, Burnley and Hull City to cement our place in the Premier League for another season. We could all relax and enjoy the sell out game at the Stadium of Light against Manchester United. However we saw our side lose 1-0 to a Nani goal.

We then travelled to Wolves knowing if results went our way, and we managed to get a victory we could have finished 10th in the Premier League. However what started off as a lively game went wrong and we went onto record a 2-1 defeat.

Decent Finish

Finishing 13th in the table is a decent achievement considering how long we went without a victory. Our mentality needs to change, something which Bruce and his team is working on. We have a very good spine to the squad, but more quality is needed in wide areas to enable us to win games. Defensive lapses at the latter stages of games came back to haunt us as we conceded too many sloppy goals.

I believe the biggest improvement this season was our home form. After only losing 3 games at the Stadium of Light, it is once again a fortress. Having such good home form needs to be backed up by a decent away form; unfortunately this was lacking this season.

Overall, id rate our season as 7/10. Relegation was avoided with relative ease and with a few quality signings this summer, we have an excellent chance of finishing in the top 10 of the Premier League.

Jamie Hous (@jhs2safc)

The Second of our 2009/10 reviews comes courtesy of Daniel McWaters (@DATM_91)

So another season is over, and I must admit I am left feeling quite optimistic about Sunderland’s ambitious push towards Europe. There were many high points and a few low points over the course of the season, but overall, I believe it has been a season of hope. There have been some standout performances from the team, and the occasional blip, namely being a winless run that lasted 3 months.

The season started so brightly, the signings of Bent, Cana and Mensah really stood out for me and I, along with many others, felt a top ten finish was inevitable.

Maybe I got carried away but when you see your team beat the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool and lead against Man Utd right up until the last minute, I don’t think anybody can really blame me.

Winter of Discontent!

In the build up to Christmas, Steve Bruce had moulded his team into warriors, and many people around the country, stood up and took notice of Sunderland. Then, like many times before, the winter period halted our fine start, the next few months were about to get tough, first blow came when we lost one half of our combative midfield pairing, Cattermole, to injury, this was shortly followed by a 14 game winless streak, and players morale was damaged, I remember going to games thinking

“this surely has to be the day we turn it around?”

and to be fair, we drew many of our games during this period, but conceding late goal after late goal was starting to effect the players, having threw away over 10 points, something that can make a major difference in the outcome of a season.

Our form dipped, and our position in the league fell. There was a feel of great concern around the Stadium of Light, and even more so when we had to play away from home.

Then, one joyous afternoon, we played Bolton at home, now usually I go to the games with my Granda and cousin, but this day I got a lift there with my mate Steve Turner, better known as the Mackem Mover, he had agreed to meet some friends and go for a drink around the bars prior to kick off, an enjoyable time was topped off by a brilliant game, in which we won 4-0, with Benty nabbing a hatrick, a well deserved hatrick that could have been more than just.

Campbell got the other, scoring exactly 41 seconds into the game; I hadn’t even made my seat by this point. From then on, I knew the winless curse was coming to an end... Maybe I should go see the strippers more often? For superstitious reasons only, of course! Despite the win, we knew relegation was a real possibility, as nobody can say they are “too good to go down”

(does Ipswich’s relegation in 2001/2002 season spring to mind after a 5th place finish the season before?).

Top 10?

On the other hand, reaching the top ten goal Bruce had set his players was also achievable, and if we could find the form we had shown at the start of the season, you certainly wouldn’t bet against us giving it a real go.

A solid end to our home form, albeit a defeat in our last home game to Man Utd, made it look more than likely that we would seal 10th place, given the fixtures the teams around us had.

But a disappointing defeat to Wolves prevented us from clinching Bruce’s target, but in the end a win would have made no difference as Blackburn victory over Aston Villa made it impossible for us to claim 10th anyway. But still, to finish 13th after a mid season crisis was reassuring and as a whole, an improved finish on last season was well deserved by the players, and not forgetting the staff.

The main disappointment for me, though, was not the self destruction over the 14 games without a win, but the away form. We were two different teams; at home, an ambitious team hungry for success, and away from home, a team with no confidence in their true ability.

Contrasting Form

To lose only 3 games at home, two of which came from the top 2 teams in the country; Man Utd & Chelsea, are remarkable. But a complete contrast in our away form, having just 2 wins all season, leaves Bruce with plenty to work on and improve, something I have no doubt in which we will do. An honest manager is Steve Bruce, the best Geordie to ever happen to Sunderland since the great Bob Stokoe, with his touchline reactions and humorous interviews, never fails to raise a smile, “that’s for sure”.

In my eyes he is the right man for this job, and he will take this sleeping giant of a club onto great things, and much credit has to go out to the men behind the scenes, Niall Quinn, Steve Walton, and more importantly, Ellis Short, who has bonded with the fans, and the club, and is willing to pump money into a club he now considers his own.

Next season will definitely be another season of progress, and hopefully without the hiccups, but its all part and parcel in football and it’s why we all love it. I already can’t wait for next season, and hopefully it kicks off on the back of a 3 lions World Cup win in South Africa. Hey I can dream can’t I?

Snapshots

Goal of the season – Bolo Zenden’s strike against Spurs at home was a moment of genius from a man who, in my opinion, is one of our key players.

Most memorable moment of the season – The Beachball Gate incident, never again will the beachball hit a winner like that!

Player of the season – Darren Bent, his goals say it all, justified his transfer fee five times over, find of the season in terms of what he has achieved.

Most improved player of the season – Craig Gordon, quietened his critics after a string of fine performances. Looks settled.

Best opposition player – Frank Lampard, I’m not his biggest fan, but in both games he was inspirational, has had a very good season.

Worst opposition player – Dimitar Berbatov, possibly Sir Alex’s biggest flop given the £30 million price tag?

Game of the season – Sunderland 3-1 Tottenham. Inspiring stuff.

Thanks for reading,

Daniel McWaters follow Daniel on twitter @DATM_91

Thank you to Daniel and Jamie for 2 great guest contributions to the blog.

Niall Quinn and Steve Walton Webchat Transcript

2010-04-30T15:07:00.002+01:00

A fun hour had by hundreds of safc fans in what is hopefully to be the first of many. You can view the transcript of the questions and answers between Niall Quinn and Steve Walton over here on safc.com Any questions or comments about the chat should be addressed on that page and not here.

Fludalump

2010-04-22T19:52:00.003+01:00

It`s a well known fact that a fludalump is a useless safc player whose days are numbered. He has kicked his last ball, he has drawn his last paypacket from Niall Quinn. Now if it was a fludalump discussion you were looking for you won`t go far wrong they know all the ins and outs over there. disclaimer: fludalump is a made up word and it is only to demonstrate the power of greyskull. If you think i have lost the plot or you think you have a better understanding of what a fludalump is please feel free to let me know.

Darren Bent for England

2010-04-08T11:44:00.010+01:00

Love it or hate it international football is the stage where every pro footballer wants to test himself against the best. Whether you are Papua New Guinea or Spain (Spain are currently ranked number 1 in the official FIFA world rankings and PNG are 202nd). England are seventh. The upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup will bring together 32 teams that have qualified for this years tournament and England once again have drawn a decent group with our opening game against the USA in Rustenburg on the 12th of June. As yet the final England team that Fabio Capello will be taking to South Africa is unknown however the current squad was something i wanted to look at in a bit more detail and yes as a Sunderland AFC fan i wanted to state the case for Darren Bent. Player by player goalscoring records since the last World Cup at club level going back to the 2006/7 season. Emile Heskey has scored 20 goals Carlton Cole has scored 25 goals Peter Crouch has scored 32 goals Gabriel Agbonlahor has scored 43 goals Jermaine Defoe has scored 49 goals Darren Bent has scored 55 goals <-- updated 25th April Wayne Rooney has scored 64 goals From a purely goal scoring perspective since the last world cup then Wayne, Jermaine and Darren are on the plane right? If you are going with in form players having their best ever seasons this season then Wayne (26) Darren (22) Jermaine (17) and Gabriel (11) are on the plane. Suggestions are towards a strike partner for Wayne Rooney, personally i do not believe he needs one he is that good, he is creating chances out of nothing and thankfully he is over his recent injury and coming back to fitness again. Peter Crouch is in what would seem unbelieveable form for England with 20 in 37 caps admittedly some of those were against what are lower FIFA ranked opposition and some would argue that no international games are easy, but what Crouchy gives England is that target man if ever we needed one and his height is a nightmare for any opposition equal to the threat of Wayne and Darrens pace when they turn it on. Over too many years Sunderland AFC has not produced a steady flow of players with the ability to play for England and banging in the goals at club level seemingly does not guarantee a place in the starting line up. Kevin Phillips for his trouble of setting post war records on Wearside could only manage 8 caps despite netting 61 goals in the premier league over 4 seasons he was never given a full ninety minutes for England. Darren Bent has the opportunity to change all of that and if Fabio IS to choose the in form players then surely Darren can not be overlooked. "The important thing is how the players perform on the pitch and not what happens outside" - Fabio Capello If the media want to point stinky fingers then there are very few players that are squeaky clean in the potential England squad so let`s not go there. Whatever happens this Summer in South Africa i will be glued to the telly, after all we have waited 60 years to avenge the defeat to the USA in 1950. Sunderland fan on twitter? England fan on twitter? tweet this Sources http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8545447.stm http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/index.html http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/ http://www.thefa.com/England/Team http://www.thefa.com/England/News/2009/POTY09_Bent http://www.thefa.com/England/Results http://www.soccerphile.com/soccerphile/wc2010/city_guide/rustenburg.html http://www.premierleague.com/page/Statistics/0,,12306,00.html

Unbeaten in 6!

2010-03-25T19:06:00.004Z

Darren Bent knocking on the England door for a call up, Fraizer Campbell finding some form in front of goal, Steed Malbranque showing great signs of a comeback to his old form and one Mr Craig Gordon pulling off man of the match in his previous 3 outings. This is thefeel good factor that had been missing since November when we went on a dismal run of 14 games without a win until Bolton, a win that was sandwiched in between draws. Craig Gordon though, what a keeper £9m quid? You are not sniffing at it now are you Man City, Birmingham and Villa fans are you? He had his share of injuries through the season and Fulop stepped into the breach and gave some good performances alas a mixture of opposition and bad luck maybe did not give the scorelines his performances might have well deserved. Even i went quiet on this blog for a few months, for different reasons my life has changed dramatically, i now run my own limited business full time and the first of many new sites is coming to the fore. Click Call Book is a holiday comparison website with well over 50 million holiday deals, making it the UK`s largest with a potential to grow even further. So if you want to compare holidays any time soon drop by there and let me know what you think. Talking of holidays we have how many games remaining? 7 starting with Liverpool (i can not publish our full run in due to licensing laws but you can get at them through SAFC.com) and ending with Wolves and of those fixtures i can see us getting at least another 10 points putting us up there on 45 points and closer to my originally predicted mid table position. We would be nowhere near where we are now without Darren Bent, banging the goals in for fun and a few dissallowed along the way, including one against Villa last night, which by the way was a well deserved point. So onwards and upwards dear SAFC bring on Liverpool (with or without beach balls).

Sunderland AFC Fans Central Station Incident

2010-02-10T01:03:00.004Z

I have been waiting for developments on this front for six months, nearly to the day in fact.

Hearts v SAFC

The 8th of August 2009 has affected so many Safc fans in so many different ways, for me and my girlfriend we enjoyed the drive up with jovial banter and waving of hands at other safc fans en route, scarves out of windows flailing in the closed up windows flanking either side of the cars we passed or were passed by.

First Visit

It was the first time i had visited Tynecastle and when i decided on where to park (just off Calder Road nr the Hermiston Roundabout) we took a slow walk down towards the Hearts stadium. We visited 2 drinking holes before the game, the second being the working mens club next to the supermarket.

Stewards Done Their Job

We got to the stadium a good 20 minutes before kick off and after getting rid of the 2 plastic orange bottles of pop as requested by the stewards before entering the Roseburn Stand we quickly found our seats just behind the goal in the first 2 rows.

Darren Bent

Pre-match warm up was the usual affair, coaching staff running the players through warm-up phases and not too long after the strikers taking practice shots at goal. This was Darren Bents first look at the Sunderland Fans and he even attempted to take our lasses head off with a reasonably powered effort on goal that thankfully hit the stanchion. He profuseley and repeatedly apologized for his wayward effort which also prompted our lass to "suggest" we swapped seats.

The Match

The game itself was nothing special, it was a chance for management and staff to get a gauge on the end of pre-season fitness, this was the last game of pre-season and finished in a reasonable 1-1 draw.

Hearts Supporters

A quick word for the Hearts fans, you guys were great and you let us mingle amongst you with great hospitality and banter, wishing Craig Gordon the best at every opportunity.

The Trip Home

After the match we were ushered down from the heights and guided via riot barriers that seperated our original entrance around the circumfrence of what seemed like an eternal walk before we eventually found our bearings and came back down the Calder Road where we seemed to go against the flow of Hearts fans making their way in the opposite direction. I could not help myself to ask a local bobby, why the barrier? He very politely responded with it`s a precautionary measure we take with all away fans. Ok i was cool with that and we reached our car untroubled, unhurried and quite happy with the match.

What Happened Next?

During this post you may have noticed the word "car" in use. Yes, we travelled by car got to where we needed to be and travelled home without incident.

Sickening

The biggest sickener i was first to hear was when i logged onto my regular haunt of a safc forum on the same day of our return to share the experience with other members. I have been a member of this site since 2004. I have made a few mates online and know quite a few personally through work or through charitable events hosted by safc or through referrals for the business services i provide. One of the early posts of the evening had a simple post title.

Stadium Announcement

I remember a lot of things and one of them was the announcement you receive as an away fan, for safe passage, arrangements, or advisories. The 1 defining announcement was that the train services back to Sunderland WOULD be direct. This was the beginning. I will not go into too much detail i will leave that for the Football Supporters Federation and their campaign on behalf of Sunderland AFC Fans.

Speak Up

Now if you have read this far you may be wondering what this post is aimed towards. Let me tell you. It is with great sadness that Northumbria Police have taken this stance. Contrary to all of the information i have received. I have been asked to speak out about this, but have resisted until now.

Why now?

Quite simply, the alledged accusations against the following are ungrounded without FULL unedited CCTV footage released as requested by the Football Supporters Federation and the Sunderland AFC supporters accused:-

John Richmond - Ford Estate, Sunderland
Jason Jameson - Maud Street - Fulwell - Sunderland
Christopher Burdess - Countess Close - Seaham - Tyne and Wear
Peter Jones - Benfleet Avenue - Town End Farm - Sunderland
David Brooke - Association Road - Roker - Sunderland
Mark Wright - Windermere Road - Seaham - Tyne and Wear
John Meek Dunn - Maria Street - New Silksworth - Sunderland
Gavin Foster - Glebe Drive - Seaham - Tyne and Wear
Michael Adrian Winch - James Street -Southwick - Sunderland
Joeseph Gerrard Hatton - Wareness Street - Pallion - Sunderland
Gary David Horwood - Woodland Drive - High Barnes - Sunderland
Frederick Potter - Colchester Terrace - High Barnes - Sunderland

These names have been sourced via a publication here

Sunderland AFC Blog - for the fans - on behalf of the fans.

We Gained a Point at Fratton Park with 9 Men!

2010-02-09T22:34:00.006Z

We gained a point at Fratton Park with 9 men and it took Pompey until the 6th minute of added on time to achieve that!

So we have gone 3 games unbeaten, sounds good doesn`t it?

This is NOT a match report the only minute by minute blow is solely awarded to Meyler literally! Yes he took all of a minute to enter the field of play and depending on which side of the fence you are sitting on he either a) Led with arm to gain leverage in his jump to win the ball or b) he never even looked at the ball and led with his elbow to take out Steve Finnan.

Well Kevin Friend decided that b) was the appropriate, nuff said.

Cattermole the ever present dangerman for any opposing midfielder was first booked for unsporting behaviour and then received his second yellow for a mis-timed challenge that took his foot over the ball and Friend got shot of Lee with no hesitation.

Steve Bruces` reaction:-

"The two of them, for me, are stupid. I can't defend them. In the end it has cost us the match."

Meyler has not made too many friends for this performance and Cattermole may well be judged to have been a bit emotional for reacting to O`hara, either way Bruce is right.

Personally i watched the match via t`internet and yet again i get that hollow feeling of how all the lads and lasses are feeling from the 1400+ that travelled down and are facing a long journey back.

A quick gauge of feeling via twitter.

Q. How do you feel now after that match?

"well i go to sleep with the thoughts on mind, 96 and Steeeed" - @safcrock

"as per fecking usual! Pissed right off!"@AnthGtoQ

We are up against the team we last beat in November (yes i know it`s February) & Arsenal a world apart from when we met them and nicked a win against them. Ok so we now have a weakened midfield through injury and suspension to face up to them, but we`re unbeaten in 3!!!

19 Former SAFC Players Still Playing in the Premiership

2010-01-24T14:43:00.005Z

During the 2009/10 Premiership season we have no fewer than 19 players playing for other clubs that were previously Sunderland FC players.

