Fan's Viewpoint

I thought I would do something a little different as many might want a break (to say the least!) from me posting my opinions of the weekend fixtures and I wanted to do something a little different.

To all those non-football fans out there, you will be solely disappointed! Sorry!

I will start with a little story to get this blog going...

Until two years ago, I never understood why people liked football. To me, it just seemed very overrated as people like Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo were paid large sums of money to kick a ball around a pitch and, at the time, I felt anyone could do it just as easily. While my opinion on football has massively changed, today I still feel that the money being paid to footballers could be better used elsewhere.

My late mother was (and no doubt still is!) a massive Sunderland supporter and she constantly tried to get into football, taking me to the odd match but, still, I remained uninterested. One of the funniest childhood memories I remember having was taunting her by saying 'black and white army' (referring to Sunderland's arch rivals Newcastle United) and she looked at me as if to say: "Say that one more time and I will slap you across the face!"

Her brother, and indeed my uncle, along with his wife and two children (one of whom just turned one year old so she will not understand it yet) are all big SAFC fans. Even after my mother's passing, they tried to get me interested in football but again I still could not enjoy it. Sunderland would be my team, should I support anyone, but I just couldn't get into it.

My foster family who I now live with (one of who is a massive Newcastle fan) and my friends are to take the credit (and in some people's eyes, the blame!) for converting me into a football fan. During the 2010-2011 football season, I really started to get into football as a whole. Watching Sunderland's Halloween horror in 2010 (yeah I'd rather forget about that) and the famous 3-0 win at current European Champions Chelsea were the two first real games I watched as a Sunderland fan.

Since then, I have been a massive Black Cats supporter (with Blackpool also being my second team ironically since their relegation in 2011) and currently have a season ticket to the Stadium of Light. Whether or not that is something to be proud of at the minute leads onto the next topic.

During the 2011-2012 season, I was experiencing my first as a season card holder as I loved the atmosphere of being at a match when I previously went to the Stadium. I loved it, even when Steve Bruce was still manager and we were not doing so well I still loved being at the ground. Although, I admit I was enjoying it more when Martin O'Niell first took charge. That lasted the whole of the season and I could not wait for my second outing the following campaign.

All those who have me as a friend on Facebook have seen me going on rants about Sunderland and how they have played this time around. In this blog, I wanted to go into a little more detail in the hope that people understand where I am coming from and understand my frustration.

After the 0-0 home draw with bottom club QPR, I had decided I'd had enough of seeing this defensive and frail play from my team every time I come to watch them. I even went as far to say I was considering boycotting the next home game. Obviously I was expecting fans to curse me or to try and persuade me to go to the match. To be fair, the response I got was understanding and I appreciated that enormously.

Some people felt they had to remind me that it was part of being a supporter and you have to take the bad, as well as the good. I know that, believe me if I wasn't a loyal supporter I would have switched teams long ago. You don't necassarily have to be at the ground to support your team.

I want you to imagine the following scenario and hopefully this will summarise how I feel:

Your best friend is a chef at a resturant and really wants you to go and try out their food. One day you decide to go and try it out, thinking it will be good. When you get there and your food arrives on your plate, the end product is absolutely shit! It is, in fact, one of the worst things you have ever tasted and you never want to eat it again in your life. You feel incredibly ripped off and feel like asking for your money back, but you can't. Your friend later asks you what you thought of the food, with an enthusiastic smile on their face, almost as if hoping you like it and hoping you will go back again. What do you do?

That is similar to how I feel about Sunderland right now. I have paid £280 for a season card and that figure will rise to £400 or maybe more than that. And so far this season, almost every single time I have come to the ground, I have left feeling disappointed and wanting my money back. This, simply, is not good enough. In the most recent home game against Chelsea, I did see an improvement in the performance and good to see us score at home. The problem, though, was that we had to wait until we were 3-0 down to do it!

For us, that makes our next game against Reading at home a must-win. And below is my prediction for the match.

Sunderland v Reading

In the Black Cats' 3-1 defeat by Chelsea, I felt they were far too slow in closing down Torres and Mata etc. Chelsea looked a very dangerous threat and probably just about deserved the win. Johnson's goal was good but they waited until they were 3-0 down to do it. Martin O'Niell will want to put that loss behind him, however, and look to winning this match, which they simply have to do to climb out of the bottom three. Reading, meanwhile, were outclassed and dominated at Southampton and didn't really create any real scoring chances. They were comfortably beaten and were probably lucky it was only 1-0. This is a must-win game for both teams and I can see a winner in this one.
My Score: 2-1

Man City 2-3 Man Utd

 

Manchester United won at Manchester City to increase their lead at the top of the table thanks to Robin Van Persie's injury time winner at the Etihad Stadium.

 

This was the first Manchester derby since City's injury time comeback against QPR in May to lift their first Premier League silverware in 44 years and, perhaps just as importantly, snatch the title away from United.

 

Wayne Rooney's first half double give United a 2-0 half time lead. After a third from Ashley Young was incorrectly ruled out for outside, City fought back to 2-2 through YaYa Toure and Pablo Zabeleta and looked set to earn a point. But Van Persie's free kick in the second minute of injury time sealed three points for Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

 

One of the big talking points before the game was Mario Balotelli starting up front with Argentine striker Sergio Augero rather than the much favoured Carlos Tevez.

