How High Can Sunderland Go?

It seems to happen to one side each season in the Premier League; one side has a horrific start but turns a new leaf in the new year and is unrecognizable from the side that started the season.

This season Sunderland appear to be the Jekyll and Hyde club of the Premier League this season. They had one of their worst starts to the season in their history and were in a relegation battle with the likes of Blackburn, Bolton and Wigan.

It may have been understandable given the number of new signings at the club, i.e. Seb Larsson, Craig Gardner, Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Nicklas Bendtner following the big sale of young talent, Jordan Henderson to Liverpool.

However, at the end of November, Steve Bruce's three year tenure in the North East was over - to the relief of many fans at the Stadium of Light. Martin O'Neill was quickly signed to a three year contract and his influence slowly filtrated through the team.

Sunderland have won 7 of their last 12 league games only losing to teams in the top 4; this has seen the Black Cats move up to 9th on the table, 9 points off a potential Europa League spot and 12 points clear of the drop zone. They have also advanced to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. The crowds have also started to come back to the Stadium of Light.

It is yet another testament to Martin O'Neill's genius as a manager - amazing to think that not one club has decided to lock him into a long term contract despite achieving massive success with the likes of Leicester City, Celtic, and Aston Villa.

It also proves what most people thought of this Sunderland side: quite a decent side with the right manager at the helm and it is quite clear to see. There is also some exciting young talent coming through the ranks in the form of Jack Colback, James McClean and Conor Wickham along with experienced campaigners like Craig Gardner, Nicklas Bendtner and Kieran Richardson.

If O'Neill stays on, it could be exciting times for the north east of England - with that much despised team up the motorway also doing well, the Tynes-Wear derby could turn into a match for an European spot. Ellis Short is also certainly not short of cash - the American businessman is likely to bow to whatever O'Neill wants to turn the Black Cats into Champions League contenders for the first time since the heady days under  Peter Reid.

For the moment, Sunderland can look at being best of the third chasing pack after Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Man United and Man City. Which given the horror start they had is not bad.  

 

   

Happy New Year - and 10,000 Views!

First proper post of the new year! And happy New Year to you all!

While I was away enjoying the sunny beaches of the Coromandel and California, I mean the East Coast Bays (Hawke and Poverty Bays and the East Cape), a milestone was reached for this blog - 10,000 viewers. Thank you all for reading my blog in its first few months since inception!

By the way, Gisborne has some absolutely stunning beaches -  probably the most underrated in New Zealand which is awesome as it means less people on the beach. Definitely a place I would consider retiring to or remote working from when the time comes.

Anyway, while I was away I did managed to stay in tune with the world of sport. In fact, the weather in the Coromandel on the 4th of January was quite average so I just had a lazy one at the backpackers, lying on the couch watching the Outback, Rose and Fiesta Bowls all in succession with the odd nap.

I have got to admit I hadn't watch that much college football until that afternoon and those 3 games were definitely a good place to start.

Only the Rose Bowl didn't go into overtime but that was still an entertaining game nevertheless - a touchdown shootout won by Oregon (just) over Wisconsin. LaMichael James heads into the NFL draft as a very good running back prospect further down the draft - might suit the likes of the Vikings and Steelers with their stars Adrian Peterson and Rashard Mendenhall out for the forseeable future. His opposite number, Montie Ball was just as good although he will stay at Wisconsin for his senior year.

College football has a brilliant way of deciding games in overtime - start the teams 20 yards from each other's end zones and it really comes down to whoever fails to score last. Michigan State just won the Outback Bowl because Georgia couldn't nail their field goal and Oklahoma State won their first BCS bowl (Fiesta Bowl) because Stanford's kicker missed his field goal in overtime - as well as the winning field goal at the end of the regular period.

Shame Stanford lost meaning Andrew Luck will not graduate a winner. But that shouldn't negate the impact he has had on college football and on Stanford's once-maligned football programme. Luck looks the goods to be a star quarterback in the NFL with a passing game and intelligence to match the very best in the game. It remains to be seen where he'll go - if he goes to Indy, when will his time come to replace another great of the game?

So well done to all the colleges who have won the bowls so far.. Still a few more to go including the National Championship game between LSU and Alabama - if anyone is watching that apart from the Deep South.

Meanwhile in milder-than-usual England, Premier League teams played 4 rounds over Christmas and New Years. This period has always been a favourite for all Premier League fans and has always been a critical one for the teams - and it looks like there were quite a few critical results at the top and bottom of the Premier League.

The biggest winners would have to be Sunderland who are now 10th ever since Martin O'Neill took over thanks to some big wins including one over Manchester City - not really surprising to be honest, I always thought they were a mid table team who just needed a few results to go their way and be up there. Sunderland now can have aspirations of European football next season - who would have thought after the start they had.

The biggest losers? Probably QPR who started out just outside the top 10 but find themselves right in the thick of what looks set to be another tight relegation battle especially with Bolton, Blackburn and Wigan now starting to find their form. It remains to be seen if Warnock can get the best out of his talented but mercurial team - I think they could still stay up but they'll need to get results soon and against the teams below them.




The Premier League takes a break now for FA Cup fixtures - something all fans and players look forward to at this time of the year. Liverpool look to continue their only other realistic quest for silverware this season when they kick off the 4th round against Oldham on Friday night - and hope not to add to the list of historic David v Goliath upsets everyone keeps an eye out for in the FA Cup!

Anyway, stay tuned for my preview of the NFL playoffs!

Ricki Herbert to Manage Sunderland?

After a very poor run of results, the Black Cats have sacked manager, Steve Bruce this morning.

The former Manchester United defender & manager of Crystal Palace, Birmingham City & Wigan Athletic had taken the club to 10th last season.

However with the club teetering 2 points above the drop zone despite apparently making the most of the money made from selling Darren Bent & Jordan Henderson, Bruce's departure was really no surprise.

So who are the favourites to replace Bruce at the Stadium of Light?

Mark Hughes - surprisingly left Fulham earlier this year - probably thinking he was in at Aston Villa. Good fit for the club.

Martin O'Neill - one of the finest managers in the game and probably due for a comeback.


Rafa Benitez - blotted his copybook recently at Inter but still a decent manager. But maybe has too much baggage?

Gordon Strachan - now very much a media pundit but was an excellent manager at Celtic, Coventry and Southampton. Last job at Boro was handicapped by lack of transfer funds.Maybe?

Ricki Herbert - just a joke to get more Kiwi readers for my blog! But he has done a superb job at the Nix and with the All Whites!