Seventy3' Latest News and Articles

The Ten Game Check

11/22/2012 15:48:00

Things have been hectic here at Media73 HQ so much so we forgot all about Adam King's blog...but here it is in all its glory from the other week!

This weekend I heard a pundit say that most managers know not to take any notice of league standings until the season is ten games old - Sunderland played their tenth game of the season this weekend; and endured a third straight loss whilst extending our winless run to six games. Time for the warning bells to sound? Time to question the leadership? Or time to simply take a healthy dose of reality? I’m inclined to go with the latter, as I genuinely feel Sunderlands season is only just getting started after a stop-start period since August and a spate of injuries, bans and re-arrangements left the team short of focus, form and any foundations of a winning mentality. Let us not forget that less than 6 weeks ago we were enjoying an unbeaten start to the season, and even that was only halted by the Premier League Champions in their own back yard, hardly a disastrous start by any stretch of the imagination. Yet still I see the comments calling for huge changes, for decisive action to be taken, even for the managers’ head. I ask those people one thing – what are your alternatives? Now, I am as pessimistic as they come, and I expected nothing from the City, Villa or Everton matches. Call it negative if you want, but I was right! (So now you can also call it smug). The most disappointing occasions however were undoubtedly the Newcastle and Boro games – I hope to never have to witness two such tepid, dull atmospheres in local derbies again in my lifetime. I think I shared my optimism with the majority before the Newcastle match – I honestly felt we’d beat them convincingly, therefore I have never felt so deflated so early in a game, and once they had scored, as that feeling swept around the ground; the atmosphere turned horrifically stale and so did the match itself. The dull atmosphere, the early goal, the red card and subsequent tactical switches made for a shocker of a game, and one which we were lucky to come out of with anything other than red faces. The Boro game on the other hand, whilst still not a REAL derby, would surely be an excuse to restore a shred of pride, right? Wrong! Quite possibly the worst performance I have seen since the Howard Wilkinson farce a decade ago. The only smile I got out of the night was on hearing the smoggies sing that their team made them ‘happy, when skies are grey’ – bloody good job that! Since then we have stumbled from loss to loss and looked pretty toothless if we’re being brutally honest, but even this pessimist could see the beginnings of the green shoots of recovery on Saturday. I was at Goodison on the historic occasion that we actually scored a real life goal, not only a goal from open play but a goal scored by the enigma wrapped in the myth wrapped in the mystery that is Adam Johnson. And in Johnson I feel we have the perfect metaphor for Sunderland as a whole this season so far – started full of hope, with the full support behind him, an excited home faithful patiently waiting for the magic to happen, then slowly realising that maybe he’s not as good as we all thought as he laboured through another stuttering performance looking short of ideas and inspiration. Sound familiar? Sound a bit like Tore Andre Flo? Sound a bit like Rade Prica? Or sound a bit like the start of pretty much every other season as a Sunderland fan!? The difference this time is that on Saturday, amongst the tumbleweed blowing down from the Goodison stands (seriously though – aren’t scousers supposed to be into their football? I know everyone is ill this time of year but surely they couldn’t all lose their voices at once!?) Was a Sunderland team showing a bit of confidence, a bit of attacking spirit and just the slightest bit of imagination. Then the half time whistle went, we lost our bottle and invited the opposition to have as many chances as they’d like to score against us… oh well, can’t change some habits of a lifetime I suppose. Seriously though, had Fellaini’s cheeky back heel not found its way through O’Shea’s bandy legs to Jelavic, we’d be celebrating a hard fought draw and an unexpected away point – at the risk of sounding like a Martin O’Neill post match press conference – we’re not that far away. The main problem is glaringly obvious, and therein sits my only real worry – I can see the formation and line up aren’t working, so can seemingly everyone around me at every game, so why can’t the ‘experts’ in the dugout see fit to address our glaring lack of creativity? Personally I think Sessegnon should be deployed just behind Fletcher and Whickham – the boy scores for fun at every level, looks fit as a fiddle and strong as an ox, so he’s either got a terrible attitude, is a poor trainer or is simply criminally overlooked (consistent call ups praise from Stuart Pearce and starring roles for England U21’s lead me to the suspicion that he’s a good lad, but just ‘unfancied’ by the coaches.). I also believe we have too many similar bodies in midfield; Colback and Cattermole should not play in the same team – Ginger Jack should be drafted in either from the bench or when Catts is injured or suspended, so by this rule he will still start 30 odd games a season… And so to the enigmas on the wings, or ‘that useless pair of flankers’ as I heard someone call them against Boro… at least I think that’s what he shouted? I am prepared to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt - I honestly believe he possesses far too much quality to remain quiet and unconvincing for any substantial period of time. James McClean on the other hand is showing all the signs of being a player who has simply been found out. He was a breath of fresh air this time last year; head down, attack the full back and don’t give them a moments rest, its great to watch at times, but pretty easy to defend against once you know it’s all he is going to do. I hope he will evolve his game with time on the pitch, and I think playing Sessegnon ‘in the hole’ would assist him (pardon the pun) as defenders would have more to worry about that double marking McClean out of the game every time he receives the ball. Alternatively of course, the rumours may turn out to be true and he could well turn out to be lacking in the intelligence required to develop his game to another level. It is painfully clear that come January we desperately need to invest in a creative midfielder and a different attacking option as a Plan B. Look at our most recent opponents Everton – they were a solid team with a core of long serving players but struggled terribly for goals and laboured in the league over a full season as a result. What has changed? They added Fellaini a couple of years back to provide the imagination and final ball, then added Jelavic to finish the chances. Two players, a complete change around in fortune and now they’re a great bet for a top 6 finish. No radical overhaul, just the correct additions to the correct areas… it’s hardly rocket science. We already have finishers, now give them the ammo. Finally, I would urge anyone thinking of booing the team, slating the management or generally casting a negative shadow across the team in the coming weeks to stop and think about what you want as an alternative? We have a sane American owner (a very rare creature), a well-respected manager, the second best defensive record in the league and some very decent professionals (seriously, have a look back at McCarthys' old squads and try and compare the quality). Causing a negative atmosphere, staying away from home games and forcing the board or management into a daft knee jerk decision and then what? Usher someone else from the managerial merry-go-round through the doors to have a bash for a year? We’re currently looking weaker than the sum of our parts but I am certain this will continue to improve - the first half showing at Goodison showed that. Sunderland supporters on the whole are a good natured, gallows humour, pessimistic bunch – and I’d take that any day over the arrogance and delusion of our neighbours up the road, so with that in mind I urge you to keep the faith – because without hope we’ve got nowt! And you never know; we might just end up being pleasantly surprised… Adam KingFollow me on Twitter @AdamK_82