Gavin McCann
Kevin Phillips
Teemu Tainio
El-Hadji Diouf
Pascal Chimbonda
Ben Alnwick
Dickson Etuhu
~~Louis Saha~~ <-- brain fart moment thanks for the correction guys
Thomas Sorensen
Danny Higginbotham
Danny Collins
Dean Whitehead
Liam Lawrence
Rory Delap
Greg Halford
Jody Craddock
Paul McShane
Kevin Kilbane
Tommy Smith
Stephen Caldwell

Thanks to @DATM_91 for the update. I actually missed Stephen Caldwell off as well. God my brain is deteriorating.

tehTrunk Tottenham's Top ITK - Episode Seven: Hitler Hates Beach Balls

2009-11-27T00:09:00.001Z

Sunderland vs Arsenal 1-0 Highlights 21 11 09.flv

2009-11-24T04:17:00.001Z

There is definitely only one Darren Bent #DBforEngland

Tony Jeffries v Darren Bent

2009-10-02T14:31:00.002+01:00

Bit of a no contest really isn`t it? Tony sparks DBtheTruth in the first 10 seconds! knocked out cold.. game over. No, wait, Darren is not stepping into the ring with Tony that would be just daft. Instead we are talking about Tony v Darren in the Twitter contest to reach 10k followers. Am i biased in this contest? damn right i am Tony is a Sunderland lad born and bred and he is doing his bit to put us firmly on the boxing map after his 95 amateur fights he has now stepped up to pro and is 3 from 3 going into his next bout on the 16th October at the Seaburn Centre. Darren on the other hand is tugging me in the other direction as i am a devout Sunderland Fan, with his 6 goals in 7 games (should be 7 in 7, no way was that an own goal), he is already on the way to legend status from the safc following. and if he pulls it out of the bag against Man U tomorrow and we walk away with a win for the first time in 41 years at Old Trafford then DBtheTruth is assured of safc fans praise for a very long time to come. So which way will it go? i will leave it up to you. To follow Tony: @Tony_Jeffries To follow Darren: : @DBTheTruth

Mackem Golf Event

2009-09-25T11:11:00.001+01:00

Sunderland legends Micky Horswill and Gary Bennett will be teeing up alongside Mackem fans as they go head to head with their Newcastle counterparts at Ramside Hall Golf Club on Monday [September 28]. And any Black Cat golfers keen to take part can take advantage of some last-minute places available at half price. A team of two Sunderland supporters can now take place in the event for just £136.85 – that’s less than £70 each. The day includes food before and after golf, a special golf shirt in your team’s colours and the chance to qualify to represent your side in the grand final at a five-star resort in Portugal. For more information go to www.profantasticgolf.com

Save Wrexham Racecourse Ground

2009-08-26T02:06:00.003+01:00

Hi from Wrexham Fans! We and "fans united" would love to have your help and support to protect our ground from any chance of future property development. www.redpassion.co.uk/petition http://www.petitiononline.com/LDPWFC21/petition.html No one has got better memories of the Racecourse ground than Sunderland fans, who as 10,000 Wearsiders’, saw Sunderland win there on the final day of the 1978-79 season. Our ex player Carlos Edwards also helped you to promotion with the winning goal against Burnley 28 years later! During our last spell in administration we had a Fans United day at the Racecourse and over 50 clubs were represented and the nationwide media reported the fans chorus was led by Sunderland fans chanting “Dennis Smith’s Red & White Army” Not everyone knows Wrexham's Racecourse ground is "The Oldest International Football Stadium In The World", still in use today. [Good one to remember for pub quiz night] We need your valued support and help. The club has been sold to a parent company, who are acting as property developer and developing the car park land the club used to own as an asset. This by its nature needs to encroach very close to the stadium with the result, the kop end terrace has had to be closed until the development has been completed and when we understand the Kop end should be rebuilt. We have been assured a healthy chunk of the profits from the development will be paid back into Wrexham Football Club, rather than just retained by the property developer. We are hopeful, though aware the section 106 guarantee we were promised would be submitted to planning, did not materialise and planning permission given irrespective. This has left some concerns and anxiety amongst some of the fans as this now relies on trust. For the future and to protect the interests of the fans, and avoid any chance the club land could ever be developed on, we are lobbying the Wrexham Borough Councillors to secure the Racecourse as an international ground and stadium, as a designated reserved matter within the Local Development Plan. LDP. It could then never be sold as development land or be built on for supermarkets or more flats and the like. To do this we have a mission to secure 10,500 names on the petition, the current capacity of the Racecourse Ground with the 5,000 terrace Kop closed. We will use this to lobby the Councillors at the LDP planning hearing in the autumn. The response has been fantastic and in less than four weeks, we have secured 5,611 signatures from fans of more than 30 clubs across the UK and even as far as Grampus Eight in Tokyo! Wrexham and Sunderland have had some entertaining games over the years at the Racecourse and the Old Roker park stadium and your support would be magnificent for us. Thanks ----- Originally posted on http://www.blackcatchat.co.uk and http://www.safc-fans.co.uk by CaeRas

Sir Bobby Robson a True Gentleman

2009-07-31T16:54:00.005+01:00

A true gentleman of the English game, Sir Bobby will be missed by fans of clubs around the world. ""I was never too big or proud to ask him for advice which he gave freely and unconditionally. And I'm sure I am speaking for a lot of people when I say that. "In my 23 years working in England there is not a person I would put an inch above Bobby Robson. I mourn the passing of a great friend; a wonderful individual; a tremendous football man and somebody with passion and knowledge of the game that was unsurpassed. "His character was hewn out of the coal face; developed by the Durham County mining background that he came from. "His parents instilled in him the discipline and standards which forged the character of a genuinely colossal human being. He added his own qualities to that which then he passed on to his sons. "The strength and courage he showed over the past couple of years when battling against his fifth bout of cancer was indescribable. Always a smile; always a friendly word with never a mention of his own problems. "The world, not just the football world, will miss him. Let's hope it won't be long before another like him turns up because we could never get enough of them." - Sir Alex Ferguson http://www.justgiving.com/thesirbobbyrobsonfoundation/

Scores from Around Europe

2009-07-24T23:19:00.001+01:00

Crouch, Bent, Campbell, Jones

2009-07-18T03:31:00.003+01:00

3-3-4 formation? all of them scrapping for the ball or slick passing from the wings feeding 2 big men with 2 dropping off, aye i know we have no slick passer from the wings, come to that we have no out and out wingers of the traditional type but how mouthwatering does that selection even if they did not play together sound? Yes i know as of this date neither Crouch or Bent has signed, Bent especially having turned us down twice before and recently scoring during Tottenhams pre-season and the Spurs gaffer more than likely unwilling to let the lad go. Crouch on the other hand by all reports has already had talks with Bruce and now it is a case of will Fulham attract him to Craven Cottage with the enticement of their sneaking in the backdoor Europa football? Either way it is exciting to think of such a competition for places up front, kenwynne has attracted interest from all owa the shop, but he still remains a strong part of Steve Bruces considerations. On a side note, alas a little belatedly can i introduce to you another SAFC Forum Safc-Fans.co.uk many thanks to Equinox for letting me know via the BCC of it`s existence and i am very happy to include the forum amongst all of our other SAFC related material within the safc toolbar. Will Crouch sign? Stay at Pompey or go to Fulham?

Steve Bruce Confirmed as New SAFC Manager

2009-06-03T17:03:00.003+01:00

Steve Bruce has been confirmed as our new manager, he will be revealed later today to the media. Steve has apparently penned a 2 and a half year contract for £2.5 million on £60,000 per week. Having never really had a substantial war chest to bring players in let`s see what he can do for Sunderland AFC in the coming seasons. Geordie or not he is a manager with 11 years experience through several clubs and guided Wigan to a respectable 11th place this season.

Relegation Permutations

2009-05-11T23:52:00.004+01:00

Just to get things absolutely sure i wanted something to refer to over the next not so arse jittery weeks as i originally thought, so i flung together a few permutations that will mean not one thing ~~when we get summat against Pompey~~ by the time Sunday 24th may comes around. Update: May 22nd Hull and the Mags both have to win for Sunderland to go down Newcastle are praying that Hull get beat and they get at least a point to survive Villa Park and the KC Stadium decides the last relegation spot, come on Villa!

Stick with Ricky Sbragia

2009-05-03T01:41:00.013+01:00

How is this going to happen now? Sunderland are embroiled in their usual bollox at the bottom of the table in the premiership how are we supposed to get out of it? Well with 4 games to go we are still sticky to the point of arse wrenching, so what difference does it make? Well West Brom after yesterdays loss are looking mathematically up against it although still possible are candidates elect for the drop. The Mags shortly followed by the Boro are a close second but then again there are too may teams in the mix including SAFC that could be dragged into the mire. i will not go into too many connotations because that would be frivolous, instead all i would suggest is that we still need 4 points from our remaining 4 games to give us a starting platform in the premiership for next season, if you disagree with me then please feel feel to comment, i am always the eternal optimist. on a different slant it feels that Roy Keane is getting Ricky`s feathers ruffled with his recent comments about SAFC, to Rickys credit he came out of his corner fighting, as a SAFC fan i will back Ricky up in saying "You no longer have any association with SAFC" "Shut up" yes i may have dealt a game of roulette to you in the past the day before our game against Burnley when Carlos struck that wonder goal but right now you need to concentrate on Ipswich instead of blagging the media as a former Man Ure player looking for headlines coz you want to big the "Tractor Boys" up. With all respect to Ipswich Town FC because i have fond memories of our meetings and you are a cracking bunch of fans. Alright then i digresss, Ricky was recently quoted as saying "It just seems that if he wants a bit of publicity, he says something - but why not talk about Ipswich? Why is he always talking about Sunderland?" Without stating the obvious, Roy is looking at a slingshot for Ipswich with controversy, shock horror, and you know the media will sit up and take notice because of the nature of who he is, bless him. I wish Ipswich Town Football Club all the best, Roy will do you fine, but when the going gets tough aka known as the KK (Kevin Keegan syndrome) Roy will scarper. Ricky knows more about why Roy left simply through the postion he is in, quite frankly i do not care right now, all i know is that Ricky is the man to motivate our lads, if it does not work out and we end up joining the Mags or Boro next season so be it, all i know is right now we should get behind Ricky Sbragia and his choices whether that be good or shite.

Sunderland Run in 09

2009-03-31T10:54:00.002+01:00

Sunderland AFC`s run in looks a lot better than some of our rivals, although we do have to face Man Utd one more time finishing off with Chelsea on the the final day of our season, but i think we stand a good chance to get enough points from our remaining 4 aways and 4 home games. West Ham has never been the happiest hunting ground for us through most seasons, but i think we bring a squad that can easily compete with the Hammers and with Djib still laying foundations to make his loan spell a permanent move i have got a good feeling about this one. Kenwynne may have had his head temporarily turned by Harry in recent weeks and months but again this is another player that is believing in Quinnys vision for our club and the lure of big bucks will certainly tempt him again i am sure, but King Kenwynne had enough about him to spurn the advances of other clubs and look to continue his great start to his career at Sunderland. More rumours flying around that our rivals Newcastle will be entered into administration by Mr Ashley if they fail to stay up, again this is just a rumour for the hard to sell club, but a spell in the lower leagues may just ground their fans. For too long they have believed that they have sole right of position to be within Europe and with the gazillions of squid they have spent on player transfers you could understand their frustrations, but no club has a sole right to be anywhere. Their continued revolving door of management will keep on swinging, Bobby Robson was their man and Freddy Shepard let the fella go after a bad start to the season, big mistake. Great news for Jack Colback who has been called up to the u20`s squad for tonights friendly against Italy (we also have another 14 youth team players on international duty), the experience will do our reserves captain no end of good and let`s hope we get to see him at least in the full team squad soon. It`s been a bit of an inconsistent season to say the least, sometimes brilliant football sometimes downright embarrasing but we have become used to that though by now, yes we need to kick on to the next level and with the backing of Ellis Short behind us along with the DC (yet more rumours of a total buy out by Short) we can still compete in the highest league in English football and get back to at least a level of consistency and shake that yoyo tag, no i do not expect us to be stomping into Europe anytime soon but a feeling of being able to hold our own without the maulings and defeats that clubs like Everton have reaped upon us would not go amiss. Saturdays trip to London after a decent international break (i could well do with a cheap holiday myself)and the return of Kieron "the mag destroyer" Richardson to the squad will bring us 3 points via single goal from the Djib.

Newcastle v Sunderland February 2009

2009-01-29T21:20:00.004Z

No Owen or Barton! and Charlie n`Zogbia refusing to play, all this plus a pretty mediocre side this season despite Joe K`s efforts it looks like we could potentially do the double over the mags for the first time since 1967. Stats aside it looks like St James` Park will be a more uncomfortable place to be more for the home fans than ours. After the last match shenanigans from both sets of fans at the SoL will we be facing a similar display? I hope not. Passion yes, pitch invasions and other 1980`s behaviour is not acceptable in our modern game. On a brighter note, Kenwyne shrugs of Harrys unsettling attempts to prize him away by instead committing to Sunderland fo a further 4 and half years. Not bad even if the £15million price tag may have sounded tempting it just goes to show the kind of committed chairman we have got in Niall to successfully have a player of KJ`s quality to stay, and another quality goal against Fulham that turned out to be the winner. So this Sunday from 13.30pm there is only 3 points difference in the table and we will be playing a makeshift team made up of who knows what, we have got to be entering this game as favourites once again although bookies may have you think otherwise, i am yet again in my comfort zone, not feeling any apprehension although this will probably change a few degrees come kick off. More good news, this blog will be welcoming a few guest authors over from my most haunted Sunderland Forum to give their slant on SAFC news and opinion, although blogging is entirely alien to them i am sure their banter will fit right in. So look out for ...... well you will have to wait and see.

Craig Burley

2008-12-09T01:12:00.004Z

Oh Mr Burley, even i have the foresight never to insult another football fan irrespective of my views, they are equally as guilty as me for falling in love with their club and the game, but you Mr are guilty of not only alienating Sunderland fans but quite a chunk of Setantas paying and even free subscribers with your inane ramblings during your commentary on the Man Utd v SAFC match on Saturday gone. It is one thing to voice an appreciation of a game well played but to show complete transaparency and cringeworthy comments the likes of which have not been heard since Mr Venables mucked up. Hang your head Mr Burley there is no spade big enough to dig yourself out of this one, watch, listen express... but for gods sake in future you may be well advised to trap it. You single handledly attacked every single Sunderland AFC fan, player, staff and neutral supporter with your belief that Sunderland AFC that were traveling to Old Trafford with any other intent than containment with your "Victory for football" comment. Sunderland AFC is a team with a world following, Setanta would probably have had a word in your shell like by mow, and your recent blog trying to defend your views shows nothing more than an attempt to backtrack from what are your immediate footballing thoughts. The likes of which are, let`s see how an outsider to the top 4 can come and play against European champions for the sake of entertainment. You fool, Sunderland travelled to Old Trafford with one goal in mind. To counter anything that the £150+ team had to throw at them, and by god the lads nearly achieved it. That match alone restored a lot of local and team pride in all of what Sunderland is trying to achieve, yet you belittled the match within your position as a paid Setanta commentator to profess that it was a "Victory for football". I dare say you have cost Setanta quite a few thousand subscribers for your complete lack of understanding of the game and your blather throughout the match. I will ask you once again to defend your comments, Yours Littlewebby aka Safcblogger To view Craigs latest post and the comments received, you are welcome to visit his blog within the Setanta website and judge for yourself.

No text will ever explain the feeling i have

2008-10-25T23:01:00.002+01:00

Wear Tyne Derby

2008-10-23T10:16:00.002+01:00

This has easily got to be the best chance in a long time for the lads to get a result against the unwashed. We are currently sat in 12th place on 9 points with the mags down in the relegation zone on 6 points. Newcastle were lucky to come away on Monday night with a draw against Man City especially after going a goal and a man down after 12 minutes, they managed to claw it back for the draw. Saturday from 12.45pm onwards though is a different story and all league form goes out the window. Considering that this will be our best chance to beat the mags since the 1980`s it would really crown a good start to the season so far if we managed to a)Turn them over b)For Grant Leadbitter to score the winner, or even Chopra to score the winner and run up to the away end and salute them with a couple of extended digits, highly unlikely but a nice thought all the same. Joking Ear has got the mag lot playing together in spells but i think we have got the squad for Keano to choose from to actually take this result and send all Mackems crazy for the first time in over 20 years. Ordinarily i would be feeling nervous in the build up to the derby game but for some unknown reason i am unusually calm. There are a few Mags where i work and one of them is the general manager who has remained unusually quiet in the build up, his typical Mag swagger has lost it`s edge and the usual world domination rants pre and post Keegan seemed to have dissappeared. Are the Mags actually starting to realise that the footballing world does not revolve around Sid James`s park? I doubt it, their clouded arrogance will continue right up to the day when Mike Ashley has cashed in on them and long after that to.

