February 2009 Archives
NIALL QUINN believes no decision on Djibril Cisse's Sunderland future can be made until the end of the season.
French striker Cisse is on a season-long loan on Wearside from Marseille and he is the Black Cats' leading scorer with 10 goals in all competitions.
Cisse has repeatedly said he is keen to stay at Sunderland and the Black Cats agreed a fee - believed to be around 10m Euros - with Marseille last summer for the 27-year-old.
TAL Ben-Haim has been reunited with Ricky Sbragia for the first time in over a year - and the Israeli says his former coach has not changed a bit since moving into the manager's office.
The versatile 26-year-old defender made his Sunderland debut at Arsenal last week and pointed to the clean sheet kept by the Black Cats at the Emirates as proof the Scot has lost none of his ability to organise a team.
The response to Sbragia's appointment as manager in December was fairly under-whelming, so much so that one ill-informed London journalist at the weekend asked if he would like the job full-time, not realising Sbragia was under contract until the end of next season.
RICKY SBRAGIA has challenged his players to extend their eight-point safety margin and stay clear of the relegation dogfight at the bottom of the Premier League.
The Black Cats are unbeaten in their last four league games, a sequence that has seen them climb up to 11th place, opening up an eight-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone in the process.
Sunderland's draw at Arsenal at the weekend lifted them into the top half of the table, albeit only for 24 hours.
DEAN Whitehead believes that dialogue between the Sunderland squad and the management is behind the club's recent upturn in fortunes - after revealing that previous boss Roy Keane didn't listen to his players.
Along with the club's senior professional Dwight Yorke, Sunderland skipper Whitehead has been assigned the unofficial title of dressing room spokesman - and he has been presenting any issues that the players have to boss Ricky Sbragia.
That has led to a steep improvement in morale and a steady boost to the club's playing fortunes. Indeed, Whitehead believes it has also given the club a unity that was missing in the final months of the Keane era.
DJIBRIL CISSE could be in line for a return to Anfield next week after shaking off an ankle injury.
Sunderland's leading scorer missed the goalless draw at Arsenal last weekend with the problem, but he has been back on the training pitch running during the Black Cats' warm-weather training camp in south-western Spain this week.
That means the Frenchman could be available to line up on Tuesday night against his old club, where he spent three years and scored 24 goals in 78 games.
NIALL Quinn insists Sunderland remain as ambitious as ever and will "kick on again" in the summer if they secure their Premier League status.
Quinn spoke of a 'five-year plan' upon his arrival at the Stadium of Light as the spearhead of the Drumaville Consortium, a strategy which relied heavily on Roy Keane.
While former manager Keane is gone, Quinn insists the club's determination to move forward as a Premier League force is not - and that they can continue to "make waves".
KENWYNE JONES is aiming to shake off a knee injury in time for Sunderlands trip to Liverpool next week.
The Trinidad & Tobago frontman limped off in the dying minutes of Sunderlands goalless draw at Arsenal on Saturday after taking a knock.
Jones, who is currently in Spain with the rest of the Black Cats squad for a short warm-weather training camp, missed the first two months of the season with knee ligament damage suffered while playing for his country in a summer friendly against England.
RICKY Sbragia has praised Anton Ferdinand and Danny Collins for raising the bar with their performances since Sunderland signed Calum Davenport, sending a warning to the new arrival that he might be set for an extended spell on the sidelines.
Ferdinand and Collins were outstanding again as Sunderland foiled Arsenal to move into the top half of the Premier League over the weekend, consolidating their status as the Black Cats number one defensive partnership.
That is likely to be bad news for both the returning Nyron Nosworthy, who is edging closer to fitness, and new signing Davenport, who was once again an unused substitute in North London.
MIDFIELD star Kieran Richardson has set Sunderland the target of a top-10 Premier League finish after their encouraging draw at Arsenal.
Richardson was delighted with the way the Black Cats set about matching a Gunners team which hopes to be playing Champions League football next season.
Without the injured Djibril Cisse, the Wearsiders opted for a 4-5-1 formation but did good attacking work too on their way to a well-deserved point.
GEORGE McCartney has hit back at former Sunderland manager Roy Keane, as he argued his successor Ricky Sbragia had needed to restore the confidence and self-belief the Irishman had destroyed.
Keane spoke for the first time over the weekend in Ireland to try to explain what had gone wrong during his final weeks at the Stadium of Light.
In an interview with the Irish Times, Keane was typically robust in defending his actions during his time as Sunderland manager, as he took thinly veiled swipes at chairman Niall Quinn, his former reserve-team coach Sbragia, as well as the players and American investor Ellis Short.
Recent Comments
"worst keeper we`ve ever had, keep fulop in goal, scottish No1 says it all !..."
"Thank you Thank you Thank you Sunderland for taking Tal Ben-Haim off our hands got to be the worst d..."
" redknapp is a Arthur Daley type spiv, he is all mouth and has been unable to get anyone of substanc..."
"Shame Blyth could not get into the 4th round would have been a great match...."
"Fergie -Beam me out of here!! ..."
"St Joseph pray for us St Stephen pray for us St Mark pray for us St Francis pray for us and oh C..."
"I would like to see Paul Jewell take the helm, just have a feeling he could turn the club round quic..."
"Yes another Toon agent. What Keane ment when he said he went as far as he could was, St James Park r..."
"YES!!!! Big Sam is the right man for SAFC, he has all the qualities and experince required, apart fr..."
"Yes the first win on home soil against the toon in 28 years was to much for them..."