2012 Summer Signings

09/02/2012 11:27:00

The Great Rumour Mill

07/04/2012 21:09:00

There can be no doubt about how much the Internet has significantly changed our world.

Over the years, this man-made, ethereal spider’s web has connected everyone to everything. You can now tour the streets of Paris, read the greatest works of literature, or watch Neville Chamberlain declare “peace in our time” without even leaving your toilet seat, which thanks to the iPhone, is where most people enjoy their wifi-enabled existence.

For better or worse, we now live in an environment of absolute-instance, where everyone’s actions – from Hollywood A-Listers to your neighbour’s cat, can be immediately reached by hundreds of millions of people during our ever-shortening days.

Twitter is almost without doubt the main source of our newfound craving for content. I remember when it first launched everyone kind of sneered at it, claiming that it’ll only be used to let everyone know you were doing the dishes.

As of March 2010, we were uploading 21 billion bytes of data per month. At the turn of the new millennium, it was estimated that the sum total of all information ever produced by humans was around 12 billion bytes. Not bad, when you realise the Internet actually weighs the same as a grain of sand.

All that aside, what I really want to talk about, in this article at least, is how all this brave new world has affected the transfer market.

I would imagine that, like on most things nowadays, it has had an impact but not being an agent, I can only speculate on how significant that impact is. For example I just ran three searches on Twitter. In one I typed in “EPL Transfer Rumours”, in another “SAFC” and in the third “Football Agent”. The results were pretty spectacular.

It seems that just on this website alone (God knows what the forums look like) people are buzzing away at unconfirmed reports, overheard conversations and rumours cultivated by sources “close to the player”. With around 60 new messages popping up every minute, these scraps of meat get devoured instantly, feasted upon by the pack of hungry dogs that are 21 Century football fans.

All this, combined with the introduction of the transfer windows a few years ago, have helped to create a bottle-neck effect. Before we all lived our lives in relative simplicity – players could come and go as they or their clubs pleased. It seems strange to us now that someone who started the season in one strip could be wearing another by Christmas.

Now that we are no longer forced to wait for the morning paper or the ten o’clock news we spend our days speculating over it all at work, in the school yard or down the pub to a much finer degree.We can instantly search rumours out faster than a pig can find a truffle, as we sit around our tables like wives in a sowing circle.