Sunderland FC Forums

2008-03-18T22:23:00.004Z

Sunderland FC Forums Sunderland FC forums pop up all the time over the world wobbly web, but very few have the staying power and before you know it they become desolate, disabled and/or abandoned. There has been one dominant forum on the block since the summer of 2002, commonly known as the SMB (Sunderland Message Board) which forms part of the RTG Message Boards, which in turn is part of the Ready To Go website which has been online since 1998. The SMB forum has and still is a fantastic way for SAFC fans to share a bit of banter about footy related issues and some great off topic threads have been posted over the years. Towards the end of 2007 though, the comfortable and familiar surroundings of the SMB took on a new focus, completely seperating footy only posts from the off topic stuff and the way this was done was to create a completely seperate forum, Pure Football, great if you want to concentrate purely on footy issues, but for those members that had become accustomed to the mix of footy and off topic stuff it became an issue. Ready to Go experienced some technical issues during the transition and from this some of the regular members decided to get a forum together, funny thing is, the new kid on the block is turning out to be the new challenger to the crown of the Sunderland FC Forum to frequent, with its mix of the usual banter within the Talk Sport Discussion, there is also the sub forum where all the naughty posters have their threads sin binned for being a little too off tangent shall we say. That particular mix of footy related and off topic stuff became the successful ingredient of the SMB, where "The Parsnip" was and still is the `Sin Bin` for crap posts. So what has this new forum got what the other one has not? Well the obvious praises to sing for the new one would be their Arcade, where you can play games to your hearts content, competing against other forum users within the tournaments or you can simply compete for the High Scores of individual games and eventually you may even become king of the Arcade by achieving the most high scores. Besides the addictive arcade, there are another 5 sub forums, the `Talk Shite Discussion`, `Cricket`, `Travel` and `Tech Help` that`s only 4 i hear you say! well yes because i do not want to talk too much about the final sub forum `NSFW` because that one is password protected and involves savoury content that even i would not attempt to describe. That said, their is even more! a vBookie to place wagers using the forum currency on upcoming sporting events, your very own free blog, live chat for those unable, working or exiled on match days a SAFC History section, Downloads and even more links than you can throw a cocker spaniel at within their directory. So who is this new kid on the block? The Sunderland FC Forum is Black Cat Chat get over there now and see what all the fuss is about.

RIP Hazey

2008-01-13T02:45:00.000Z

Given the lack of opportunity lately to post new entries it is with sadness that i write this latest entry. One of the SMB`s greatest contributers has sadly lost his fight against Cancer. Hazey passed away at 4am on the 6th of January after a painful fight against his cancer. Many of us Sunderland fans are united by the Sunderland Message Board and it is through this forum that we first learned of Hazeys condition, in his wisdom he went about setting up his own blog, Dull Ramblings which gives chapter after chapter of insight into the mind of one who had nothing but love to give including everything from his family to the creatures and all of nature he encountered, while at the same keeping us all informed in somewhat at times graphic detail. A very touching comment PM`ed to Hazey which he happily posted goes a little something like; "There was this Gadgy I knew of, but didn't know. We were acquaitances via Footy on the tinternet. The Bengal Lancer is claiming his Life, but not his Soul. I now know him and I also now know in a different Life we could have been great Friends. That's wrong, I know we are great Friends. My Paraffin Mukka you will never know how much you have inspired me and you have really convinced me not to throw in my Mortal Towel. Godspeed your tranquility Main Man. (Liz, you are a very Lucky Lady.) Hazey Lad you are humility personified and until I die I will be your humble Friend." This about captures the mood of the majority of us who never had the opportunity to meet the bloke, thanks to Novice Poster of the SMB. The last words within this post are the final entry he made on Thursday January the 8th 2008 from the vlog entry entitled "This really is a big bag of absolute cock...fucknuts, cuntblisters, WAAANNNNNNKKK! (and any other appropriate expletives of sufficient force)" My love for all burns timeless, beyond this frail prison of a body. One day I shall burst forth leaving behind my tiny shell. Ill span the universe, al the while watching over you, from my ageless dominion. I’ll always be near, whispering words you can’t hear but you’ll always feel the warmth of my supernova heart.

Good night

From Graeme

Sticky Toffee Puddings

2007-11-25T23:42:00.000Z

Abject misery are just a few words available in the english language to translate into feeling what a lot of us Sunderland fans are feeling right now after the display against the Toffees. Everton became a fixture where the staistics of shots on target were literally converted into goals and to be brutally honest we may well have been on the wrong end of a cricket score. Excerpts of Roy Keanes assessment of the match. "I have never been on the end of anything like that in my career but I am more concerned about the team, the supporters and the whole club. We need to react in a positive way next weekend.

"I hope it does not damage team morale, but only time will tell. We have good lads and this is hard to take, but in terms of the character of the people in the dressing room we have time now to react in the right way next weekend." source: (skysports.com)

Well, yes we do need to bounce back against Derby next weekend and nothing less than a full blooded passionate display of loyalty to the red and white stripes that we call Sunderland AFC will suffice. We need to be shown the true mettal of our current playing crop because i have no doubt the axe is shortly to be raised and swung down upon quite a few of the current squad, this can not be done until the January transfer window, but as Sunderland fans we do not suffer fools gladly, we will tell you when we no longer require your services at our club, we are the paying fans week in and week out, show the passion for your club or move on, we have been tagged a yo-yo club for too long.

Sunderland Newcastle 2007

2007-11-07T22:59:00.000Z

The Derby match is nearly upon us once more, come Saturday (ko 12.45) are we going to be celebrating our first win against the Mags at home for the first time in 27 years? (Stan Cummins 1-0 Roker Park). The Mags enter the game following their first home defeat of the season to Portsmouth and we enter following our defeat away to Sven's Man City, this has absolutely no bearing on the match that will ensue. The whole of the seasons bragging rights at work and schools depends on the outcome of this one and be under no illusion it is one of the biggest derby games on the planet, to the neutral it means nothing but Mackems and Mags it is much bigger than any Man ure v Man City or Celtic v Rangers or those petty little London derbies, like Spurs v Arsenal or any other of the six thousand clubs in the capital. The north-east derby between Sunderland and Newcastle has developed over generations, our first meeting back in the FA Challenge Cup in 1888 ended with a 2 0 win for the lads thanks to goals from Davison and Jopling. The first league meeting however ended in defeat on Christmas eve where we lost 2-3 at Roker Park during the 1898/99 season in front of approximately 30,000. Our biggest recorded win over the Mags was during the 1908/09 season when we gave them a 9-1 hiding at Sid James's Park in front of an estimated 60,000 fans. The biggest win they have managed over us was during SAFC's dismal run in the twenties where they managed to put 6 past us and thanks to legend Charlie Buchan it ended 6-1 at their place. In all of our 140 meetings so far there have only ever been 7 '0-0' draws and the record to date shows W46 D44 L50 F210 A208. (Source: TheStatCat.co.uk)

Hands Up

2007-10-07T23:34:00.000+01:00

Hands up if you expected to get anything from the Emirates today? No i did not think so. As optimistic a Sunderland fan as i am i truly expected us to put up a fight and when we fell behind early doors i thought ok, tighten up and limit the damage, when the second one went in i thought oh *£$% the floodgates are going to open, thankfully Ross Walace managed to save us from what would have been an absolute tonking had Arsenal grabbed their third earlier. There is something brewing within the Sunderland squad this season i can sense it, is it going to be giving another team a hiding? i don't know but i am more than sure Keano will be making the headlines for all the right reasons, i hope it comes sooner rather than later. What is it about Blackburn last week that we could not do? was it because it was Arsenal that we seemed to raise our game, surely Blackburn was worthy of the same sort of performance, after all they are in the same league as us as well, what i mean to say is, have we settled into a mindset that says, we will do alright, even if we do finish in 17th place in the Premiership this season. No, that just can not be. The teams we are facing from week to wek are obviously doing there homework on us and likewise us on them, so what is it about Keanos technical team that gets it so right one week and so wrong the next? I feel that there are still a lot more questions than answers already. Yes we made a great start to the season, and maybe this is our baron spell with regards to wins, we have upcoming a good run of games that the lads should get to grips with, they have had time to gel on and off the pitch already.

Devil the better you know

2007-08-31T09:16:00.000+01:00

It is no secret that Man U will be looking to upset Keanos return to Old Trafford by taking all 3 points against us, regardless of the reception he will get.

Roy Keane as we all know spent a lot of effort and time doing all he could on the pitch as a Captain and player for the Red Devils, but when he returns to his former employers with the Black Cats tomorrow all allegiances with Fergie and co will be set aside for the full duration of the match of that i am sure. He will be sending the lads on with a no fear attitude and he will be telling them not to be in awe of the occasion or the players they will be facing.

Football can be a complete leveller regardless of the skill gap and Keano and his backroom have the knowledge to upset Alex Fergusons team of superstars, into the mix there are a few factors that need to go our way including a bit of luck.

Mickey Chopra will be looking to add to his goal tally and i don`t care if he does take his top off when he celebrates his goal exposing his Newcastle tattoo, as long as the scoreboard shows Sunderland off the mark, whether we hold or go on to win this one or not though will be the test that the lads are looking for.

We may still be lacking in a few areas of our team and we have not exactly had the most forgiving in regards of opening fixtures, we still have the opportunity to make a real impression in the league.

Roy has undoubtedly in my opinion snapped up a player of real quality in Ian Harte on a free transfer, a fantastic left foot that will no doubt be first choice for set plays in and around the box, a proven international that Keano himself played alongside and obviously never forgot.

Andy Cole may be in the latter years of his career but he still has the ability and quality to score goals and he will be aiming towards the 200 goal mark so he will be fighting for his chances to achieve his targets.

This weeks Carling Cup exit does not really need too much said about it, yes we lost to Luton but hey move on. The real concern this week has got to be Clive Clarkes heart attacks during half time at the Walkers Stadium, which both Leicester and Nottingham Forest gaffers agreed to abandon. You can wish Clive well here.

Stern Gives Bruce the Blues

2007-08-15T21:54:00.000+01:00

Stern John managed to rescue a point in the dying seconds in our game away at St Andrews tonight. After our last game against Tottenham Paul McShane easily scooped the Man of the match award but this time round he turned being a hero into being a villain, only through being in the wrong place at the wrong time, putting into his own net through a free kick floated towards the far post and Stephen Kelly nodding back across the six yard box and deflecting in of Paul McShane.

It was not until the second half we managed to pull level through Chopra bagging his second goal in two games on 75 minutes, pure elation, Chops started this game as he rightly deserved after his weekend heroics against Spurs. He dashed towards goal with only his finish to concentrate on and yep you guessed it, with his new found confidence he let fly with a half volley that dipped over Doyle and into the back of the net, well deserved

I do not mind admitting now that Birmingham away looked like a tasty encounter judging by the way they played against Chelsea last Saturday, especially Kapo. Then again when you are lined up against a Chelsea team of all stars, what have you got to lose?

They were obviously up for it against Chelsea and went for it, so when it comes to facing a Roy Keane side what did they expect? if it was an easy ride they wanted, then guess what this is KEANOS team.

The 82nd minute arrived and so did Birminghams second coutesy of Gary O`Connors debut goal after being on the pitch for about 15 minutes. The 3 points looked like they were staying at St Andrews, no not so.

Returning to his old West Midlands club, Stern John a second half sub just minutes before his goal managed to wack one against the bar, he need not have woried because it is written in football law that an ex-player WILL come back and bite you in the arse and so it was to be.

Again from a free kick just outside the box Ross Wallace lofted in a shot that was headed back across goal by Nozza and into the flight path of Stern John to knock into an empty net breaking thousands of Blues hearts at the same time.

Well what can you say, Keano has managed to get another one spot on. We are now sat in 4th place looking down on the Mags, bring on Wigan.

Choppy Start

2007-08-11T23:42:00.000+01:00

We may have left it late today but we managed it, a win against Spurs was exactly the kind of start we needed, points on the board will have settled a few of the lads' nerves. Holding top spot if only for a couple of hours before them up the road squeezed into 1st on goal difference by 4.45pm Martin Jols side came to the `SoL` with just as much time to prepare as we did, so if you hear that they had an off day, then i say shite, even the supposed better teams in the league can have an off day and still punish you. Spurs are supposedly tipped for a Champions League position at the end of the season, using their "Fantastic Four" strike force worth gazillions, hmmmm. Chopra managed to grab his goal on his home debut which will certainly settle any anxieties he may have had, solid displays from the majority of the lads with special mention to Nozza and McShane for keeping the tight back line and not allowing the Spurs frontline any time to get comfortable. Dickson Etuhu showed some good touches on the ball as did Carlos Edwards (06/07 Safc Blog Player of the season with 93 of 430 votes) in Midfield, the passes weren`t exactly flowing in this game but as the team develops the lads will undoubtedly improve. Overall the performance on our return to the Prem showed a desire and commitment to the Keano cause, in comparison to a few seasons back this team is at least positive in attack, looking for the forward pass in posession and working well off the ball. Craig Gordon`s home debut was comfortable with only late sub Huddlestones effort coming through the crowd, which he comfortably caught like it was a pass from his sister, we have still yet to see the best of Flash the likes of which the Jambos have already seen. Next match: Birmingham @ their place on Wednesday the 14th. Read todays game from a Spurs point of view

Lucky Number 7

2007-08-08T21:30:00.000+01:00

Sunderland AFC`s seventh signing of the season has now been confirmed as Craig Gordon from Hearts for a reported £9m.

This fee now completely smashes the fee we paid Rangers for Tore Andre Flop (£6.75m) and breaks all British transfer records for the transfer of any goalkeeper in British footballing history. This is also the 3rd highest fee paid for a goalkeeper in world footballing history the highest fee paid was for Gianluigi Buffon (£32.6m Parma to Juve) in 2001 where Gianluigi was quoted as saying "This is too much money for one player".

If the fee we have paid for Craig who has already been tagged with the nickname "Flash" is going to effect his game or not will be apparent in the upcoming games, although Tottenham on Saturday may be a game too soon as he is nursing a shoulder injury.

If you have read this far and you are wondering who "flash" is then the Sunderland Echo has gathered a few video clips for you to marvel at (cough cough apart from the own goal). If you are scratching your head and wondering why we have paid so much money then think about this: He is reported in some footballing circles to be better than Paul Robinson, he has already achieved over twenty odd caps for Scotland and has even been compared and even touted as better than Petr Cech.

Flash is still only 24 and will undoubtedly improve over time, goalkeepers alledgedly reaching their peak when they hit their late twenties and early thirties.

Keano has had an on off relationship with Craigs representitives over numerous weeks and has fended of interest from Aston Villa and lifelong Sunderland fan Martin O`Neill, although confirmation only came through this morning of his arrival, this has undoubtedly underlined Roy and Nialls intentions along with the backing of the Drumaville Consortium and the £27 Million splashed out so far.

I can not leave this post without a mention of the Hearts fans who have (in the majority) wished Craig well, the £9m should also help Hearts in their quest for the SPL title and in return we have signed a quality shot stopper, with respect to Marton, Trevor and Dave, who is worth at least another 12 to 15 points a season.

Bohemians v Safc

2007-07-28T22:29:00.000+01:00

Tonights match via Setanta Sports against Bohemians ended in a win for the Black Cats courtesy of a Stern John header after just coming onto the pitch (78mins). This gave the majority of Sunderland fans with access to Setanta via the pubs and clubs an opportunity to take a closer look at our recent signings, granted they are just getting to know each others game right now give or take a few training sessions, but the £9m chunk of our transfer money so far managed to miss opportunities to add their first Sunderland goal by missing open nets. Firstly Michael Chopra heeled a close range effort over the bar from ridiculously close range then Kieron Richardson headed just over where it would have seemed impossible to miss. This is hardly an insightful description of what all these players are about, they have obviously got a lot more to show and our first game on the Irish tour will not bring the pressure and intensity of what a Premiership match will bring. Greg Halford gave a steady performance as Paul McShane also made his presence felt displaying his ability on the ball. Overall the player that stood out from the crowd for me was easily Carlos Edwards. Nyron Noseworthy stumbled through this one and was made to look very ordinary by the Eircom league side, who gave a great account of themselves and at times threatened to upset Keanos new boys. Stern John came on with 12 minutes to go and gave Sunderland their first win on this pre-season tour of Ireland, while Dickson Etuhu looked like he had been red and white for a lot longer than his friendly debut suggested. It is still very early doors to read anything into the team, but it has the signs of becoming a productive outfit, however unexciting the match may have been.

Paul McShane

2007-07-26T23:54:00.000+01:00

Sunderland AFC`s newest player during the current window Paul McShane has made the relatively small trip from the Hawthorns to Join the Black Cats at the `SoL`.

McShane becomes Keano`s sixth summer signing behind, Russell Anderson, Greg Halford, Kieran Richardson, Michael Chopra and Dickson Etuhu and takes Sunderlands current transfer spending to just under £15m, with fees for certain players rising dependant on us staying in the Premiership and/or appearances.

£1.5m (rising to £2.5m dependant on conditions) seems like an absolute steal for a player of McShanes quality, standing 6' tall and with international experience under his belt, this 21 year old will hold no fear for the coming season, yet again Keano has brought in experience that has a definite positive feel about it, this time strengthening our defence.