 

City made the dominant start, pressing their visitors consistantly and at one point had 76 per cent possession in the opening stages. Knowing the Red Devils' weakness was defending set pieces, as evident in their 4-3 victory at Reading last saturday, corners were easy to come by in the United box early on.

 

After much pressure on the visiting goal, Zabaleta did well to keep the ball going out for a goal kick and found Balotelli who took a horrible first touch and sent the ball blazing over. And that would come back to haunt them just minutes later.

 

On 15 minutes, completely against the run of play, Wayne Rooney ran past three City defenders and produced a cheeky finish which trickled past City keeper Joe Hart and into the bottom left corner.

 

The goal seemed to lift Ferguson's team and started to pressure their hosts, always looking dangerously likely to score a second.

 

Things went from bad to worse for City as Roberto Mancini was forced into making a substitution with 20 minutes gone. Influential captain Vincent Kompany came off with an apparant groin injury and was replaced by Kolo Toure.

 

Augero serged his way past the United defence only to produce a lacklustre shot with De Gea easily saving the attempt.

 

If City fans hoped they could get back into the game, they were to be proven wrong as on the 28 minute United broke forward again. After a good run on the flank, Rafael found Rooney unmarked in the box and was clinical enough to beat Hart again to seemingly give United daylight in the match.

 

City desperately tried to press forward in the last 15 minutes but in reality the majority of the first half was a convincing performance by the visitors.

 

Five mintues into the second half, Mancini took off Balotelli and brought on Tevez, who almost made an istant impact by adding speed to City's weak attack and passed through to frenchman Simar Nasri and David Silva, both of whom were offside.

 

After Ashley Young found the back of the net with an rebounded effort which was deemed offside, the home fans were finally given something to cheer.

 

Just before the hour mark, De Gea made a very good double save and after Tevez was blocked, YaYa Toure kept his cool from inside the penalty area to give City the goal they badly needed.

 

United were then keen to keep possession and try to slow the tempo down in an attempt to see out the game.

 

But on 78 minutes David Silva from extremely close range shot at goal and the ball took a deflection of De Gea and off the crossbar for a corner.

 

With seven minutes of normal time remaining, Mancini brought on Edin Dzeko who has been branded a super substitution and with good reason; he has scored nearly every time he has come off the bench.

 

But despite Dzeko almost making an immediate impact, City had struggled to break through a stubborn and well disciplined United defence and with the clock ticking down the home fans' anxiety grew even more.

 

But the Etihad Stadium then exploded with delight as an 85th minute corner from Tevez was headed away by Van Persie. But the ball found Zabeleta whose finish found its way past a crowded penalty area and into the bottom left corner to get City level.

 

A point was probably what City deserved for their second half display and the match looked set for a draw. However the match was to take another dramatic twist.

 

Tevez brought down Rafael on the edge of the area to set up the freekick. Van Persie, with the help of a slight deflection from Nasri, scored as the ball found its way past the helpless Hart and to break City hearts.

 

It was a conclusion to an outstanding second half which was end-to-end and what gives Sir Alex Ferguson the derby win he craved to give his team a six point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Norwich 2-1 Sunderland

Norwich survived a second half storm from Sunderland at Carrow Road to continue their magnificent run of form of eight games unbeaten in the Barclays Premier League.

 

Chris Hughton's men more or less bossed the first half and were well worth their half time lead but the Black Cats bombarded the hosts' goal for most of the second period.

 

Martin O'Niell will take heart from his side's second half performance but does little to ease the nerves as they are only one point above the relegation zone with a game in hand.

 

The Canaries started brightly and took the lead on eight minutes when former Newcastle centre back Sebastian Bassong got on the end of a free kick and poked the ball home from close range.

 

Sunderland were on the back foot for most of the first half (with their only serious effort a Danny Rose dipping shot straight at Mark Bunn) and barely threatened while the home side constantly pressed forward.

 

The inevitable second goal came eight minutes before half time where after a long ball from Bradley Johnson, Anthony Pilkington did brilliantly to ease past Carlos Cuellar and produced a clinical and composed finish past the massively exposed Simon Mingolet.

 

The visitors struck back just before the interval with a goal that looked extremely unlikely and probably undeserved. Adam Johnson passed to Craig Gardner and the midfielder struck well from just outside the penalty area to give the visiting supporters hope.

 

After what was most likely a much changed team talk at half time, Sunderland's players came out understandably lifted by Gardner's goal and looked a completely different side in the second period.

 

Connor Wickham came on for Steven Fletcher who picked up a knock as O'Niell tried to inject some life in his team.

 

A whole host of chances came their way but the best chance - and arguably one of the misses of the season - came on the hour mark when Gardner's curling free kick hit the right post and the ball fall to centre back Matthew Kilgallon. From about 10 yards, he shot just over the crossbar in front of an empty net with Bunn beaten.

 

The Black Cats did have the ball in the back of the net from Wickham, but the linesman correctly ruled out the goal for offside.

 

Although on the back foot for most of the half, Norwich had a few decent chances to seal the win. Pilkington did well to take curling effort at goal with Mingolet's save keeping it out.

 

And when they had to defend, they got bodies in the way at many opportunites to deny the visitors a second goal their play deserved.

 

Sunderland still had other opportunties to level, one of which was for Stephane Sessegnon when he did well to break past the home defence but could only force a good save from Bunn.

 

Despite their worrying position in the league table, O'Niell will be delighted with his side's second half display. It is the spirit they will need ahead of a tricky December including fixtures against Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City and Tottenham.