Is it good? I don’t know. Being someone who hates micro-management, I find it all a little tedious but I suppose it adds to the drama and excitement of what eventually becomes a bigger picture, like a real-life teaser trailer for Hollywood’s latest blockbuster film (funnily enough, I’ve also started trying to avoid those, too).

It’s strange when you think about it, as in reality it’s all just becoming background noise and we’re so many birds chirping on the power lines. In that respect Twitter is possibly the most perfect name for a product or service ever.

What is the use of all this information, though? Can it influence a player’s final decision? Possibly. At the time of writing this article Sunderland and Newcastle were bidding for the same Ajax midfielder, Vurnon Anita, causing the fans to instantly wage a war of words,seemingly losing sight of the fact that he may decide to go with another team entirely.

I think it has even become irrelevant if he’s any good as a player or not, so long as one side gets to pull a quick one over the other.

The Internet has allowed rival fans to interact with each other more easily, too. Last week a Newcastle fan using the handle @Billy_SMB was sending some pretty ridiculous, and frankly laughable, Tweets to Seventy3’s account and also to other Sunderland supporters.

I sent him a message asking him what he expected to achieve by exerting his energies in this way. He didn’t reply and minutes later he’d flown the coup by deleting his account. I was genuinely interested in hearing his answer and now I’ll never know. My doctor has prescribed me some pretty decent sleeping pills to get over it.

Eventually, though, we all get sucked into the furor – I suppose now it’s all about choosing when and to what degree.

The Dust has Settled......

07/03/2012 20:27:00

So the dust has now well and truly settled on what can only be described as a ‘transitional’ season, with a remarkable final day capping a stuttering end to the campaign after the initial surge in form under the guidance of Martin O’Neill. As always, the focus once again now turns to close season gossip and conjecture.

For what is seemingly the fourth year in a row, the club are facing a summer of widespread change; and whilst a full scale overhaul may not necessarily be required, the areas of the squad we need to strengthen became painfully plain to see as we limped over the finish line in a disappointing yet fittingly luckless 13th position. With the unveiling of the clubs new kit, the rumours of a sponsorship deal for the Stadium of Light itself, and another run of sold out concerts hosted by the club, we are looking and feeling like a top end set up, yet little to no progress has been made on the playing side.

Yes, it has been a tournament summer (we’ll conveniently ignore how THAT ended for now…) and negotiations must be a bit of a nightmare with so many international players on duty, but the scouting opportunities are greatly enhanced and you’d hope the manager and his staff have been casting a keen eye across some of the underrated talent on show in Poland and Ukraine. However, it is worth noting that by this week last year, the club had signed Seb Larsson, Keiren Westwood, Ji Dong-Won, Conor Wickham and Craig Gardner as well as making Elmohamady’s loan move a permanent arrangement. The signings of Wes Brown, John O’Shea and David Vaughan were also all but complete and only James McLean’s arrival was not completed by the second week of July.

It makes this post season seem eerily quiet, don’t you think? Although as I write the news has broken of the signing of Carlos Cuellar, elsewhere even the rumour mill which has featured Sunderland on heavy rotation for the past three summers seems to have gotten bored of waiting for us. Names such as Saha and Fletcher and are the only tediously predictable targets being mooted by the usual outlets. Personally Cuellar is the only one of the recent tips that I’d have welcomed with any kind of enthusiasm anyway – Saha will score goals when fit but both he and Fletcher are short term fixes at best; I sincerely hope a player relegated with Wolves and an injury prone journeyman striker doesn’t reflect the scope of our ambitions this summer.

We have spent… OK wasted, an awful lot of money since the initial Drumaville takeover, and a more frugal transfer policy is widely expected to become the norm now that Ellis Short has complete control of the club. It’s a wise move, especially with UEFAs financial fair play rules coming into force imminently. However, I would much rather use this as a valid reason to sign younger prospects, keen to prove themselves at the top level alongside investment in proven quality players who will walk into the starting eleven. Easier said than done I accept, but short term ‘patch up’ targets like Saha send a mixed message to fans, current players and other potential longer term targets. Put it this way; I’d rather sign another McClean or Henderson and lose them for £20 million in a couple of seasons, than pay a 30 odd year olds wages for a year then watch them trot to whichever oil rich country has decided to start a veterans super league this time next summer.

Say no to the likes of Saha, save the signing on fees and wages and put them towards one or two of the quality creative targets on the market such as Junior Hoillet or Ryan Jarvis whilst giving the likes of Conor Wickham, Louis Laing and Billy Knott a decent crack at the first team. The Bosman market is once again ripe for harvest, with Cuellar in amongst other healthy crops such as Hugo Rodallega – who must be seen as a value for money alternative to the mooted Fletcher deal?