Safc Toolbar

2007-07-12T23:54:00.000+01:00

I will rant about our recent signings in a minute but what i want to tell you about first is the Safc toolbar i have been developing for a while and with immediate feedback from Jay via the SMB (bassa :)) there is now version 1.1. What is the Safc Toolbar? The answer is: see that thingy along the top of the page you are viewing, you know the bit that has a search box, back, forward, refresh etc. buttons within it? Well its one of them. But guess what the one i have developed is purely all aimed at Sunderland AFC, which means you get all the latest news from Safc.com, Ready to Go, this blog and others. It also includes links to all of the Sunderland footy sites that are being recommended by its users like the obvious ones: A Love Supreme, Safc.com, The Stat Cat and the SMB so far but guess what else as a user you get to tell me directly what you would like to see included!!! As if that would be the end of it! everyone who downloads the Safc Toolbar automatically has the ability to chat directly with everyone else who has downloaded the toolbar!!! There is no end to the interactivity of this brand new and unique toolbar free to

toolbar powered by Conduit

download and install via a small file, all future updates to the Safc Toolbar automatically take effect so there is no need for re-installation. So if you want to give it a whirl, test drive or whatever you want to call it, click on the banner you see to the right and let me know what you think of it via the comments link below, ta. Reet... Now on to recent shannanigans at the SoL. We are on the verge of signing former Mag and current Cardiff City player Rocky Michael Chopra (24), there is a lot of disgruntlement via the messageboards that this was not the sit up and take notice of our intent in the Premiership signing that we had all hoped to see. A quick answer to this would be omg what the hell are we doing signing this lad (for a reported £5m) when surely the money would have gone on a proven goalscorer within the top flight? Well it seems that David Nugent has made his decision and chosen Portsmouth as his club to be and among the forty odd players we have been linked with during the closed season so far Chopra is the only notable name. When i have talked to others about Greg Halford the general response i have been getting has been "he`s got a good long throw on him hasn`t he?" FFS. With respect to Michael, regardless of his sharing the same school within Gosforth with Gay Al, he will be given every opportunity to show his worth to us Sunderland fans every time he pulls on the shirt and i well believe that Keano will drop him like a very heavy bag of shite if he does not come up to scratch. In the context of the money we are going to pay for him, £5m is hardly a huge amount when you consider the share of TV revenue alone that Sunderland will draw during this next stint in the Premiership. There is still plenty of transfer time left so lets give Keano the opportunity to bring in who he can, he has already said that he would be happy to start with the squad we have got right now, although my opinion may differ, i think a few proven players within the top flight of any league would settle the nerves of the already thirty odd thousand season ticket holders, even after today when Keano was across at his old stamping ground reportedly making inquiries into Kieron Richardsons availability, yep Kieron would be a step in the right direction.

Greg Halford

2007-06-12T16:00:00.000+01:00

Greg Halford has become Roy Keanes first Sunderland AFC signing of the closed season in a £3m deal which brings the 22 year old to the SoL. Greg is an experienced and specialist right back who will take on the right sided position where Danny Simpson left off after his return to Man U. Greg obviously prefers the top level even after only spending a brief stint there with Reading when he joined them in January although only making a handful of appearances in the Premiership he has earned his keep playing in the lower leagues eventually winning promotion with Colchester Utd in 2006. It is still very early days for our latest Black Cat but we wish him well and good luck for the new campaign.

SAFC New Fixtures and Kit

2007-06-08T07:11:00.000+01:00

07/08 Fixtures for the Sunderland AFC will be published on the BBC and SAFC websites on Thursday 14th June and I for one wait in anticipation on who we will be playing first, last and then I will glance back over them again to see when we will be facing the auld enemy. A couple of weeks later June 29th sees the launch of the new Sunderland AFC Umbro away kit which sports the new Boylesports logo on a brand new white kit, you can pre-order your away kit now directly through SAFC.com. Sunderland FC have been linked to a whole barrel full of players during the closed season so far, the SAFC website has even gone as far as to list all of the players we have been linked with some of the more noteable names among them in my opinion would be the likes of: Eidur Gudjonsson (Barcelona), Sami Hyppia (Liverpool), Paul Scholes (Manchester United). The list also includes ex-safc players: David Bellion (Nice), Gavin McCann (Aston Villa) and Julio Arca (Middlesbrough). All of these players offer the qualities of experience and talent in abundance and I again wait with bated breath as to who Keano will bring to the SoL.

Safc Blog Competition

2007-05-21T23:10:00.000+01:00

It has been 2 years since this Sunderland FC Blog first came into existence, to celebrate the 2nd anniversary I am going to give away a coveted Sunderland FC Watch paid for out of my very own pocket from my own hard earned cash.

What do you have to do to get this around your wrist?

Sunderland AFC have had a remarkable 06/07 season obviously returning to where we belong, but what I would like you as a safc supporter write a review of the 06/07 season, beginning with the end of our last Premiership campaign.

I will leave the competition open for 4 weeks, starting today and ending on the 8th of June, after the 4 weeks are up I will publish a poll for visitors to vote for the best written article, there are no age or sex restrictions. The winning article will form part of the History of Sunderland AFC page, get started on your article and email it to: safcblogger@googlemail.com good luck.

Upcoming news: Punjabi Army interview

Na na na naaa Keanooooo..

2007-05-08T10:23:00.000+01:00

What a season! Roy Keane has started something very special at Sunderland FC, re-igniting the passion within the fans that had waded not more than 12 months ago. Sunderland AFC started the season on what was one of the lowest points in our history, dumped out of the Premiership with an all new record points tally. I am not going to dwell too much on last season because we are experiencing a brand new future at the club the likes of which are the envy of other clubs fans up and down the country. If Niall Quinn and the Drumaville Consortium had not been successful in bidding for Mr Murrays shares within the club towards the end of 2006, I can quite confidently say we would not be looking forward to the new 07/08 campaign in the Premiership, we would more likely be joining Leeds in the third tier of the Football League. The total transformation from Roy Keanes appointmant and the vision and backing from Niall and the rest of the consortium has left me completely gobsmacked! Thanks to Preston NE`s performance against Birmingham we were officially crowned as champions of the Coca Cola Championship yet again! This time though it was the turn of the year when everything seemed to click, Keane has conjured a formula for success, only the away defeat to Colchester Utd this year slowed us down, but our relentless march could not be stopped, consistency and a bit of luck along the way would see us win 16 of the 20 remaining games drawing 3 and losing 1. Combine this with Derby County and Birmingham City`s inconsistency and it is easy to see why Sunderland FC made the huge march up the Championship Table which we were propping up after losing the first 4 of the season. There are again a lot of players being rumoured to be target signings for the new campaign, among them David Nugent for an estimated £8 million, this is at present just another rumour but what it does show is that we are turning heads our way once more. It has been a very long time indeed since Sunderland FC had the pulling power and interest of other players of the calibre that can bring us back to former glory, we can only thank Roy Keane and all of the hard work that Niall is putting in when trying to gain support for our club once more. I guarantee i was not the only fan at the beginning of Roy Keanes tenure who thought, is he realy the right man for the job? when all around there were calls for Sam Allardyce or Martin O`neill to be installed as our new manager, as luck would have it our former player Sam is now our old foes manager and we will be facing him and his barcodes at Sid James`s park next season, this time around though it is they who will be wondering what is in store for them when we come to visit, let`s put it simply thanks for the 3 points and i hope Sam does not perform a Ruud "the mullet" Hullit on your arse. Na na na naaa Keanooooo...

Just Like Watching Brazil

2007-04-28T15:53:00.000+01:00

Watching Sunderland FC as a Sunderland supporter is one of the most nerve jangling things a man can experience, the kind of ups and downs you experience is altogether very unhealthy and last nights game at home against Burnley was no different. The biggest crowd of the season (44,448) were entertained to a real footballing treat at the Stadium of Light. The first half was completely dominated by the Black Cats and the early goal from Daryl Murphy (14) from a David Connolly cross was exactly what we Sunderland fans needed, David chased what seemed like a lost cause away from goal and near to the bi-line and cut back a cross in with his right which Daryl anticipated ahead of any of the Burnley back four and tucked it away. This you would think would be the setting for the rest of the match, an early goal to settle both player and fan nerves, this would have been the case as well if only for a missed penalty with 19 minutes on the clock. The penalty for Sunderland was undeserved in reality, Mr Kettle awarded the spot kick when he had judged Thomas to have fouled Connolly. As it has happened many times before in football, justice was served, the spot kick was saved by Jenson low to his right, palming it away for a Sunderland corner. Had we gone further into the lead from the spot we would have happily accepted the 2 goal cushion and I am sure the Burnley fans would have been spitting feathers, nothing would prepare us for what would happen next. On 38 minutes Burnley are awarded a penalty of their own when Ward brings down Elliott, if you watch the replays om Sky Sports you will have seen that this too was a harsh penalty, this time we are on the receiving end. If justice was to be done again, you would have expected ward to save it, but no, former Sunderland man Andy Gray sends our keeper the wrong way and Burnley are now back on level terms, our turn to spit feathers. The match itself was played at such a speed so late on in the season you would forgive all of the players if they wanted to have a long lie in on Saturday morning, they must have covered hundreds of miles between them during the entire 90 minutes, the half ends 1 a piece. The second half kicks off and Andy Grays spot kick is still fresh in our minds and seeing the replays during our half time pit stop only reminds us that Gray is now a former player so he has had his first 45 minutes on his return chant free, now we are going to let him know how we feel about his acrobatics to win his side a spot kick, he is deservedly booed on every touch of the ball . On 50 minutes we are all treated to a spectacular sight, not from Sunderland but from Burnley in the shape of Elliott cracking a fantastic goal from 30 yards with his right foot, the goal was absolutely unstoppable as Ward will confess, even his dive up to his left was not going to stop this one, the ball zipped into the top corner and if this was going to be the deciding goal it was well deserved, no arguments. If we were going to get back into this game we would have to do it fast and the best way to do that is within the first five minutes of the opposition scoring, this is when supposedly you are at your most vulnerable to conceding a goal, guess what, we managed it. Amazingly we have suffered on the penalty front all season only having one previous to this game and now just like buses, 2 of them! This one was an completely nailed on penalty decision, the man in black Mr Kettle rightly awarded our second penalty when Jenson brings down Connolly like a copper trying to catch a thief, luckily for the Burnley keeper he gets away with just a yellow card when we were all shouting for him to get his marching orders, the ball hits the back of the net from Connollys` right foot bringing us back onto level terms. The pressure of the season by now should have been showing in our play, but there was remarkably no sign of it, Roy Keane has got these players firing on cylinders that i don`t even think they knew they had, the noise inside the stadium is producing an electricity all of it`s own and inside the pubs and clubs around Sunderland along with fans up and down the country and ex-pats in the bars around the world or sitting at home in their living rooms watching on telly with a can in one hand and a clenched fist with the other are screaming loud and proud to drive the lads home. If there was going to be a winner in this one it was going to have to come from some kind of raw talent and my god did we get that! thankfully it was a red and white shirt that produced the goods, our very own super sub Ole Gunnar Leadbitter starts a move that would end in the demise of all of the Burnley fans hopes of nicking this one, Carlos Edwards picks the ball up from Daryl Murphy and unleashes a right foot thunderbolt from 30 yards flying past Jensons Right and whispering into his ear on the way "thanks for coming, good game, see ya" and bulges the back of the net accompanied by the biggest noise on Wearside since the bombs dropped, if i was not mistaken and the former Luton man was not English, it was just like watching Brazil! Even Carlos himself admitted "I could not have hit it any better". Roy Keane asked the fans to "raise the roof", we raised it. He asked the players to raise their game, they raised it, with this kind of football we will stand half a chance in the Premiership, the Burmley lads brought their best game and we easily matched and overcome everything they threw at us hardened Safc fans would say that we should be scattering teams like this 3 - 0, but those days are gone and this is a new beginning in the History of Sunderland Association Football Club, the Drumaville Consortium are investing into our future, Boylesports are investing a potential £10 million, Niall Quinn is bringing popularity back to North East football and Mr Roy Keane is formulating something here that is driving us crazy with anticipation, over the last 6 months alone we have seen a complete transformation and on behalf of all Sunderland FC fans, we thank them all for bringing us on this new journey. To celebrate our win I had to decide on a drinking hole to celebrate the rest of my birthday, anywhere would do and a bunch of us chose the Gardiners before we ventured back into the town, the atmosphere and buzz continued throughout the night, into Flares, Varsity, Liquid and over the road where there were easily 200 people queued to get into the dredded Glass Spider, all the fans were in fine voice and my birthday was complete. Sunderland retook the top of the Championship Table albeit briefly since Birmingham have nicked it back with there 2 - 0 win over over Sheffield Wednesday. We now stand on 85 points, 1 point behind the Blues and 4 points ahead of Derby who face Crystal Palce tomorrow (ko 1pm, Sky Sports 1).

06/07 Safc Player of the Season

2007-04-23T04:11:00.000+01:00

Nearing the end of the season with just 2 games to go things are tightening right up at the top of the championship. Yesterdays 2 - 4 reverse by Birmingham against Wolves dropped us back into second place by 1 point and just ahead of Derby in third by a point, which means Derby need to drop all 3 in either of of their last 2 games and Sunderland AFC have to win just one to see us promoted. There are still quite a few other permutations but we cannot rely on other teams doing ud any favours, we will have to put the 3 - 1 defeat away to Colchester behind us and dig deep to cross the finish line. the 2006/07 season in the Coaca Cola Championship has been another coaster ride that we have come to expect as a Sunderland fan, but there have been quite a few positives including the emergence of new and rediscovered talent within the club, most noteably Nyron Noseworthy`s turn of form in comparison to last season. It is that time of year again to let the rest of us know who your player of the season is by voting in the online poll, available to the left or via this link.

Party Poopers?

2007-04-20T16:32:00.000+01:00

Derby County tonight (ko 19:45) at home to Luton will be an eagerly awaited result for both Rams and Black Cat fans alike, a loss for Derby County will mean Sunderland AFC simply have to win against Colchester Utd tomorrow to see us promoted. Any other result will mean we will have to wait a little while longer. Derby currently stand 3rd on 78 points, 4 points behind the Black Cats and have not really experienced any kind of consistency in recent weeks although lowly Luton Town FC will make a fist of it I really do not expect any real suprises, Football is a fickle game though as we all know, so if the Rams do manage to slip up now, then the final icing on this seasons campaign can be applied. Tonights match may not be a deciding factor in our season, but away to Colchester tomorrow could be one of the trickiest encounters since the turn of the year and with one of the leading scorers in of Jamie Cureton we will have our work cut out, obviously we need to cut of the supply line to this goal machine but Keano will be well aware of that, along with the rest of Safc who will be heavily focused on the job in hand. Colchester Utd currently lie 9th in the Coca Cola Championship League table on 66 points and they are not inviting Sunderland to their place to celebrate Keane and Quinn, they are looking to be complete party poopers by searching for a play off place of their own. It`s that time again, Player of the Season, who has impressed you the most? has it been Grants supersub last minute deciders that have influenced your decision? Has it been Dwights midfield marshalling? or even Nyrons complete transformation in defence? whoever you choose the best three you vote upon will be here for all to see with a complete write up of their season for you to admire forever!

Boylesports.com

2007-04-19T08:02:00.000+01:00

I am extremely proud to announce that The Safc Blog has teamed up with Boylesports.com. We will be offering all visitors the opportunity to take a punt on all future Sunderland games along with other Premiership, Championship and a lot more football matches available through their easy to use betting slip. John Boyle has had the foresight to invest into our great club, with the potential investment of £10 million into Sunderland FC, I think it is only fair to offer some of my hard earned cash back to the club by having the odd flutter myself.

Relentless March

2007-04-15T22:08:00.000+01:00

You are well aware by now that Sunderland AFC hold the top of the Championship with the recent victory over QPR, all credit to John Gregory`s outfit who came to the stadium with a decent following and gave a good account in comparison to some of the teams that travel to face Sunderland AFC.

Sunderlands relentless march back to the Premiership seems unstoppable right now and although the remaining 3 of Colchester, Burnley and Luton will still have to be overcome, I would still say we have the easiest of finales to this Championship season in comparison to Derby (Luton, Crystal Palace and Leeds) and Birmingham (Leicester, Wolves, Sheffield Wednesday and Preston).

Birmingham FC may well have their eyes on Derbys position in the table right now and obviously that will be their primary focus hoping for the Rams to drop a few points among their final 3 games so that they can take full advantage of their game in hand.

A huge welcome to boylesports.com whom have chosen Sunderland AFC to further promote their brands with a a potential £10 million investment into our great club. Although Boylesports have been seeking a Premiership outfit for a while they have recognised the visions of Roy Keane and Niall Quinn and maybe we are not Premiership right now, but with only a few games to go its hard to see how John Boyles investment will not have been a wise one.

Our brand new Irish folllowing has taken husge hurdles since the Irish Consortium took over this has even reverbersated to the level of visitors to this blog too! From a snapshot of the last hundred visitors alone the Sunderland Blog has received 31% of it`s visitors from the Green side. We are also taking up more headlines than Man Utd and Liverpool within the Irish Media the Sunderland AFC season is just getting better and better.

Read the match report from the official SAFC site.

The Resurrection of Sunderland

2007-04-08T22:57:00.000+01:00

The Resurrection of Sunderland continues away to the Saints on Easter Monday, a very apt adaptation for what is the new religion of football. Mackems and Saints go head to head tomorrow looking for a vital 3 points to nail this Championship season and gain promotion back to the promised land and rid ourselves once and for all of the shroud of shame from last season.

Our recently dethroned Mick McCarthy travelled back to Sunderland from the Midlands with his Wolves team along with a hint of trepidation I am sure, wondering what kind of response he would receive from the Sunderland faithful.

Thankfully for Mick Mac it was not as bad as he may have expected and after the hammering he received from our next opponents Southampton the previous week I bet he also thought he was in for another trouncing on the pitch from the Black Cats considering our undeniable good form, that did not materialise either.

As only the result will show a modest 2 -1 home win for the statasticians to ponder, where as the image of a brilliantly taken first goal from Daryl Murphy flicking the ball over the defenders head and volleying home from 12 yards to an erruption of cheers and applasue for what was one of the best goals of the season so far.

