Coverage for the week of the 5th - 11th December

As another topsy-turvy week goes by, down here in the bowels of the tf bunker we’re still wondering “What would we do if we followed someone like Charlton?”

The week begins with reaction to an insipid performance against the equally poor Aston Villa. (Article) (Article) (Article). Henry Winter for once speaks sense when he suggests, “ineptitude threatens to engulf Souness” (Article). A missed penalty (and what a miss) keeping Souness in a job it would appear. A fairytale over? (Article) If it ever began, yes. The pressure is on and Souness admits that he is being kept awake at nights. (Article) Funny, I thought he wasn’t feeling any strain this time last week. Well they do say a week is a long time in football I suppose.

No wonder then that while the Scot denies he is interested in a return to Glasgow (Article) speculation was still mounting that a Rangers move was still on the cards (Article) with Alan Oliver leaving little doubt who he fancies to be Souness’ successor. The players meanwhile remain firmly behind their manager (Article) (Article) (Article) as are The Journal (Article) who, on the back of their “Kieron Dyer Love-a-thon”, seem to be keen to support the minority position on Tyneside. Or be a mouthpiece for the club. Not that I would suggest the latter of course. Neither would anyone in the tf bunker. Not a soul.

The remaining questions (Article) were answered when Rangers announced that McLeish was going nowhere (Article) and Souness proclaimed likewise (Article). Ah well, there’s always next week. No wonder the manager’s position at NUFC gets labelled as the job with the most pressure in football. (Article) Rangers and Celtic probably close behind, especially when things don’t go according to plan.

Shay Given was rightly annoyed after the game. (Article) A hint of things to come in the week ahead perhaps. And two players were singled out after their performances. Amady Faye praised for actually looking like a footballer for once (Article) (Article) and Titus Bungle for another stupid mistake that we keep asking him to cut out of his game (Article) and we keep fooling ourselves that he has. Until he makes the next one. And I think it is players like Titus who Scott Parker is aiming his post match comments at when he calls for less “Jekyll and Hyde” performances. (Article) (Article). Then again there are plenty who have been consistent this season. The consistently bad and, of course, the consistently injured. Relying on the return of “crocks”? (Article) You bet we are.

And so this brings us very neatly to Kieron Dyer and his never ending comeback trail. Someone should give him a map or something as he seems to have got lost. Dyer had yet another one of his “set backs” (Article) (Article) (Article), a seemingly never ending series of minor problems that look rather like a very big problem that is still keeping him out of first team action despite some of the world’s finest medical minds, witch doctors and snake oil salesmen having an input to his rehabilitation. Add to that the ongoing mystery that is Owen’s groin (whilst he flies to Munich for pre-World Cup promotional work) (Article) (Article) we faced the distinct possibility of being short of seven players for the weekend’s fixture with Arsenal (Article) leaving us depleted and right “off the pace”. (Article)

Another one of the lost seven would be Steven Taylor, still struggling with a shoulder problem picked up whilst training with England U-21s. (Article) With NUFC contemplating demanding compensation (Article) it brings up yet another one of those awkward club vs. country rows. With West Ham likely to do the same over Nigel Reo Coker, injured in the same U -21 training session, this one may well rumble beyond Taylor’s eventual return.

Frustration was the next theme of the week. Firstly Robbie Elliott proclaiming that the players feel our pain also (Article) with young Peter Ramage singing from the same hymn sheet (Article) and Nobby Solano believing we can still make the Champions’ League places (Article) and that Albert Luque can become a great player for NUFC given time to settle. (Article) Time we don’t really have mate. Then again if you can help him understand what we the people desire from our players you might have a point. Then enter frustration of the goalkeeping variety.

After another rant urging the team to focus (Article) we got the first salvo from the Given camp with contract talks forthcoming. (Article) (Article) The lad is, not just in my opinion, the best goalkeeper in the Premiership bar none. Would any of us blame the lad if he eventually called it a day in search of honours? I doubt it. We MUST match his ambition and we MUST get him signed. Add to that Steve Harper’s itchy feet this week (Article) we could be in an interesting position goalkeeper wise come the summer. Shay Given is the foundation that we could build a hell of a side around. And we say that every year. And every year we fail to deliver and instead of foundation he is the thin green line, saving how many points every season with breathtaking saves? Over to you Mr Chairman.

Also venting his anger, this time at his “friends” after a trial by TV following the Villa game was Graeme Souness. (Article) (Article) Whilst this is now part and parcel of the modern game, with cameras missing nothing and so called experts able to spin any situation to make themselves look big and clever, you can see where he’s coming from. Especially when we know that when the heat was on and Lawrenson was brought into NUFC by Keegan he couldn’t cut the mustard. It’s easier in the studio isn’t it?

Speaking of Keegan, Supermac continued his own curious personal agenda by claiming that Keegan was the only manager to “get it right” (Article). Well the football was pretty and it was exciting times that none of us would change. Well except in one way. What exactly did we win amongst all that? And how big a lead did we throw away when he lost the plot? And who threw his toys out of the cot and walked, leaving a club with no reserves, no youth set up and looking to build an academy system from scratch? I suppose it depends on what exactly you mean by “getting it right” doesn’t it?

And so to the weekend and the Arsenal game. What a result and a huge performance, out of the blue and very welcome. (Article) (Article) (Article) And here’s some more identikit match reports from the Sundays, of course (Article) (Article) (Article) Only the BBC (Article) and “Sunderland’s own” Louise Taylor (Article) seemed to be watching a different game. I wonder why? And I wonder if that was the game Arsene Wenger was watching. As the Observer match report rightly wonders how come he didn’t have one of his regular attacks of blindness during this fixture. (Article). How can a man who has seen his side amass more red cards than any other over the last few years, a manager who seems to spend half of his time claiming he did not see anything or defending one player or another (Viera springs to mind) criticise any team for being “over-physical”? (Article) (Article) Bad loser. Get over it. And whilst ex-Arsenal defender Lee Dixon whinges on Match of the Day I don’t hear any uproar to look at Lehmann’s use of the elbow during the challenge that saw the immense Scott Parker laid out and minus a tooth. Funny that. This was the sort of blood (literally) and guts performance we needed and provides evidence that perhaps the dressing room is better and united behind the manager after all. (Article) (Article) More of that and less of the shite we saw against Villa please lads.

I’ll leave you this week with an update on Simon Jordan, outspoken Crystal Palace chairman, rapidly becoming one of the best reads in the press every week and, in my opinion, champion of common sense in football, if that is at all possible like. You’ll remember he was up on an FA charge and was this week given a suspended fine of £10,000. (Article) By Sunday I think it is fair to say that the fine won’t be suspended very long. (Article) Viva Zapata!

NM