I hate to say it – and I’m genuinely cringing as I type – but there is one summer transfer policy making ours look really quite second rate… whilst we seemingly chase relegated targetmen, thirty something freebie centre halves and injury ravaged journeymen, there is another club negotiating fantastic value for money deals for Frances mightily impressive international right back, a Dutch striker described as the future of Holland’s forward line, and a midfielder who has been an Ajax regular since the age of 17. The whole lot will come in at under £25 million and the average age of the players are 23... The club in question are located about 12 miles up the road. Three targets who perfectly meet the criteria of a ‘quality, not quantity’ policy; the very same manifesto announced by Ellis Short last week. If ever there was a time to stop, think and revise our ideas toward recruitment, it’s surely when that lot start to look sensible in comparison!

But I didn’t say that, you didn’t hear it, and anyone who claims otherwise is a liar, a traitor and probably a thief.

Investing In The Future

06/29/2012 13:48:00

After a relatively quiet summer it seems the great Premier League machine is once more waking from a deep sleep, ready to start roaring again. This time, it seems our roar in particular, will be heard across the globe.

Last week, Ellis Short sat with the BBC to give only his second press interview since taking over in 2008 and what he spoke of was a brighter, more financially-sound Sunderland, using our heritageas a solid foundation to build upon, “to now be sponsored by a big initiative [Invest In Africa] who are backed by some serious companies is a good reflection on us and does indicate that we’ve taken a step up.”

These new sponsors, Invest In Africa, seem perfectly fitted to our aspirations, they’re a not-for-profit organisation created to encourage growth and investment on the African continent. Tullow Oil, the founding partners, are Africa’s largest independent oil company, with a net revenue of £2,304.2 million, making this the biggest (and by far the most exciting) commercial sponsorship deal we’ve ever made.

As you can tell, this is a somewhat more inspirational company than the online bingo group, Tombola. Although, Short was quick to sing their praises, too, “Tombola was wonderful for us, they are a local company done very well, who love the club”.

Yes, we must thank Tombola for their service and support, but if we are to ascend to the heights we dream of, then we need a company better matched with our aims on the front of our strip. Invest In Africa are a sign of our intent. They’re a warning to other clubs that we no longer consider ourselves a provincial team happy to sit politely inthe middle of the table.

We know we can quite comfortably enjoy life on this higher plane, after all, we had a very respectable FA Cup run and were the only club to take 4 points from the new Premier League champions, Manchester City. All this, with a previously failing team in the second half of the season. That’s no mean feat.

Our desire to rise above has always been a cornerstone of Sunderland’s core raison d’etre, this being keenly reflected by the colours of our shirt, the crest over our hearts and motto inscribed underneath it: Consectatio Excellentiae, “In pursuit of excellence”.

Obviously all this will take time and much like Roy Hodgson’s plan with England, this isn’t a quick fix job. To me, it seems that that is the way it should be – looking at previous managers and owners (not just at Sunderland) who’ve taken the short cut, have almost always ended up with egg on their face and nothing in their wallets to show for it.

Listening to Ellis Short, his subtle American accent spoke of a deep understanding of how important it is to tread carefully forward. His thoughtful tone is also a reassuring one that he shares with Martin O’Neill on a weekly basis.

With so much turmoil, angst and general fecklessness that most clubs have to deal with when it comes to their chairmen, it seems we have come up trumps with our Quiet American.

We have to remember that football started out as a yard-stick for local pride: if your team was a success, you were the envy of the region, but now the local park has turned into a global field, and should be treated as such.

Some clubs, fans and managers foolishly seem to be fighting against this, but I’m happy that we are not amongst those soon-to-be dinosaurs. This kind of progress is inevitable and once it has started, it’s highly unlikely to stop, so we are right to prepare ourselves inthe best way possible.

We seem to be doing all this just as FIFA’s Financial Fair Play Rules are to be implemented, too. This should set us up nicely as this is an enforced culture other “big-spending” clubs will not be ready or willing to adapt to as easily as we are, being that they’ve lived for too long without anyone questioning their accounts.

We’re lucky to have a solid and great history and I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to create more of it. Afterall, good things come to those who wait.

Siblings (and) Rivalry

06/11/2012 15:09:00

Football – it’s a funny old game. It divides friends, families and communities, but also brings them all together as well.