Ross Wallace was to further increase the lead just after the hour mark nodding back across goal from a Daryl Murphy cross. Another great win now just the remaining five to go starting with Southampton on Easter Monday.

The Saints have had a reasonable run this season, probably culminating with their obvious best against Wolves last week, but the Mackems are coming to town tomorrow and with David Connelly rested against Wolves, the plan seems to be for Keano to rest a few in anticipation of the final push for promotion during our final five games.

We still need to pick up as many points as possible and with Brum having a game in hand on us we need to maximise our final 3 aways and 2 home games.

Sunderlands Promotion Race

2007-04-01T17:10:00.000+01:00

Sunderland took another vital step in the promotion race yesterday with a smash and grab at Ninian Park that brought us back up to second in the table. Ross Wallaces free kick was just reward from the Black Cats endeavour yet again. The international break seemed to make no difference at all and now the race back to the premiership continues. What did you think of the goal? I especially liked the paddy the goalie gave after the ball hit the back of the net. Let me know what you thought of the game.

The Run In

2007-03-30T07:57:00.000+01:00

With the international break now over and Englands dissappointing exploits again on hold, the domestic season again will take focus and all eyes will be back on the promotion race as far as Sunderland is concerned with the next game at Ninan Park. The last seven games of the season see Sunderland sat 3rd in the table with only 10 points seperating 1st from from 7th, we are going to be facing 3 of our promotion chasing rivals amid those last games. Cardiff is the next obstacle in our way but will the break have helped or hindered our recent form? Which ever way you look at it, the lads are now in position to at least secure a play-off place if all things go well. This weekends match to one side I am hoping to secure some copyright permissions from a book publisher so that I can add a load of images to the blog from Sunderlands Footballing history, this will make for better reading of the Sunderland Football Blog. The next couple of projects I have got lined up for the blog included a player history gallery (I will leave the stats to the experts over at StatCat.co.uk) and an interactive SAFC player Rumour Mill. I am only in the planning stage so don`t get too excited just yet, if you want to do either of these for me, get in touch and I will pay you in Mars bars.

Sunderlands Global Support

2007-03-17T21:22:00.000Z

Sunderland AFC undoubtedly and deservedly brings support in the 100`s of thousands from around the globe, with renewed and enhanced eire connections it is not supprising our fanbase is growing not just in the Republic of Ireland, but also elsewhere around the world.

When I last looked at my statistics for the Sunderland AFC blog I was supprised to see such diverse readership from countries like Kuwait, Finland, the Russian Federation, Canada, France and even from our Trinidadian support following Dwight and co. (you know who you are, and thanks for dropping by).

It would be interesting to hear the thoughts or even to receive a few pics from our Safc supporters abroad during this promotion chasing season. If you have any pics to contribute I will be happy to put them on here for you, send a quick email with your pics or stories to dean[at]website-by-design.co.uk and I will include them within the supporters page.

So we have now entered the automatic promotion spots on goal difference from Birmingham, thanks to a 2 - 0 home win over Hull. With an amazing 10 wins and 3 draws from our last 13 games, "who woulda thunk it". A couple of weeks break now before we face Cardiff

Youtube Supporters

2007-03-12T02:18:00.001Z

Great to see Sunderland AFC supporters are making good use from the best of what the web has to offer, this next video was produced by the Punjab Army, a group of dedicated sikh followers of Sunderland AFC.

Although Arca appears in the video and I know he has gone a little further south down the road to Boro, I think the rest of the video encaptulates how most of us feel about Niall and Roy and what we are trying to achieve here in Sunderland.

If you like this video and you want to watch a few more from Sunderland AFC supporters, great news! you can by visiting the section of the Youtube website dedicated to Sunderland AFC contributions by visiting the following link: Sunderland AFC on Youtube

Sunderland AFC Blog News

2007-03-08T02:46:00.000Z

Good News! The Sunderland AFC Blog has now completed the reboot, now your journey through the History of Sunderland AFC is a lot smoother and after hours of editing we are now right up to date with Keano. If this is your first visit to the Sunderland FC Blog, then you are in for some fun reading, although I would recommend returning to read our clubs history in bite sizes. The Safc blog is a fansite where you can have your memories etched into permanent cyberspace by letting us know of your Sunderland AFC memories and we will post them as part of the permanent post within the Supporters page of our site. Also through the same page I am slowly adding everything that has to do with the fan experience that is associated with being a Sunderland fan,the majority of this will be links to resources across the net that have anything to do with Sunderland Football Club, including Supporters Associations, fansites, blogs, matchday travel information, forums, quizzes and anything else that you would care to add, it is your resource as well as mine so let me know of anything you come across that will be useful to Sunderland fans and I will add it. So now the Sunderland AFC Blog has a new look and feel with easy navigation and sharper focus on what I originally intended for this blog, which was to provide a place to rant and rave with each other about everything to do with Sunderland Footy Club at the same time as getting to other stuff related to Sunderland easier. The Blog for recent months was turning into a post match report blog, which is not what I want, if it is what you want then use the link to the official SAFC site at the top of this page, they are the experts at writing match reports not me. Enjoy your reading and haway the lads!

Brand New Blog Style

2007-03-04T18:46:00.000Z

The Sunderland AFC Blog is undergoing a facelift to make your experience even more enjoyable. There is going to be a whole load of features added to help your following of Sunderland AFC all the more inviting. This reboot will take about a week to complete but you will not be dissapointed. Why not add us to your bookmarks using your browser, or use one of the RSS feed aggregator buttons at the bottom of the page.

Sunderland AFC Blog Appeal

2007-01-13T17:15:00.000Z

Appeal to Sunderland Afc fans. This blog has become a rather popular and well read blog since it`s inception in 2005, it was originally set up to have a rant and rave, then it evolved into a hisorical blog charting as much as possible about our beloved club, but now my commitments are dominating the majority of spare time I have hence the lack of posting of late. I do not want to cut short a website that holds such a strong position in the search engines, I would rather pass it over to Sunderland fans with enough pride and passion for the club, who would like to express their opinions on this site. So what do you get in return? Apart from the recognition of other Sunderland Fans for your completely biased views to all things SAFC, you will also receive a free custom website design from www.website-by-design.co.uk all you would have to do is buy the domain name and hosting and they will do the rest. So it`s a win win situation, you get to blog about your footy club and you get a website designed for you for free, this has got to be a huge incentive if you run your own business and are looking to start opening a new sales channel. If either one or the other of these offers interests you then leave a comment and I will receive it through my email client and get back in touch with you. Climbing Slowly Sunderland managed another win on Wearside today with the winner coming in the twelfth minute from David Connelly, a cross coming in from debutant Anthony Stokes. Sunderland are creeping slowly up the table into the play-off places, but I still have that feeling that we are not ready for a return to the Premiership. If we do go up "again" via the Play-Offs, or through automatic promotion I won`t be dissapointed, but would it be too early for a side still looking to gel as a team? Final score Sunderland 1 Ipswich 0. (David Connelly, 12th minute)

Stoke v Pie Eaters

2006-10-17T17:21:00.000+01:00

Defeat away to Preston NE on Saturday may leave the lads a little downhearted, but I expect the mood is still better than the what us fans are having to suffer. I am not talking about the activities on the pitch but of the attempts by away teams to cash in on the visit of Black Cats fans. Hiking the ticket prices up to take advantage of Sunderland support edges on financial insanity. To do this because of a loyal support beggars belief. The Greater Manchester branch of the Sunderland Supporters Association raised concerns with Niall Quinn when they met last week over ticket price increases for visiting Safc fans. So to counteract the efforts of those who are trying to cash in on Sunderlands support it was proposed that a pie boycott be put in place. That is the simplest and shortest term for it, but will also include Match Day Programmes, beer and other refreshments, badge sellers and generally anywhere in and around the ground where we would normally be happy to part with a few quid on the day. The Pie Boycott will take effect starting with tonights game away at Stoke City thanks to there £5 a ticket increase, so you may have gained a fiver in the short term but how much are you going to lose before during and after the match eh? Will you be slapping another £20 on ticket prices for our next visit? Pie Eating to one side, we are heading into tonights game against Stoke looking for an away day tonic (very foody and drinky this post) having conceded 7 goals through momentary lapses in concentration, we are also facing a Stoke side who managed to poke 4 past Leeds at the weekend. Stoke are another team not to be taken too lightly and they will be up for our visit to the Britannia as all teams usually are when Sunderland AFC come calling. Is this the match that Dwight shows us all why Keano brought him here?

Preston NE v Sunderland AFC

2006-10-13T19:24:00.000+01:00

Preton NE will provide all the problems that Sunderland will have to come up against this season, they have hit a purple patch and definately don`t want there party to end when the Black Cats travel across country to face them tomorrow. Although today has seen what looks like the beginning of the end for John Stead, going out on loan to Derby County having only scored 2 goals during 40 appearances, we will be relying on the firepower of the remaining strikers. Thankfully David Connolly has returned to fitness, but without full match fitness I will be suprised if he starts. Another Player who has failed to impress Roy has been Rory Delap who joined Stoke on loan yesterday. Injuries and suspensions to one side the general mood in the camp must still be high after recent results having won four drew one and lost one. We may not be dominating opponents as of yet but I will settle for the ship being steadied before we progress onto dominating matches again. The jury may still be out on the early stages of Roy Keanes revolution but to date he has performed well.

Sunderland Fc v Sheffield Wed Fc

2006-09-30T14:21:00.000+01:00

Sunderland Afc play back on the home turf today against Sheffield Wednesday. After defeat last week to the Tractor Boys we will be looking for an improved display and a better result than 3-1 from the last game. Although we may well be the favourites in the bookies eyes, i would not expect us to take this one for granted, we still have to get out there and play. The Owls will definately bring their best game to try and take the scalp of Sunderland Afc because of who we are and even more because of who our manager is.

Leeds 0 Sunderland 3

2006-09-13T22:03:00.000+01:00

Sunderland FC took another step on the road to recovery with an impressive away win at Elland road tonight, with goals from Stephen Elliot, Liam Miller and Graham Kavanagh. I do not want to turn this post into a match report with statistics and blow by blow details, I just want to bask in the moment of another victory which has dragged us up into 14th place, which is a great postition so early on considering the recent history of Sunderland FC. The feeling inside is one of pure joy at the transformation that is now happening, an away win is good in itself but an away win against a performance marker of Leeds stature bodes well for the rest of the season, bring on Leicester on Saturday and see how we can perform under this kind of confidence. Even the bookies must have taken a kicking from Mackem bets on a decent away victory. Well done Keano.

Roys Revolution?

2006-09-10T00:28:00.000+01:00

Is this really the beginning of a Roys Revolution at Sunderland Football Club? Or is it just a purple patch that will soon come to an end? Roy Keanes first full debut as manager produced the goods at Pride Park, but how much longer will the adrenalin from 2 victories in a row last? Ross Wallace had a poor first half by all accounts, but produced a great display in the second to become an inspirational part of the 2 - 1 victory over the Rams. We can not rest the whole season on such young shoulders. Is there really a strength in depth where Roy Keane will stick to his words and change a winning side if he felt necessary. Maybe I am being pessimistic or I am experiencing footballing cold turkey from the long run of miserable defeats. A smile must have spread across Wearside when the final whistle blew after what seemed like an unecessary amount of added time (6mins), the brief elation you feel is immediately gone and you are focusing on the next match, which happens to be against Leeds this coming Wednesday, which I believe will be a much tougher test for Roys managerial technique. Admittedly it is still early doors in the season and there is a long way to go, with probably much harder teams to overcome, but this is football and after a defeat to Southen then not too long after a victory against West Brom and Derby and we are suddenly the Sunderland everyone expects us to be. Somehow I doubt this and I think it is still just the adrenalin of a fresh start, let`s see how we fair in a few months from now.

Seven Heaven

2006-08-31T23:21:00.000+01:00

Liam Miller, Graham Kavannagh, Dwight Yorke, Stanislav Varga, Ross Wallace, David Connelly and Roy Keane, all signatures secured within the space of a few days, the players all signed before the midnight deadline of the current transfer window. We already know what Stan will bring to the team because of what he has already shown for the black cats during his last stint here, we have also seen the qualities of Dwight and Graham during their spellls with various clubs, although these three may be in the twilight of their careers they bring with them the experience that may well steady the ship and bring new belief to the younger members of the squad. I personally know very little of Ross Wallace, but those of you in the know may well want to let me know what he will bring to the squad. Liam Miller is an absolute quality signing and I seem to remember running a poll a number of months ago where Liam was among the top three on the wanted list for Safc fans. Although he still young he will bring added strength to our midfield. Graham Kavannagh brought in from Wigan is another with experience and tough tackling style and although he made his name primarily with Norwich he is yet another good signing. What can we say about Dwight that has not already been said, other than he has spent a while on the other side of the planet plying his trade within the Australian league, he is quality player still in the height of his game with a knowledge at international level and domestically. All of these signings for Sunderland FC are welcomed to wearside with anticipation of what this new adventure in the upcoming history of the club will bring. So what do we think of Keano so far? Well if he can attract players of this calibre it goes a long way to show the respect his fellow professionals hold for him. If this is the beginning I am certainly excited about the future that Niall and Roy have in store for us.

Camels and Straws

2006-08-20T19:25:00.000+01:00

Well following the home defeats to Birmingham and Plymouth, you would think the ship would have been steadied against a club of the calibre of Southend Utd, but no it seems even half time team talks to gee up the lads were in vain. So now the enevitable downward spiral of Sunderland Afc becomes even more evident with that last away defeat, it is the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. So how do we go about rectifying the shambolic displays of the current playing squad? Niall is supposedly on the prowl within the transfer market for at least five players, SuperKev being one of them, but how many of these players will want to come to a club imitating the former Wimbledon FC, will they stick around even if they did come, while we relocate to the outer Hebrides and rename ourselves the Hebrides Plums. It is definately another one of those testing times for the fans of Sunderland Afc.

Coventry v Sunderland

2006-08-06T16:07:00.000+01:00

Sunderland AFC`s first game of the new Coca Cola Championship campaign ended in defeat away at Coventry City`s Ricoh Stadium, losing 2-1 to strikes from Trinidad and Tobago international Stern John and Gary McSheffrey. The Black Cats went ahead early in the second half from a poachers goal from Daryl Murphy, who managed to latch on to an inswinging cross from the left. Even if the ball had not hit the back of the net, the man in the middle may well have given a penalty because of a handball from a Coventry defender during the balls flight just before it landed at the feet of Daryl, who calmly poked into the net. Coventrys equaliser came from loose defending on the edge of the Black Cats box, where Stern John was given time and space with his back to goal, to turn and fire a left foot shot into the underside of the crossbar out of reach from Ben Alnwicks outstretched right hand. The deciding goal came from a sorte down Sunderlands defensive right wing, where the birthday boy Danny Collins upended the Coventry attacker, the resulting free kick was taken quickly while the Sunderland defense decided to have a quick nap, Gary McSheffrey stole into the box and fired a deflected right foot drive to Bens left and into the corner of the net. Sunderlands continued hoodoo against Coventry continues. There are a lot of positives to be taken from this first match of the season including the commitment and desire shown by the Sunderland players during the first half, Coventry were made to hurry every time they held the ball and this mounted pressure gave us the upperhand during the first half although it did not produce an end result. Kenny Cunninghams first competitive game in a red and white shirt produced an excellent defensive display overall and brought much needed experience to our back line, which was sorely missed last season. So how can we judge Quinny after his first outing in charge of the dugout? In my opinion I thought he got it tactically correct easily matching and at times outplaying the formation Micky Adams had put before him. Also the way the lads seem to be playing for Niall, you can sense a new belief in the Sunderland squad which had all but evaporated last season, so I would mark our new manager/chairmans performance with a good 7/10. Now we have the visit of Birmingham City on Wednesday to look forward to at the Stadium of Light and what joys will that bring I wonder?

Sunderlands Vice Chairman

2006-07-22T16:19:00.000+01:00

Sunderland AFC`s Vice-Chairman John Fickling is to step down at the end of this month. John will be watching his beloved Sunderland FC from the terraces like the rest of us during the new season, and as fans we should also thank him for all of the hard work and personal finance he dedicated to the club when we were at a rocky stage in our history. As part of the restructuring at the club with Niall Quinns` Consortium John Has decided that the time is right for him to step aside. John has put in a good 11 years at the club and we thank him. Read more about John Ficklings departure from the boardroom. Kelvin Davies has also parted company with Safc, in a £1.25m (£800,000 + $450,000 dependant on appearances) deal with Southampton, Kelvin has not enjoyed all of his football on wearside and maybe the shot stopper is not quite the finished article yet, but he will be definately one to watch for the future, we wish him well. Management Rumours Rumours are still doing the rounds about who will be the next Sunderland AFC manager, with Glen Hoddle being the latest name thrown into the mix, personally I would not see this as the best management choice and would be a step backwards from Mick McCarthy (Now at Wolves where Mr Hoddle has had a stint) and not the most popular of choices among Sunderland Fans. Martin O`Neill has still not addressed whether he will become the next Sunderland Manager or not, but, seeing as Martin gets linked with every club on the planet as soon as a vacancy arises then this is no suprise.

Sunderland`s Footballing Horizon

2006-07-04T12:35:00.000+01:00

£10m is the official bid that Niall Quinns consortium (Drumaville Limited) have put to the shareholders. This absolutely fantastic news and brings to an end months of speculation and uncertainty from a fans point of view. Although there is still 3 weeks to acquire the remaining shares, it looks as though Niall will receive almost unanimous backing from the shareholders. From a fans perspective this is a welcome change that will give vitality and renewed optimism in what was an ailing club. The first task in hand for our brand new Chairman is to attract a positive manager with as much enthusiasm for the game as Niall showed on the pitch during his playing career while on Wearside, if we get the same breed of passion in a new manager we will undoubtedly return to the top flight of the game in quick time. Obviously the new management will need to be of a calibre which would attract players of the same calibre as Niall in his heydey, even if we only attracted 4 or 5 to join the squad we would surely get the results we have been looking for on the pitch. The M word, Money would have to figure in any equation if you include the words quality and player, without trying to tell you to suck eggs, we ain`t got that much even with parachute payments still in place and the £40m or so debt that the new consortium undertakes to chip away at, what funds will be left over for players. Although that may sound like question two on the fans lips, straight after who will the next Manager of Sunderland AFC be? I am waiting with baited breath to find out what the short and long term plans are going to be for Sunderland FC, but Niall you have made the first great decision to freeze season ticket prices, this is a new adventure into Sunderland`s Footballing Horizon.

Bob Murray Resignation

2006-06-14T15:49:00.000+01:00

Bob Murray (CBE) has anounced his resignation from the post of Chairman of Sunderland Association Fotball Club. Speaking exclusively to the Sunderland Echo, Mr Murray announced that he will be stepping down as the Sunderland AFC Chairmen on the 30th June. In Mr Murrays own words: "I want fans to know for certain that I will not be the Chairman of this Football Club at the start of the next season. I am removing myself as an issue. The club is the only important issue not me. This is another big step towards my total exit from the club, It`s consistent with what I have been saying for a long time now. It`s time for someone else to take up the reins". Source: Sunderland Echo 14th June 2006 This news is surely the indicator that the sale of the club is in it`s final stages. Only last week Directors from the club flew across to Dublin to speak to Niall and his consortium of 8. Although Mr Murray will remain the majority shareholder in the club, this will not be the case if Niall and his consortiums offers is accepted. Bob Murrays resignation sees a Chairman who has overseen 3 promotions and 3 relegations during his 20 years in charge, with an unenviable all time points tally while in the top flight of English Football. Bob Murray took over from Tom Cowie and Barry Batey during 1984 while he held the position of Vice-Chairman. It is well known that Mr Murray is an already successful business man away from the club, with the flotation of Omega less than 2 years ago. Sunderland Association Footbal Club has a lot to thank Mr Murray for including the guidance during the transition between Roker Park and the building of The Stadium of Light and the Academy of Light, this is the beginning of a new era now so let`s look forward to new guidance and thank Mr Murray for what he has achieved for the club. Fnd out more about Bob Murray. The recent announcement that Roy Keane is to retire from football will surely have fanned flames and conspiracies that he may be joining the rest of the green Consortium in a managerial role here in Sunderland, can I just say that there is NO official word on this position and until such I will not be speculating.

Dream Team

2006-05-26T21:47:00.001+01:00

First of all I would like to thank all of you who have contributed so much great content to this Football Blog over the 2005/06 season. Without the articles and comments of dedicated SAFC supporters it would have been a lonely season online. This website will be undergoing some minor alterations, mainly to the navigation in respect of promotions and relegations (ours included). What I am going to add is a dedicated section just for Sunderland Blog writers, so where you now see Blog resources furthest to the right of the navigation bar at the top of this page, you will see "Sunderland Blogs". This is mainly because there is a growing online presence of Mackems and I want to give everyone the opportunity to know we are a footballing community and I have no hesitation when fellow Sunderland Supporters want to have a link pointing to their content from this one. With regards to Niall Quinns Consortium and the proposed takeover of Sunderland AFC. At present everything is quiet, this is probably down to essential i`s and t`s rather than a lack of activity. Behind closed doors I know all financial situations will be undergoing some formalities, this still does not mean to say that the current shareholders will accept the bid, it is merely to say that right now, no news is good news. Sunderland AFC`s next manager will undoubtedly coincide with any announcement on the takeover front, either shortly before or shortly after, unless Mr Niall Quinn is successful and already has a management team at the ready. The upcoming World Cup Finals look to be yet another competition where England may fall short again. Why? Simply because I do not think we have the strike force (Rooney included). From the 1st of June, the Casino I am currently working at has started a Dream Team competition for the World Cup (thanks Martin) for which I have know doubt I will win. I have the privilage of working with several nationalities including Polish, Czechs, Slovaks and Italians and there is frequent banter about footy, so when I kick there arses with this Dream Team we will see who has the last laugh. Meanwhile back to Sunderland Association Football Club, while things are quiet regarding the takeover, I will not be speculating on transfer rumours, but I will keep this Blog updated with any other news that comes out of the Club.

Sunderland Home Win?

2006-05-04T15:03:00.000+01:00

What will Sunderland AFC or the SAFC Fans give for a home win tonight against Fulham? We have already managed to set a few new records apart fromt the lowest points tally, we have now managed to set new records for the Least Home Wins, the Most Home Defeats and the Least wins throughout any of the 108 seasons!! (Source: TheStatCat). Tonight Sunderland AFC kick off (19:45pm) in the penultimate game, with the last chance of winning a home game. Chris Coleman`s Fulham FC will not be travelling from just North of the Thames just to make the numbers up, they will be loking to heap more misery on what we have now become, the Premiership whipping boys. What would our past players have thought of this current season I wonder? I am sure that most will be looking on with interest. Who will be the next Sunderland AFC Manager? David O`Leary`s name has now been put forward as a potential candidate, according to ITV news. Martin O`Neill has also been touted, Martin O`Neill would be an excellent choice although nothing official has been reported he would make an excellent replacement to Mick McCarthy, all this providing that Kevin Bal does not get the position permanently. As regular readers of this Blog know I am absolutely useless at predicting the results of this seasons games due to the unknown factor of which team was going to turn up on the day and how they would perform. Tonights match against Fulham FC is no different I will go for our first Home Win of the season. Sunderland AFC 2 Fulham FC 1.

Sunderland v Arsenal

2006-05-01T23:50:00.000+01:00

Sunderland AFC`s third to last game this season saw the French team from the capital fly to the North East (Dennis will have driven up of course) and within a 17 minute period they managed to put the game out of Sunderlands reach. With goals from Danny Collins (own goal) Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry, Arsenal did not even move into second gear. Gaining any kind of result from the Champions League finalists would have been astonishing given the standards we have played at this season. I am not in the slightest bit concerned about this home game or the upcoming games against Fulham or Aston Villa. One of the most entertaining parts of the game were the applause for Thierry Henry when his substitution came, his performance on the pitch was fittingly worthy of applause. More amusingly though were the chants of "Henry for Sunlun". Todays game ended with a downpour but the silver lining on that cloud was seeing Niall Quinn in the Directors box, it is only a matter of days now (a few weeks at worst). The new record for the worst Premiership points tally is now firmly ours, so to all contenders, beat it if you can.

48 Hours for Niall and his backers

2006-04-29T00:40:00.000+01:00

The latest on the Niall Quinn takeover is that the proposal is being collated. While stood in readiness to deal a game of JSP (Jackpot Stud Poker) early yesterday evening, I received the news that Quinns bid had been accepted, thoughts started bubbling through my head, I had to ask the question "How do you know?", The reply came "It`s just come up on Sky Sports". I had an agonising 4 hours to wait until I could get access to the net, When I came online not more than 15 minutes ago I had to verify the story. My heart sank when I found out there had been crossed wires. This is the actual information I found relating to the latest Niall Quinn takeover. Fingers and toes are still crossed but the status quo still remains. Having the particular Job I have, I do get the opportunity to speak to and deal different games to a few of the Sunderland lads, the next time they are in and I am on shift I will try and get a few comments to add to this blog.

Niall Quinn Takeover

2006-04-21T01:17:00.000+01:00

Niall Quinn`s proposed takeover of Sunderland AFC is looming ever closer, this does not mean it will be successful though! Mr Murray may well reject Niall and his consortiums offer. So what price do you put on a club relegated from the Premiership, a first team squad containing 29 players with a combined price of £8,465,000 (combined original transfer fees), the Stadium of Light with a 49,000 seating capacity (£23,000,000 original build cost + between £6 - £7 million additional stand costs), The Academy of Light (£30 million). Add all of those together with the land around the SoL (£100 million (estimate)) and you get a figure of £161,465,000 (not taking into account stand extensions). All of these figures combined with Mr Murrays controlling share asking price, what will the asking price be? Obviously the potential for the club is huge, with global support and the huge potential for ROI, what figure will Niall quinn and his consortium propose?

Mackems v Mags

2006-04-17T22:58:00.000+01:00

Sunderland v Newcastle has always been a feisty encounter with no shortage of passion and commitment, thankfully after todays performance that has not changed either. Sunderland may well have been on the receiving end of another home defeat, this time to the skunks up the road, but in part is a hollow victory due to the level of competition we have offered all season long. Congratulations to Justin Hoyte for netting his first career goal, this will bring him confidence in what I am sure will be a long and successful career. To the match itself. Sunderland dominated proceedings pretty much throughout the first half, deservedly so, they managed to get the ball down and play along the deck the way a team should. Without going into great detail the second half turned bizarre after the introduction of Michael Chopra, after coming on as sub within 20 seconds and his first touch of the ball netted to equalise for the Mags. Not more than 60 seconds later and Newcastle were 1-2 up, then yet more misery was heaped within five minutes 1-3 it did not end there, Luque netted late on to make it 1-4. The second half can be noted as &^%$£*& embarrassing. If you have read through previous posts you may understand why this season has been so disastrous, but believe me I am being polite when I refrain from using 4 or 5 expletives to describe my frustrations at times at the comical defending we have displayed through this match and throughout the season. A lot of credit still goes to some awesome goalkeeping displayed by Kelvin Davis away to Man U on Friday gone, but unfortunately for us there has been no consistency in any position anywhere on the park. Thanks for the promotion lads but we had an inkling you could not cut it. Yet again the scenes after the game were marked with violence, Sunderland fans have planned protests yes, but they are meant to be peaceful and constructive, understandibly the home derby defeat further fuelled a frustration within. The one thing that pissed me off more than anything about the chaos afterwards was hearing that a kid was showered with shattering glass. Until I get the full story I will not comment further. How long will it be before there is another Wear - Tyne derby? Not for quite a few seasons now. I had already written this season off a few months ago so, typing until my fingers bleed at the level of competency the lads showed through this match will be fruitless, I have found an inner calm in readiness for the season ahead. One thing is for sure though, I am glad it was Man Utd that put the final nail in our Premiership coffin and not the Mags.

Man Utd V Sunderland AFC

2006-04-11T00:49:00.000+01:00

So the ref found it even harder to see on the pitch than normal against Fulham at the SOL on Saturday, so in compliance with player safety the official called a halt to the game. Not before Fulham had taken the lead through a Brian McBride goal, again through sloppy defending (no pun intended). So Sunderland have received a stay of execution but this will only last until this Friday when the Black Cats travel to the Theatre of Dreams to face an extremely in form Manchester Utd side. The Red Devils have increased their overall capacity to 71,000 and I have no doubt the majority of those occupied seats will have a glint in their eyes when they face a struggling Sunderland AFC. When the whistle blows at 19.45pm it will spell the beginning of the end for this latest venture into the top flight from Sunderland Association Football Club. I hope the ship is stabilised in time when the new season kicks off in the Coca Cola Championship, I would hate to see Sunderland FC follow in the footsteps of Nottingham Forrest or Wimbledon (MK Dons). We should use the template being set by Leeds FC at the moment, steady the finances, bring stability back to the club and face the Premiership with a more capable side when and only when we are ready. We need to shake off this yo-yo club tag and bring back smiles to loyal and devoted fans.

Sunderland AFC v Fulham FC

2006-04-07T18:29:00.000+01:00

Sunderland AFC`s latest attempt to stay in the top flight of English Football will come to an end if either they fail to win against Fulham or the Baggies win their game., either way you look at it the Black Cats will either receive a stay of execution or it will be mathematically impossible fo r us to survive. If you have read through the posts on this blog throughout the season you may have noticed very liitle in the way of positives towards the team or their performances to date. As a devoted Mackem, this has got to be one of the most disappointing seasons for any player or fan wearing the red and white of Sunderland Association Football Club. Every fan of every football club that ventures into a new season has expectations of how their team will perform, the majority of these expectations are understandibly high, there are also a minority of fans that would prefer to have stability in the team and the club before they start to dream of any Cup or Club success. Sunderland has not delivered a trophy since 1973, our closest rivals have waited longer, but at least they have the consolation of having the funds available to compete in the transfer market. Sunderland AFC do not. So we will be relegated within the near future back to the Championship, we have no permanant managerial position occupied, the Chairmans future at the club looks ever shorter, dependant on the sale of all or part of his shares as well as the added bonus of a team with no real transfer value and morale at an all time low. So how will this season be described in the history books? Sunderland AFC 2005/06 Disastrous. The home tie against Chris Colemans Fulham tomorrow would ordinarily be an entertaining encounter, but it now has the backdrop of relegation associated with it. Score Prediction Sunderland 1 Fulham 2

Sunderland Afc Records

2006-04-01T00:21:00.000+01:00

No Sunderland AFC are not releasing a record in time for the Easter number 1 slot, they are more in danger of setting more unwanted records to accompany the "19 point season" record. Other records to note would be going an entire season without winning a home game, scoring the fewest number of goals home and away and so on, there are more statistics associated with Sunderland AFC that just beggar belief. Todays trip to the blue side of Liverpool sees the Black Cats attempt to either shore up a defence or better still go all guns blazing and actually start winning matches, yes I know achieving either of these is probably close to impossible. A lot of pride in Sunderland Football Club does still remain, this season out of all of the seasons that Sunderland Association Football Club has been in existence we should not go out with a whimper, we should go out with a fight. Embarassing as the season has been so far for us fans who have to go to work and face our rivals who support the Black and White up the road and put up with jibes about how crap our team is blah de blah. The best thing about it is we HAVE played so crap that even the Mags supporters are starting to show sympathy!!! my god, mags showing Mackems sympathy, never in a million years would I have thought it possible. Let`s see if they still show sympathy after we kick their black and white arses at the Stadium of Light on the April 17th. Anyway to David Moyes and his Toffees, Everton will be looking for a victim in Sunderland AFC after their derby defeat to Liverpool last weekend, so yep, you guessed it we are in for another testing game where even I can not see how or where we could even possibly compete. Prediction: Everton 3 and Sunderland 0. On to Niall Quinn and an alleged consortium. This "story" doing the rounds at the moment is completely unfounded and should be treated as such. There has been no official statement from the club about any talks with any other parties. The status quo remains the same as in my last post (the next post as you are reading this). I am pleased to announce that I have rejoined the gaming industry after a nine year absence, you will find me in a well known local Casino dealing Roulette, Black Jack, Brag and Poker. How I am going to manage all of my websites, blogs, business and a family god only knows, but I like to keep myself busy, but it does not look like 168 hours in a week is enough.

Sunderland FC v Blackburn FC Protests

2006-03-25T22:54:00.000Z

The footballing encounter between Sunderland Afc and Blackburn Fc evolved into a more spirited display from the Black Cats, but alas yet again we lost, this time to a Steven Reid goal. Al credit to Reid, he managed to canter from his own half unchallenged al the way into the Sunderland penalty area before driving the ball through a what seemed to be a non existent Kelvin Davis. Sunderland though did not let their heads drop and all credit to them, they managed to go about the rest of the game with admirable conviction, but again with no finish in the final third but it was not for the want of trying. The match official seemed unswayed by any opinion that was offered from a red and white shirt, whether it was Julio Arcas mimic of an official when he marched out the paces the way the official would, to demonstrate that the oppostions wall was not the correct distance. Not much more than that, other than saying that we honoured Kevin Balls request to back the team first and left our protests until after the game. So now on to the protests themselves. No mention in the media other than ITV news that portray Black Cats fans clashing with police. Match of the Day were quite happy to display a two anti David O`leary banners during the Aston Villa v Fulham match, but completely failed to capitalise on the media opportunity of the Safc protests. I will not concentrate too much on the protests themselves this time, but to the well organised Northumbria police and Safc getting together to attempt to thwart efforts to further protest for the resignation of Chairman Bob Murray. You may wish to read the official statement from Safc concerning todays protests before reading further. Unfortunately for Safc though, the fans voice will be heard and seeing as this blog now holds #1 position when anybody has internet access and wishes to find out more about the protests, they will have access to the all the information from myself as a Sunderland AFC fan as well as hundreds of others. For more information from other Sunderland Afc fans perspectives you may want to read Ready to Go (Sunderland Message board) Protest Talks A site aimed at Bob Murray`s Chairmanship MurrayOut.com And another aimed similarly is www.murrayout.co.uk So Sunderland Afc and Northumbria police managed to hinder the protests. No matter how hard they may try, believe me when I say that there is strength in numbers, we can and will talk with our feet. If we as paying Sunderland AFC fans believe our club is not being best served, we will disappear in large numbers so that our fine club will benefit from a change. This week Mr Bob Murray`s reply to the protests was that he will sell the club, but only at the right price. Make your own interpretation of that, but to me that sounds pretty clear cut.