I am a Sunderland fan and have been for 30 years or so, my older brother on the other hand is a Newcastle fan. People often ask why I support Sunderland (Gods Children) when my brother supports Newcastle (great unwashed). Here is the tale from my viewpoint.

I was born in Gateshead, my Dad (also born inGateshead) supports Sunderland but also as was quite common ventured to St James Park to watch football. My brother, most of his friends, and indeed most of my friends are Newcastle supporters as well. So why Sunderland is the question?

As younger brothers do they are influenced by their older siblings in what they do and how they act from an early age. So it would seem a right of passage that I would become a Newcastle fan. And I must admit when I was young I liked Newcastle, I even had a hand me down Newcastle top (another thing that happens to younger brothers). My friends at school were mostly Newcastle fans bar 2, one of which‘s dad was good friends with my dad and he also happened to work for Sunderland. So the influence of Sunderland started to creep into my life.

I remember my first Sunderland game was on a Tuesday night at Roker Park against Wolves ,which was a birthday treat (some may disagree) and the vivid memory of this was Peter Daniel of Wolves looking quite scary with his big beard and hair. Funny how things stick in your mind. After that, and more through my dads friend and with my best friend at the time, I visited Roker Park for every home game I could, but as well as that I did also go to St James Park quite regularly as well, as football became more and more influential in my life.

So it transpired as you get a little older (not long after my birthday) and I had to make a definitive choice and after weighing up the pros and cons, Sunderland became my team. My brother may have a different slant on this tale but that is my reason. It is not as if I was born in Sunderlandand to be honest if my dad hadn’t taken to me to see Wolves (and the scary Peter Daniel, sorry Peter) it would have been likely I would have followed in my brother’s footsteps and became a “Mag”.

Since then as our bonds with our respective teams have strengthened, so our rivalry has deepened. However derby day is a day when we avoid contact for several hours as is the case with a lot of my close Newcastle supporting friends, it may be some form of mutual respect that has developed between us or the fact that if you gloat it invariably comes back to bite you somewhere along the line (normally very quickly in our case).

We both have been known to write the odd article in a fanzine or two about our respective teams and Barry for one got some ribbing off his pals when I did a piece for Seventy3 magazine, the retroS underland fanzine, about the glorious 1973 cup final. The problem was that my brother got the credit through a name printing error. I saw the funny side but not so sure Barry has quite lived that down yet.

editor ~ Sorry Tony, we have now fired that particular proof reader to avoid any such blushes for your family again. You made the right choice in the end, Haway the lads!!

"I wonder: is this competition an Argos catalogue for the managers with money to spend?" Guy Galloway looks forward to the EUROs...

05/30/2012 08:53:00

It’s a mere ten days before Poland face Greece to kick-off the Euro 2012 tournament and I wonder: is this competition an Argos catalogue for the managers with money to spend?

My first thought is “Yes, of course it is”.

The Euro’s is one of the sport’s largest, most exciting events after the World Cup. Think about it: a continent which is home to some of the greatest footballing nations in the world (and Croatia), all going head-to-head, fielding their best players in an attempt to take home the honour of being crowned as glorious kings of Europe. Who wouldn’t want to use it as one big cash-splash?

Players will almost certainly be aware that this is an opportunity to impress, particularly if they’re looking to move and they’ll also be inspired to give that little bit extra by the fact that they’re playing for national pride, which can be instilled, albeit on a smaller scale, by a club. Look at the way Didier Drogba talks about Chelsea and his reaction when he scored that penalty to win the Champions’ League. But then I think “Well no, not really” because there’s playing for your club, and there’s playing for your country. Both are very different, when you think about it.

Firstly, when you play for your club, you’re part of a group of people who spend almost every day of the year with each other, playing together, training together and socialising together all on a very frequent basis, so inevitably some sort of a bond is created amongst your team-mates and backroom staff.

Whereas, when you play for your national squad, you’re placed in a situation with people whom you may only know by reputation, which can be misleading and even harmful (look at the John Terry, Wayne Bridge, Rio Ferdinand fiasco). These are people you’ve always regarded as the opposition, spending time and effort making sure they lose. A mental barrier that, to me, seems difficult to break down in a short amount of time.

Also, unless you play for one of the “Big Clubs” you’re probably the only person from your team in the squad. Putting a roomful of strangers together, who all have an ego to match their paycheck, and hoping they all get on well with each other for the next month or so, is a big ask, especially when it’ll affect the way you play on-pitch. Not only that, but you’re also working under a new manager, who will almost definitely have his own training regimes, ideas, behavioural traits, tactics and all that stuff. It makes the achievements of teams like Germany, Spain and Italy all the more impressive.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just being typically British in my pessimism (or is it cynicism? I’ve lost track). Maybe this is the reason why the other strong footballing countries seem to do so well – they’re not hindered by this mental barrier of previous disappointments, the fear of embarrassment and our social stigma attached to openly enjoying success. Not to mention our parasitical tabloid-press. Maybe we should be more like the Spanish in that sense, but without their staggering lack of financial sense.

So how will this affect us all at the Stadium Of Light? We certainly need someone who can score goals and looking at the qualifying tables, it looks like we should be keeping a keen eye on the Northern European teams, especially Germany and the Netherlands who managed a combined effort of +56 on GD alone, over four times that of England’s paltry efforts.

I’m certainly interested to see how this competition will shape the next season, and not just for Sunderland. I see it acting as a warm-up to a league that only seems to be getting harder, faster, better and richer with every passing year.

With new champions at the helm, this coming campaign will probably be more contentious than ever – the returning players, most of whom are European themselves, will either be inspired by victory, or fired up by defeat, wanting some sort of compensation by performing strongly in the greatest league in the world. Bring on Europe. I can’t wait.

Exclusive Interview with Kevin Phillips

05/25/2012 12:41:00

Our resident Southerner and stalker extraordinaire, Mark Harrison, went to meet Issue 8 guest editor and star Super Kev in a luxury 5 star hotel in Chelsea where he was staying and preparing for Soccer Aid 2012. He was given an exclusive catch up interview.

MH - How did you get involved in Soccer Aid?

SKP - It all happened quickly. I had planned to go away with the family and a few months back booked a trip based around the chance we might make the play offs and then a few days later I got a phone call out of the blue. The game is on Sunday and we were off with friends the same day but the opportunity is so flattering that I have delayed my holiday to be part of this amazing event. When you look at the calibre of players taking part, to be considered alongside them is fantastic.

I met up with the lads on Tuesday, we train all week then I have a talk-in in the North East on Friday (the Ryhope Prize Dinner), meet up with them again in Manchester on Saturday and the game is Sunday, then off to see the family the next morning as I have been away nearly a week.

When I turned up, I was a bit in awe and I was expecting them to say ‘who are you’ but they have all been great to me. I am not an England legend like Des Walker with his 59 caps, David Seaman with his 75 caps, Teddy Sheringham with his 51 caps or LeSaux with 36 caps.

MH - You have 8 more caps than the celebrities!

SKP – Yeh, you're right. It may have been linked to me meeting Jonathan Wilkes at a Take That concert sometime back and him knowing Robbie well. I chatted to him for a bit so maybe it started from then. I am sure they had a few in mind before me but with the Euros and many premier league players on holiday I got the call.

We watched a video made by UNICEF the first time we got together and there was not a dry eye in the room. It’s heart breaking and the plight of these vulnerable children really hits home. Anyone with kids will agree we have to do something to help them.

MH - So who is playing?

SKP - It’s England versus the rest of the World.

We are up against Roy Keane, Clarence Seedorf, Hernan Crespo, Freddie Ljungberg (who replaced Rudd van Nistelroy), Jaap Stam and Edwin Van der Sar. It’s like a fantasy football line up.

The talk in the build-up is the strength of their midfield as Seedorf still plays and Keane will be fit as a fiddle but we have a decent bunch of lads. Ben Shepherd is a strong lad, he whacked Graeme le Saux this morning, ran straight through him like a bull so I think we will see some great battles in the middle of the park come Sunday.

We have Big Sam Allardyce as the gaffer, aided by Peter Reid it's just like old times and our coach is Bradley Walsh. Bradley is hysterical and I am surprised we get any running done as he has me in stitches. We have been training after the Rest of the World at Fulham and it’s going great; the enthusiasm and passion is immense and everyone wants extra sessions to get as ready as we can be for Sunday. They expect a lot from me. After all, I’m still playing but they forget I am twice as old as some of them.

The atmosphere is good, the craic is the same as in a normal dressing room, but then I look around and remind myself whom I am playing with and knowing that behind that door is Robbie Williams in the loo.

The conversation I had with Robbie was surreal. We were chatting about Stoke, where my wife was also born, how old she is and where she went to school etc. yeh, me chatting with an international showbiz superstar!

If I had a choice between being a footballer or pop star I think I would have chosen the singing route, not that I am any good. The career is so much longer, maybe 30 to 40 years compared to what a pro footballer has, but chatting to Olly Murs he would give up everything to play a professional game. I think he was good as a kid but a cruciate injury stopped any further development.