A Tale of Three Kevins

2006-03-18T23:38:00.000Z

Three Kevins, Nolan, Davies and Ball!!! As catchy a title. The resulting post and brief match report tells more of the continuing woe of Sunderland AFC. As predicted Sunderland AFC travelled to the Reebok with probably a very slim expectancy of a result. Boltons recent form has been nothing short of eye-opening, so, playing the team at the bottom you would have expected a goal fest. Thankfullly for us already season long suffering Black Cat fans they only managed to poke 2 past us. What did we have in reply to Bolton? 2 shots, aye just 2 shots. I wonder if Bally (Kevin Ball) gave a pre-match teamtalk that would have included such quips of inspiration like - "Bolton have NEVER beaten Sunderland FC at the Reebok, so lets at least defend that". Not suprisingly though due to the apparent morale close to nil, Sunderland went behind in the second half and conceded a second nearly five minutes from time, the goals coming from Kevin Davies and Kevin Nolan. Was this a reply to Sam Allardyce for the exit from the FA Cup midweek? or was it just going through the motions of beating a club at the bottom of the Prem who seem to have all but given up. Christ I can`t wait for this season to end.

Sunderlands Next Manager

2006-03-14T21:19:00.000Z

Who will be Sunderland AFC`s next manager? At the moment speculation is rife, with all kinds of names being banded around. More than likely, but don`t quote me on this, it looks like the closed season may well see the apointment of Mick McCarthys successor. The obvious reason for that statement is that Kevin Ball has been given the opportunity to prove his mettal, a very smart appointment in the short term to avert more criticism from the fans especially when you consider the recent protests. In the longer term though various names have been thrown into the hat along with the ever popular Martin O`Neil along with Niall Quinn and many others besides (whether they are in employment already or not). Well ahead of all of that though is another important game for Sunderland FC away to Bolton FC on Saturday. The prospects of coming away with any kind of result at all against the Wanderers is highly remote, they are flying this season and all credit to them and Sam Allardyce. How will the lads pick themselves up from the recent home defeat? In which yet another game Sunderland FC performed to a level without any real quality in the final third. No more pointing fingers at management, we already know this season is a dead duck so lets concentrate on the talent in the team (for which I already know what you`re thinking). Sunderland AFC do have some talented footballers within the club and too much hype is placed around the likes of Julio Arca, although he does display a great deal of talent it unfortunately comes in patches with no real consistency. The youth breaking through into the first team i.e Grant Leadbitter for example are showing promise for future seasons (unless poached of course), but how many will come through and how many will be sold to balance books or raise funds as part of a severance package for another sacked manager I can not predict. It would be interesting to see what the budget for Bally or the subsequent manager will be once this season draws to a close. If the board and shareholders are going to speculate funds into players of real calibre the likes of which we have not seen for many seasons. Would the funds be available to go out and poach a mid money player like Wright-Phillips or Tim Cahill?

Save Our Sunderland Campaign

2006-03-13T01:02:00.000Z

Ordinarily this post would be about the last home game against Wigan Athletic, but unfortunate as all of the concerted efforts of the lads turned into another defeat, I would like to bring to the attention a steadily growing campaign to save Sunderland Association Football Club. Those of you who have not followed the recent plight of SAFC may well have noticed our precarious position within the top flight of the Premiership, this is down to results on the pitch, (obviously!) but what you may not know is that in recent seasons Sunderland FC has slowly tried to balance a debt at the club. This debt is not at the stage of having the receivers banging on the "Murray gates" but has more to do with the size of player wages from recent campaigns, so what has this got to do with "Save Our Sunderland"? The fact of the matter is there is an ever increasing movement from Sunderland AFC fans to end the reign of Bob Murrays Chairmanship. The campaign is already in motion and will be until the eventual resignation of our Chairman comes. Mr Murray has invested his money into Sunderland AFC and as Sunderland Fans we thank him for that, but unfortunately the complete lack of investment into a club in the modern era is completely unacceptable. SAFC fans have already noticed a pattern to the tenure of our recent managers, usually brought in with a few games left of whatever campaign, from when Peter Reid took charge, through to Howard Wilkinson and now Mick McCarthy. Why sack a manager because he has not brought in 17 players with the talent of Rivaldo or Zidane with a shoestring budget, as well as expect a return of investment. We got lucky last season with our promotion, but were quickly found out. No longer should we suffer, once we were known as the Bank of England team, now it looks like we would fail to open a savings account there. The last home game against Wigan saw the beginning of what is to be an ongoing campaign to Save Our Sunderland, approximately 700 fans took part in a peaceful protest with anti-Murray and pro Sunderland chants. More protests are planned for the next home game against Blackburn FC, to find out how you can get involved and to find out more about the campaign visit Save Our Sunderland. looking towards new investment from different management of a calibre that can attract the talent to the club and take Sunderland AFC further forward.

McCarthy Sacked

2006-03-06T17:35:00.000Z

Mick McCarthy`s payment for another defeat, this time at the City of Manchester Stadium is unemployment. Mr Murray and the Sunderland AFC board have decided that enough was enough, whether it was the culmination of defeats throughout this campaign or whether they have decided for a fresh approach, the fans will never get to know the true details. Speculation will now start for Micks replacement, somebody with a bit more top flight experience or maybe the return of Peter Reid? all of this and more will be heaped onto the rumour mill pyre. I will keep you updated as to the management situation as soon as I get to know about it, but all we nkow up to now is that Kevin Ball will be our caretaker for the remaining games of the season. Kevin knows our club inside out and after taking his coaching experience while in the employ of Peter Reid he will manage ok for the rest of the campaign. We all remember his playing style on the pitch so from my point of view he is a worthy candidate to inject a bit of passion back into the dressing room. The match against Manchester City was probably the worst start to any game this season. Gergios Samaras hounding George McCartney who dwelt on the ball a little too long and instead of clearing his lines decided to drag the ball back and probably play it across the face of goal for Kelvin to hoof clear, why he chose this option I will never know when the easier and more simple one of punting up field in the first place would have yielded a better outcome. Once this error was made Samaras quickly latched onto the drag back out muscling McCartney and strode into the box and powered home from the remaining angle, the goal was probably made easier by Kelvin Davis going to ground a little too early, 1-0 Manchester City. The home fans did not have to wait too long for their second goal to arrive, Samaras grabbing his brace within twelve minutes of the first half this time half vollyeing from a cut back from the bi-line from a Sinclair cross, 2-0 Manchester City. Within 24 minutes of the game came Sunderland AFC`s reply, Kevin Kyle netting his first Premiership goal of the season, after this the game still never really settled into any pattern and the half was played out. The start of the second half seemed a world away from the first, the next 45 minutes saw the Black Cats dominate the game without any real result in the oppositions box, the only true moment of note was a moment of madness from skipper Gary Breen who for reasons only known to himself decided act as a goalkeeper in the opposition penalty box with a two handed save from David James`s clearance, this did not go unnoticed from the official in the middle of the park who promptly showed Breen his second yellow card and his marching orders. That particular time in the game Sunderland FC were well on top and maybe could have snatched a draw, but the outcome was decided. So what if`s and only if`s, how else could you describe a match and probably the whole of Sunderland AFC`s season. Ultimately though the Sunderland AFC Board deciscion has ended the reign of Mick McCarthy. So now we head into Saturdays home game against Paul Jewells Wigan, managerless. Judging by the way other clubs seem to pick up once a manager has been removed from post though, can we expect some kind of result on Saturday?

Manchester City v Sunderland AFC

2006-03-05T00:17:00.000Z

The Black Cats play todays match against the Blue side of Manchester, which will be televised by Sky Sports for those unable to attend (me included). I will be sat eating my Sunday Lunch at the in laws, probably projecting untold foodstuffs at the T.V in frustration, anger and occasional bouts of happiness. Somehow psycho or, Stuart Pearce to you and me, will have his men battling it out, giving the pre match dressing room chat about how Sunderland will be playing for pride and how they shouldn`t take it lightly blah de blah, so we can expect yet another tough game. Let`s see how the day pans out, personally I am going for a draw, and a score draw at that with John Stead to earn a goal. Whatever the outcome of todays match my continued frustration with the season took a turn for the better when I discovered on the official Sunderland AFC website about the Punjabi Army, it`s great to see the diversity of cultures within our Football Fans as well as our team. I will be trying to get in touch with the Punjabi Army over the next few days, so that they can have their say on this blog too about the ups and downs of being a Sunderland supporter. If you too would like your frustrations or delights of being a Sunderland AFC fan to be heard, then leave a comment with your telephone number or email address and I will get in touch with you (don`t panic, your details will not be published because I moderate all the comments). If you live in the Sunderland or surrounding areas I could even visit you armed with my camera and a notepad! The whole aim of this blog has been about getting the fans voice heard, so take advantage of the exposure and leave your comment.

Birmingham v Sunderland

2006-02-22T23:04:00.000Z

With the winter Olympics in Turin now well under way, it is appropriate that I use the metaphor "slippery slope" when I say that Birmingham v Sunderland AFC this Saturday looks like a crunch encounter the likes of which any Bobsleigh merchant would turn away from. Saturday is must win game if we are to avoid entering the "mathematically impossible to survive" stage of the season. Steve Bruce will be well prepared for the fight whether he plays his offspring or Nicky Butt, but one thing is for sure, we probably need this win just to restore a bit of club pride, however unlikely that result may look. Birmingham FC may be languishing in the bottom three alongside ourselves and they may also be thinking it is going to be an easy win against the Black Cats, along with the native Brum support packing St Andrews we should be in for a passionate encounter. I have no doubt we will be taking an equally passionate bunch in an attempt to raise the morale of a Sunderland AFC side much in need of a win. With the upcoming fixture to one side, I would like to take this opportunity to invite 2 of my readers to become contributing writers to the Sunderland AFC Blog. What do you need to qualify to become a writer for the Blog? A passion for Sunderland AFC and an ability to convey your message in words. What do you get in return? Unfortunately this is an unpaid position, but with the prospect of having your articles read on a daily basis by a daily increasing audience you can take pride in your article exposed on a high traffic site. We are currently on the first page of Google for Sunderland FC (#2 the last time I looked) as well as other related keywords, so you can guarantee that your articles are being read by the fans that matter. Along with your article, if you already run your own blog or website you can point a link back to there. Which is going to help raise the profile of your own sites from the PR and backling alone. If you have no idea what I just said, then don`t worry you are still welcome to apply, just send your name, email and a link to your present site. After all that I will finish with a score prediction :: Birminham 1 Sunderland 2. View all of our playing history against Birmingham at thestatcat

Just Making a Point

2006-02-13T23:08:00.000Z

So Sunderland against Spurs on Sunday last did not turn into a rout, thank god. Edgar Davids was uncharactoristically quiet for a player of his talent (subbed by Danny Murphy making his Spurs debut). The game started as expected, but not the flowing passing game you would expect to see from a side sat in fourth place in the Premiership. The chances were few and far between from both sides until a couple of minutes before the break when a dangerous ball accross the six yard box met the feet of Robbie Keane who sidefooted the ball into the net. Great I thought, this will be the start of it, but thankfully the half time whistle blew. The lads were brought out early before the restart for a spot of warming up. Again into the second half and the next chance did not arrive until midway through, when Julio Arca made a run down the left flank then cut back onto his right foot, a simialer pass that resulted in Robbies goal made it`s way accross the six yard box again, but this time it was Sunderlands opportunity, but for some unkown reason Liam Lawrence did not attack the ball expecting Paul Robinson to gather, he never and the ball just zipped on by. That was Sunderlands only real opportunity up unitl that point. Tottenham never seemed to get into second gear and you felt that they were settling for the one goal, so when Sunderlands goal came in the 87th minute through the persistance of the newest Sub on the field in the shape of Daryl Murphy, I was thinking at last another point on the board at least. You would have thought the game was done and dusted at that point but alas no. A sudden flurry of attacks from Spurs and it looked as though we were going to be robbed of the point,a heart stopping moment deep into extra time when the ball fell to the feet of ex Mag Jermaine Jenas, who thankfully blazed over the bar. Another point on the board, now into double figures, just another 10 points to avoid abject humiliation and just settle for humiliation.

Sunderland v Tottenham hfc

2006-02-10T00:31:00.000Z

Tottenham hfc are the next visitors to the Stadium of Light this coming Sunday, kick off at 13.30pm. How will Sunderland AFC match up to the challenge of Martin Jols` side? Well with Tottenhams recent displays I would suggest we are in for a tonking at home if you pardon the expression. Edgar Davids is working his way back to fitness, so we should have our hands full as a team even if it were just Edgar playing by himself against our whole eleven! No, things are not realy that bad, but that they are not that far away either. It was suggested this week that Sunderland AFC when they came into the Premiership were prepared for relegation. What a stupid allegation, I would suggest we were READY for relegation, judging by our complete lack of commitment of hard earned cash from transfers and gate receipts and merchandising revenue into some kind of quality player or players. Do not get me wrong Mr McCarthy has worked wonders during the present situation with the funds available and with all due respect to our current players, unfortunately I do not think they are quite ready for the Premiership at this stage in their careers. However a few of our players are in the Autumn of their careers already and this is sadly reflected on the field. Yes we seemingly were ready for relegation. But if this is what it takes to balance the books and get us back onto an even keel financially, it will make us all the more stronger when hopefully our present or future manager has the ability to attract quality players to strengthen our squad. How are the youth from our Academy coming along? Is this the time in the season to start blooding them in, to gain valuable experience and knowledge at this level? Personally I would say wait until it is mathematically impossible for us to avoid the drop, then throw in some of the squad and youth players, it will create a desire within that can be harnessed towards the promised land once more. Sunderland AFC is a rollercoaster of emotion, this season has seen the destruction of a lot of our fans belief in the team. Fans are starting to talk of boycotts towards the club, protests against the Chairman and the team on matchdays. Can I just suggest that this in no way will help the morale of our team and will neither inspire what could potentialy be the backbone of Sunderland AFC in future seasons. Let us just carry on doing what we have done for over a hundred years now and chant our chant. Haway the lads.

West Ham v Sunderland

2006-02-02T22:01:00.000Z

Mick McCarthy was asked on Sky Sports news today what he thought of the situations of Wigan and West Ham, along the lines of "are you envious of their positions right now in the season compared to Sunderland AFC?", to which Mick in a very diplomatic reply retorted "no I am very happy for "Pards" and Paul (Jewell)". This next blank space is for you to fill in with what he was really thinking ........................................................................................................................... .................... .................... .............................. ............................... ............................ ....................... Of course he is envious of the positions what crazy man facing relegation with his club is openly going to say "yes I am really envious and I wish I was having their success and not the uphill battle and scrap, especially with the prospect of losing my job". Okay so we are in the proverbial once again. I am not going to rant about how poor we were against the "Smoggies" other than to say that I was so disappointed with the performance that I did not even bother to honour my beloved club with a post about the match, enough said. West Ham this weekend in the capital should be an entertaining affair, well I hope the pre-match entertainment is entertianing anyway because the Sunderland performance will not be. I would provisionally like to say well done West Ham for an easy three points. Congratulations to Newcastle United in managing to sack another manager and squandering another £50 million of your fans money, well I say £50 million I mean to say £33 million because you have that short bloke who plays for England as well, but lets see how good he really is in the summer. Sunderland AFC til I die through thick and thin and not really enjoying the thin right now. Come back for my usual rant after the game on Saturday.

Brentford v Sunderland

2006-01-28T22:28:00.000Z

Todays FA Cup fourth round tie saw Sunderlands AFC bid come to an end. Brentford deservedly won the tie through passion and determination, practically dominating the proceedings from the off. Our league one opponents reached the fifth round last season. DJ Campbell grabbed the first goal of the game through yet more sloppy defending, although to give credit to DJ he has hit a rich vein of form in the league. The former Yeading player playing four leagues higher drove towards Gary Breen completely wrongfooting the ageing defender. Sunderlands reply did not come until the 66th minute when a run down the left channel produced what was obviously a cross from the feet of Julio Arca which found it`s way into the net. Brentford again dug in further and got their just rewards late into the match this time a punt from midfield found it`s way to DJ`s right foot just outside the box, he span to his right took another touch and drove low into the bottom right of the net. A deserved 2-1 win to the home side and yet another cup run comes to an end. Now we have the local derby against Middlesbrough to look forward to on Tuesday. All remaining points available in the Premiership become ever more vital if we are to survive the drop.

Sunderland v Chelsea

2006-01-17T22:16:00.000Z

Getting away from a match report style, I can not comment fairly, considering that I listened to most of the first half on the radio while I was driving back from seeing family in North Yorkshire, it was when I got to the Penshaw roundabout when Liam Lawrences goal went in at which point I lost all concentration on the road and the roundabout I was negotiating and nearely t-boned a the vehicle in front that was happily on its way. Another 10 minutes and I had arrived at the mother in laws, Sky Sports was already on, yet I still only managed to catch Robbens goal/celebration and red card then I was off on another errand. Let`s keep this bit brief because I want to quickly forget about it quickly we have accumulated 12 points fewer than we did at this point of the season during our last visit to the Premiership. Well done the lads for showing another spirited display against opposition at the start of play was 58 points above us with millions of squids worth of talent at their disposal, shame on you Mr Foy for deploying a stupid rule when common sense should have prevailed. From now until the end of the season we are playing for pride and pride alone, there will be the same old rumour mill trying to unsettle our better players, for which this has already started and I am not going to stoke the fire any further by naming names. It looks like yet another manager is going to get the boot for doing exactly what he was asked to do with the pitiful funds he was given, yet no blame will be layed elsewhere and Mr McCarthy is such a modest bloke he will probably take it on the chin as well. If your line manager at work was not given the right tools or training to carry out his duties is that your fault, the line managers or the General managers? We all know this club is failing so miserably on the field because for too long we have lined the pockets of the shareholders, don`t give me that bull about all the debt, we all know fine well with our Chairmens expertise in accountancy he would have had a firmer eye on the profits rather than the success of the club otherwise we would have consolidated our 2 7th place finishes when we had the chance. That was the past, this is now, so what are Sunderland Football Club supposed to do now?

Sunderland v Northwich Victoria

2006-01-08T21:23:00.000Z

This years F.A Cup 3rd round tie against Northwich Victoria, thankfully did not turn into a giant killing, which goes against a practically full strength Man Utd managing only a replay against Burton Albion with a goalless draw. Fulham slipped on the banana skin and were felled 2-1 by Leyton Orient, Nuneaton managed a replay, Tottenham were beaten 3-2 after being 2-0 up by Leicester. No upset at the S.o.L, 3-0 to the Black Cats saw us comfortably into the hat for the 4th round draw (BB2 at 1.30pm). The goals arrived from Collins, Whitehead and then Le Tallecs easy tap in, probably not the prettiest football but it brings much needed cash back into the club. Steve Burrs men gave a good account of themselves and admittedly they should have left the stadium with at least a goal for their fans from a breakaway. Well after this brief respite from our poor form in the league and a short confidence boost, we are now looking forward to a tie against Chelsea who have only experienced defeat once this season so if we can hold them to a repeat of the result we had earlier in the season (1-0) against the Blues then we will have achieved agreat defensive display at least. The result against Chelsea will be an obvious one, barring a minor miracle.

Relegation Beckons

2006-01-03T00:05:00.000Z

Yes relegation from the top flight of English Football again looms closer for Sunderland AFC, not for the want of trying though, again over the festive period there was plenty of huff and puff, but no end result due to the lack of quality available to Mr McCarthy. Yes this season was written off by a lot of the fans early on, but at the back of all of our minds was that may be a small chance of pulling of a miracle escape, that now seems very close to improbable and even closer still to impossible. The January transfer window opens soon so will our Chairmen reach into the coffers to provide those all important funds? Given our financial situation this would be highly unlikely. So what of the possibility of attracting quality to the Stadium of Light? Again unlikely due to the fact that our Chairmen is not daft enough to jeopardise our financial instability further by agreeing to high wage demands even for one, never mind two or three players. So going by this theory, Relegation Backons.

Sunderland AFC v Bolton FC

2005-12-21T06:31:00.000Z

Well The festive Football period is nearly upon us, with the visit of Sam Allardycess` Bolton tothe Stadium of Light on Boxing Day. This will be a game I am going to miss due to work commitments. Yes you may be thinking that I must be mad working on Boxing day, but he kids need shoes as they say! After the extended break in between Sunderlands recent games you can expect a practically fully fit squad to face Bolton, and after their Carling Cup defeat to Wigan they will be looking to take out their frustrations against us. By now our team should have hit he point where they can play without fear and have a real go at teams home and away, so expect some entertaining football ovet the festive period. Lets get another win under our belts and look forward to the Everton game on New Years Day.

Charlton Athletic FC v Sunderland AFC

2005-12-10T02:28:00.000Z

Charlton v Sunderland later today is yet another must win for the Black Cats. Although Charlton will be looking to do the double over us at their place they also seem to struggle at home as well as in their recent fixtures so this one looks like it`s going to be scrappy. With a whole sixteen days until the following fixture at home, a win against the Addicks is a must. A prediction? okay then I will stick my neck out and go for a hard fought 0-2 win to the Black Cats. On the subject of the Black Cats name, I have noticed quite a few of you were wondering where the name derived so here it is. The now official name of the Black Cats was brought into being by way of asking Sunderland fans via a poll on SAFC.com from a number of suggestions varying from the Miners to the light brigade, the SOL`s and the Mackems the eventual favourite won through from a poll of more than 11,000 fans votes. read more about the Sunderland nickname. A lot of Sunderland supporters seem to have written off this season! why? there are still a lot of games to play and we are only weeks away from the transfer window reopening, which I am sure Mr Murray will make funds available again to Mick McCarthy so we can avoid the drop. Admittedly we have not played the best of football, for which I myself have critisized, but I am not writing us off just yet.

Tottenham Hotspur FC v Sunderland AFC

2005-12-03T00:16:00.000Z

Tottenham Hotspur FC v Sunderland AFC later on today is fast approaching. Facing the likes of Edgar Davids in midfield for Spurs would be an interesting event given his style of play and the tough tackling midfield that Sunderland is slowly producing. When is the current team going to come out of their shells and start playing without fear? We have already set yet another record by having the worst start to a Premiership season by any team! Playing at White Hart Lane later today on paper looks like what should be a clash between 2 mid table teams, but we are becoming the whipping boys where every team that visits the Stadium of light or whenever we travel to the oppositions ground, our opponents relish the fixture. This sort of mind set should play to our advantage, surely at the back of the oppositions mind we can become their "banana skin" and in turn get our own season back on track, even at this early stage of the season we are only a couple of wins away from the rest and who knows we may even begin a run as long as Jon Stead gets his scoring boots on, after all it was his goals that kept Blackburn in the Premiership during the 2003/04 season. For todays fixture I will stick my neck out and go for a Sunderland victory 1-2 with Jon Stead to score a brace, which incidently will be his first goals for us since joining in June.

Sunderland v European Champions Liverpool?

2005-11-28T01:40:00.000Z

Okay then, let`s try and find a positive from a quite obvious negative! We are fast approaching a new record that Sunderland AFC set themselves a few seasons back for the lowest accumulation of points within a premiership season, the record was set at 19 points. Let`s see if we can achieve even fewer points this season! What an absolutly abysmal start to a football post. The way i want to look upon our current situation is by suggesting that we have got a great game to look forward too against the reigning European Champions in Liverpool FC, although their fans will suggest they are not the team they once were, I would suggest that we are in for the first high scoring match of the Premiership season so far! By the way congratulations to El Tel from the Footballist who correctly commented that Birmingham would shade it in the encounter against Birmingham at home. Playing against Liverpool should be a game that all Black Cats fans should be looking forward to. Onto a sad note. People around the country may not yet have heard that our Chairman and his wife came under attack while dining out with Mr and Mrs Mick McCarthy at a Newcastle restaraunt, while I may not agree with some of the decisions our Chairman may make I completely disagree with mindless unprovoked violence. The concerned parties and Sunderland Football Club have not commented on the situation. Out of respect to the passing of George Best on Friday afternoon, let me briefly say what a fantastically talented footballer he was, although I am still on the wrong side of the sixties to have had the opportunity to see the man play, we have all seen countless goals he has scored by the magic of television. May I also give praise to the respect that the fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leeds United showed before their game. An open question to all footy fans; When you are placing a bet before the game do you always back the same player every game to score first?

Sunderland AFC v Birmingham City FC

2005-11-23T00:14:00.000Z

Sunderland AFC V Birmingham City FC this Saturday is another 6 pointer. Although Birmingham seem to be suffering a similar plight to our own, I really do not expect too much from this encounter. I may be wrong but unless Mick Mac has started a "don`t let any goals in bonus" then there will be no change to the way we have played in recent outings. I am not going to harp on about the defensive frailties of Sunderland AFC anymore, we seem to have reached a point where we can not really get much worse. At this stage of the season we have already been found out. If the Aston Villa game has not instilled a passion to succeed in the game against Birmingham then there will surely be some straight talking going on behind closed doors at the club. Do we really have the players right now to succeed in the top flight of English football? Leave your comments on this or any other issue relating to Sunderland AFC below.

Match of the Day

2005-11-20T00:45:00.000Z

Alan Hanson, Gary Linekar and Mark Lawrenson on Match of the Day seem poised and ready to pounce with the all too familiar words "If you are bottom of the Premiership at Christmas then relegation beckons", and so on. I am afraid to say I am actually in agreeance, I can not see Sunderland Football Club rising to the challenge. Although West Brom were an exception to the rule last season, avoiding the drop on the last day of the season. How can we beat the drop? I will refer you to some of my previous posts which highlighted the need to start getting to grips with a style of football that may not be pretty but it damn sure will be effective. Too many defensive blunders are now costing us, when was the last time we won a Premiership match at home? I will tell you December 2002 against Liverpool. Allowing for a brief couple of seasons in the Championship. Mick McCarthy was naturally pissed off with the performance of SAFC against the Villains although he managed to sing the praises of Ben Alnwick who managed to keep the scoreline down. To the match itself and the final score of 1-3 to Aston Villa, as I predicted Kevin Phillips got himself on to the scoresheet and I do not begrudge Kevin his goal as well as his muted celebration, thanks Kevin you still have the respect of the majority of Sunderland Football Club fans, which you may have gathered from the reception you received. The match largely consisted of huff and puff without any real production from a SAFC point of view and Aston Villas too in the early stages, when the breakthrough came via an unmarked Kevin Phillips, who easily nodded in from close range, closely followed by an unmarked Gareth Barry who sidefooted his goal from close range then not to long after a lazy defensive display led to Milan Baros cantering past the defense like it was a practice cone. Sunderland were fortunate to gain a penalty in stoppage time from a John Stead "slip". Such was the frustration of John Stead he seemed to be pleading with Dean Whitehead to take the penalty! what did Dean do to respond? He promptly placed the ball on the spot, stepped back, ran up and slotted it into the bottom left then picked the ball out of the net and started jogging back to the centre circle but on the way he appeared to say something to John! being so far away I could not read his lips but judging by the body language of the team never mind John Stead it looks as though things are not all as they seem to be. Black Cats fans are all to accustomed to watching our team fall behind which usually initiates a brief flurry of activity, similarly we fell behind against Villa and as usual we produced a brief flurry but when Gareth Barry slotted we seemed to lay down and die. Where has the belief gone? I know football is a game of confidence, but where does this confidence come from other than rolling your sleeves up and getting on with it, we all know you only get out of life what you put into it so where was the passion we showed against Newcastle? has Mick Mac not instilled a discipline and desire or passion come to that matter. How easy it must seem to glare at your thousands of pounds you have accumulated in your bank account for very little commitment to your chosen career. I `ll tell you this, I personally work a full time job, I run a full time business as well as several websites and most imporatantly I have a family to support, I have nothing less than commitment to all of them, I want to be the best I can be at everything I apply myself to. Why the hell should I do all this just to throw my money away watching a team that I have supported since the Midwife slapped me. These are the things in football that piss me off, you have no right to whinge, you have no right to utilise the word "pressure" in the same sentence as the word "Football". It is either commitment and passion to the Sunderland Association Football Club cause or it is take your thousands of pounds of my money and we`ll call it quits, then make way for the players who want to prove their skills, passion desire and will to win.

Julio Arca Struggling

2005-11-16T23:43:00.000Z

Well it looks like our liitle argentinian will be struggling for the home tie against Villa this weekend, although Arca comments that he is feeling better, it looks like it is touch and go whether he will be declared fit to play. After the international break and a fantastic encounter yet again with Julios countrymen and let me dare to say a bit of luck came Englands way in the latter stages of the game. Although admittedly, we did compete at a great level and performed well enough to earn praise from the most hardened of our critics. Alas the under 21`s did not fair so well, losing 2-1 on aggregate to the French equivelant. On to a different subject and the Night With Mick McCarthy at the Stadium of light. As an SMB member I have taken great interest in apost on the forum that starts....... "-Mick confirmed he will be looking at loan signings in the January transfer window, he has to go into the foreign market as he cant make any more English loan signings. Anastasiou is one he is monitoring at Ajax. He will also look at bosmans, frees etc -Bassila will start on Saturday against Villa - He tried for Bent but he wanted to move to a London club - He didnt try for Kevin Phillips. Mentioned how Phillips had been quoted as saying he didnt really try for the last 2 years at Sunderland, and also we couldnt afford his high wages. - Mhyre wouldnt sign his contract, Poom isnt fit so he wanted a reliable keeper who would be fit all season. Davis was the best in the current market. - He would love to sign Hoyte on a full time basis if he was allowed to leave Arsenal, and of course if he had the money - Gray and Elliott are his best two up front, non of the other strikers have showed anything to disprove this. Gray creates space for Elliott by giving the defenders a handful. He also defended Stead saying he needs confidence. - The only players who've really excelled and lived upto his expectations in the league so far have been Elliott, Whitehead, Bassilla and Arca.- He may have signed a right sided midfielder in the summer, but thought Piper would be fit for the season as he'd done so well in the last few months". Find out the replies to this posting and the reaction of the SAFC fans on the SMB Forum. On a lighter note (as if), Are we going to achieve that elusive 1st home win of the season against Aston Villa?

Kevin Phillips the Villain

2005-11-08T22:59:00.000Z

A massive welcome back should be applauded to Super Kevin Phillips on his return to the Stadium of Light on Saturday the 19th of November and fate always decides that a returning striker enevitably scores against his old side, providing that this time he ends up on the losing side. A good majority of Black Cats fans do keep an eye out for how Kevin Phillips is doing, although his time with the Saints was short and sweet, a move to David O`learys Aston Villa was probably a wise decision. Let me be the first Sunderland AFC blogger to stand up and applaud all the fine football Kevin displayed and all the fantastic goals he scored during his time with Sunderland Afc, you are welocome to return on a free transfer (Mr Murray is saving up for his Christmas Pressies, so he will not be spending any dosh on any talent this season!) The return of Tommy Sorenson will be met with trepidation (on Tommys part) because of the apparent way he tried to hold us to ransom on his departure from Sunderland Association Football Club. Another welcome back should also be applauded to our once popular tough tackling Midfielder Gavin McCann (if he is in the travelling squad of course). Aston villa at home should be looked on as a must win for Sunderland Afc, even if we do not manage that then at least get the better of Steve Bruce`s, Birmingham FC. Our little Argentine, Julio Arca, recently added to the SAFC.com website that we should be aiming to collate at least four points from our next two games, is this optimism or realism? That besides we should have plenty time to prepare for these games especially with the international break this weekend. As a SAFC fan I would have to say that 4 from six is probably a realistic target, but we need to get tight and convert those chances. How many points do you think we will gain from Aston Villa and Birmingham FC at home? or will Kevin Phillips turn out to be a hero (score an own goal) or a true Villain?

An Arsenal side at half pace

2005-11-06T00:47:00.000Z

Well as expected we were torn asunder by an Arsenal side at half pace, worrying? of course not, this was expected. The general consensus before the game was that we were going to be thoroughly beaten, this also materialised into the highest gate at Highbury so far this season (32,810) so it goes to show that the gunners support were expecting a cricket score. So 3-1 away to the former champions is not all bad when you just read the result but if you look at the posession stats (provided by MOTD) then 74% in favour of Arsenal tells a different story, we could not retain the ball, understandable you might think against a team of Arsenals calibre, but where were Sunderland on the day? We showed the Gunners a little too much respect. There is not a world class team on the planet that would cope with constant pressing, did we do this? I think you alrady know the answer! When it comes to top talent they need the room to express their flair for the sake of their own vanities, so why not get in their faces and frustrate them and level the playing condition into the old school style of play. What are Sunderland Association Football Club to do? come the month of May I might have posted another 27 comments relating to: TIGHTEN THE BLODDY DEFENSE. Like I mentioned in an earlier post even if it means 10 0-0 draws in a row, sort the defense out so that we can have a platform to work from. Getting back to the game though and to applaud Ben Alnwick for stepping up to the plate in place of Kelvin Davies, this might be the spur Kelvin needs to get the supporters back on side. Onto Mr Thierry Henry, how would you have deployed tactics against him? like Mick Mac would you have used the offside trap or would you double team or even triple team against him or would you even attempt to get a pace player to chase him all day? Personally I am a firm believer in pressing, so I would have had a player shadowing him like the proverbial **** to a shovel. to conclude, we seem to be slipping further into the mire with no end in sight other than the R word at the end of the season.

Gooners

2005-11-01T20:11:00.000Z

Well now it`s Thierry and Co.`s opportunity to expose the defensive frailties within the the Black Cats! Will we tighten up? I doubt it, I will refer to an earlier post when I submitted that we were playing an attractive style of football, but will this help us beat the drop? I doubt it. Using the old adage that "the best form of defense is attack" will not work against a team like Arsenal because they keep the ball a hell of a lot better than we do and within a few strokes of the ball and the passing ability of some of their playmakers, we will be ripped to shreds. If Mr Henry is fit and well we are in trouble, but without him the Gooners still have goalscorers all over the park. So how do we combet this? Tighten the damn defense even if it means 10 0-0 draws in a row. We need a good defensive foundation to work from, although you can not envisage every kind of play possible from the more creative players in the opposition, but at least we could get the basics right. Stop ball watching and start concentrating in defense, too many times already this season from Midfield backwards have the lads just give up on what seemed to be a ball drifting away into what seemed like safety only for the oposition to pounce. All this aside I can still us putting on a good display against the Gooners in North London as long as the lads show something back to the few thousand fans that will be travelling the two hundred and eighty odd miles.