The highlights of training go out on the TV late at night and after I have appeared I have had people texting me to get this and that signed by my team mates so I think they will all soon start avoiding me whenever I am holding a pen or a camera.

I got a picture for my daughter with JLS and she is like ‘Wow, get me more’ but I can’t go around pestering them too much, laughs Kevin.

MH - Is it a serious game then?

SKP - Once the whistle goes it’s a real football match, the English are desperate to win having lost the last one on penalties. It’s one of the things that have really struck me about this group of lads; they just live and breathe football. All they talkabout is football, the JLS boys, Robbie; all they want to know about is football. I have to pinch myself as these pop stars want to chat to me, some old bloke who plays for Blackpool. They want extra sessions at training and are all in great shape. It will be some game to watch and take part in. I am very excited!

MH - How’s the media attention around the game?

SKP - We have a studio in the hotel and every night a programme goes out with snippets from training and following the banter. I caught the last few minutes of lasts night’s show and you see Will Ferrell sitting on the bench and I was creased up. His appearance apparently shifted 10,000 unsold tickets to make it a full house.

The participants are very appreciative of being involved and are very excited for Sunday; everyone is giving up their time and no-one, especially the likes of Woody Harrelson, Mike Myers and Gerard Butler need to travel across the Atlantic to raise their profile. They are all here to raise money for UNICEF.

There are people walking around that don’t need the promotion, they just love football and UNICEF is the cause that has brought us all together.

MH - So, tell me about the play offs.

SKP - Well, firstly I think to get to the play offs was a fantastic achievement. We lost some top players last summer and so to get as close as we did was great.

It was gutting, again! It is heart breaking as I think we did not deserve to lose the game. I have played many times when you know you lost and deserved to but I don’t think West Ham played better than us. There was a blatant foul leading up to the goal and although you can't blame the ref, it being so late on there was no way back for us in that 15 minutes. It was really disappointing; we had a do planned that night and it was well, just really flat.

In the Charlton play off I am not so sure we were the best team. It was quite even but the way we lost it was horrendous. At Birmingham we battered Derby and lost one nil and again at the weekend we did not get the result our performance deserved. It’s the third time I have lost a play-off final and its numbing now. This will sound terrible but you have wasted three weeks of your holiday and built up your expectations. Hand on heart, if we get to the final next year, I will seriously consider not playing as I am not sure I can cope with it again.

Blackpool took up the option of another year with me. It’s a big shame it’s not in the Premiership but I love working for Holloway. He has been brilliant for me. He recognised I was a bit jaded pre Christmas, not playing yet travelling up to Blackpool all the time. He was intuitive and said he felt I lacked an edge in training, I was fit enough but he knew the travelling was taking its toll. He knows I work harder on my own as I would not want to let him down and that trust has been repaid with the performances I put in at the back end of the season.

MH - Thankyou Kevin. We appreciate your time and look forward to chatting to you again for Sixty6 magazine our pending England retro magazine.

Soccer Aid is a British charity that was started in 2006 as the idea of Robbie Williams. Everytwo years he pulls together legends and celebrities to raise money for UNICEF through a simple game of football. Over £7million has been raised to date andthis Sunday sees a sell-out crowd push that even higher. http://www.unicef.org.uk/soccer-aid/

Siding With The Ascendancy

05/23/2012 19:54:00

Over the past few seasons it seems that Sunderland and Manchester United have enjoyed somewhat of a mutual respect, which undoubtedly came from putting Roy Keane, and then Steve Bruce, in charge.

So after hearing the great roar that erupted from the stands when United lost, can we expect to enjoy the same“special” relationship? Was there ever one in the first place? And what are the repercussions of this fan-to-fan roasting?

Well, first of all, I think this mild form of favouritism most likely only existed because the previous two managers were Ferguson protégés and will probably follow with them wherever they go.

Secondly, I think that as much as it was, in my eyes, just a bit of the usual jibing that comes with the football territory, there could be some annoying repercussions. Manchester United don’t seem to have taken it very well, with both Sir Alex and Mr. Rooney claiming that they “won’t forget” the way we reacted when the score-line appeared (how will we cope?).

Furthermore, I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, but Mancini and O’Neill don’t seem to be on the best terms either, after Roberto dismissed us as “easy” opponents (a bit rich coming from a man who couldn’t beat us at either his ground or ours and was lucky to only just grab a draw) and, as I just mentioned, Ferguson is still smarting at our rendition of the Poznan. It is now less likely we’ll be enjoying the luxuries of having the “first-pick” of either team’s youth squad that we have over the past few seasons.

But then maybe our doing this City-related celebration, and our obvious elation at the score-line, has enamoured the Boys in Blue to us? Not that they need us to act as a training camp for their bench-warmers and young guns in the way we did for their rivals, but I suppose what with the advantage of their endless wealth possibly coming to a closethanks to the FIFA Fair Play rules, we could be of some use.

Is that what we want, though? To be the bigger-boy’s bitch? Not really. I don’t and I’m sure you don’t either. I think maybe under previous managers (no names mentioned) that was the case, but O’Neill seems to have injected a healthy dollop of self-respect back to the club, at least behind the scenes. After all, Sunderland AFC were once known as the “moneybags” club of the North-East and were feared for their quality of play. It would be nice to re-take that place in time, which after seeing how O’Neill got us to perform after he joined, will be more likely to happen.

Overall I think Marty commands enough respect from everyone else not to have to worry about where we stand in the minds of those occupying Greater Manchester (or Surrey, for the United fans). Our celebration was probably an annoyance to him, as it’ll just put more fire in the belly of United when we next play them, giving us a harder time of it.

One thing that is for sure, though, is that next season will certainly bring some exciting changes, both off and on the pitch. Will Chelsea rise to the fore again and if so, who will be at their helm leading them? Personally, I think Di Matteo would be nuts to take the job.Mainly because the man who owns the club is an Oil-Funded Russian Oligarch, those four words alone evoke images that wouldn’t be out of place in a Bond Villain Retrospective.

Also, how will United respond to losing the crown? They’re the come-back kings and will make it as hard for City as possible to retain the title. Will Liverpool finally steady their ship and return to the top four? Questions, questions. All of which set me on tenterhooks for the 2012-13 season, as I’m sure they do you.

Winds of change...

05/16/2012 12:49:00

On the last day of the season a strong North Sea wind swept through the Stadium of Light, clearing out the last debris of what turned out to be a turbulent nine months.

And these winds of change weren’t just blowing on Wearside. They were seemingly present up and down the whole of Britain as Rangers were saved at the twelfth hour; a resurgent Wigan enjoyed asecond wind as the sails of their neighbours hung emptily; and, of course, the mantle of power was carried just beyond the grasp of United’s Old Boys and into the reach of a fresh-faced Manchester City.

Who could’ve guessed all this drama would come to a head on the final day?

Being lucky enough to attend Sunday’s match I got to see first-hand the changing of this guard. As the final whistle blew time seemed to pause whilst everyone held their breath, until the news from London pinged up on the large LCD screen directly above the visiting fans.Their shocked silence was immediately drowned by the roar of the South-West Stand and my father humourously noted that for them, the road back to Surrey would be a long one.

However, Manchester isn’t the only City where this wind of change had such a massive effect. Our season was effectively restarted as Martin O’Neill came in and saved us from the fate that Blustering Bruce was inevitably leading us to. Not that anyone is keen to dwell on that any further – why would we, when the future seems to be a much more exciting place.

This change has brought in a great swell of optimism, and it’ll undoubtedly be followed by some fresh faces after the summer break. Maybe that joyful anticipation will not only be confined to just the great cities of Sunderland and Manchester but, depending on how Mr. Hodgson fares in Ukraine, the entire country. His appointment caught everyone off-guard and was met with an equal amount of surprise.

Personally I think he’ll do well in the long run, maybe not with this campaign, which realistically is probably going to be a bit of a write-off, but in the future his effect will be felt. Reading up on him it seems he likes to play the long-game strategy, putting down strong foundations and remolding the culture to ensure that Britannia will once again rule the waves.

This style of management has brought him much success in his long, cultured career and I imagine is what O’Neill has in mind for our beloved Sunderland (not that I would dare presume to know what he’s thinking, of course). It also brings along respect from the players, too. Knowing that both Hodgson and O’Neill have a proven track record in other leagues, managing the kind of players that so often get the better of us, will give more meaning and power to his words.

But going back to Sunday, I believe that our eruption of elation at the City result wasn’t just us rubbing salt in United’s wounds, but a way of expressing our shared hope for the future, a shared vision that our time has come, once more, to be the team people outside our region rightfully refer to as the dominant ones. Maybe that roar was a statement of intent? At least, that’s partly how I felt at the time anyway.Obviously I can’t speak for my fellow black cat fans.

There is one thing I do know one for sure, though, and that is next season the party with Marty will kick off properly. So for now, let’s just enjoy the calm before the next hurricane season hits.