Recently by William Adams

MARSEILLE midfielder Modeste M'Bami is apparently on the brink of joining us, or so says his agent.

The player is a pal of Djibril Cisse and was apparently in the stands for the Bolton game.

Agent Jean-Christophe Thouvenel says the Ccameroon international has been contacted by two Premier League clubs - Sunderland and Portsmouth

He has previously played for Paris Saint Germain and refused to sign a new deal with Marseille to pursue a fresh challenge in an overseas league.

The 26-year-old is under contract until the end of the season but is expected to be transferred during the transfer window to avoid moving for nothing in the summer.

Thouvenel said: "I can confirm to you that Sunderland are highly interested in signing Modeste. There is another Premier League club that is interested as well, Portsmouth.

SO, FA Cup third round weekend's been and gone and, for the first time in three years, we actually won.

Every year around this time, the same old question seems to be asked - has the romance of the cup gone?

It is just like GCSE and A Level results day, when we are forced to debate whether exams are getting easier or not.

As a youngster, I absolutely loved the FA Cup - I saw Sunderland get to the 1992 final and was even at Hillheads to watch Whitley Bay beat Preston to get to the fourth round.

MOST football fans will tell you a defeat tends to ruin their Saturday evening, if not their entire weekend.

In my case, after two decades of following Sunderland, I have managed to restrict my feelings of anger, frustration, hurt, you name it, to the car journey home from the game, so as not to spoil any other plans I have made. I am not worth speaking to for that half and hour but seem to be able to snap out of it when I walk through my front door.

GOING from an historic derby day victory to two away defeats in a week will have left all Sunderland fans scratching their heads.

It is not as if we're not used to this rollercoaster ride, so much so that, at least speaking for myself, good times are celebrated in a muted fashion, in anticipation of the bad times that are normally round the next corner.

Defeat to Chelsea was not exactly a surprise but much of Saturday night's head-scratching was to do with the formation and players selected by Roy Keane.

Why 4-5-1 against Stoke but 4-4-2 against Chelsea? Why supposedly full-strength on the Wednesday but using academy players on the Saturday?

The defeats are frustrating and see us going into the Pompey game a bit on edge, rather than full of confidence, as we were seven days ago.

However, one thing that has characterised Keane's time in charge is his honesty when communicating with supporters and that has to be celebrated.

WHEN Dwight Yorke arrived at Sunderland, we got our first player ever to have won the Champions League.

When Pascal Chimbonda arrived, we got our first player ever to wear gloves and tights in August.

But who'd've thought we'd get our first ever player to present a MOBO award?

Well, that has now happened thanks to Djibril Cisse, who handed out the Best Hip Hop Act gong at the ceremony this week. Rumour has it Sean Thornton is gutted he didn't win it.

WHAT a bizarre transfer deadline day!!

And I'm not talking about Man City's shennanigans either. When George McCartney left the club two years ago, I, along with most fans, thought that was it for good.

His departure to an extent signalled the end of an (albeit short) era. Ringo was a key player in McCarthy's promotion team and FA Cup semi-final and play-off losing side the year before.

But when he left, it was clear those days were over and we had to go back to basics. Quinn took over and found himself in the dugout too and, as it turns out, his own transfer dealings left a lot to be desired.

EVER since Sean Thornton left the club, we have been crying out for a new rap star.

For those who can't remember Sean, hardly the real Slim Shady in more than one sense, he is a reminder:

SUNDERLAND fans have been given the strongest sign yet Anton Ferdinand is going to sign.

The West Ham defender has been pictured leaving a London casino on Sunday night with, of all people multi-gold medal-winning US swimmer Michael Phelps.

I THINK all fans would admit to being a little surprised at the level of transfer activity at the club, especially after Keane made a big deal in the close season of just looking for a couple of players, rather than the shed-load we got the season before.

The over-riding message sent to the fans was he was looking for quality not quantity, something we were all glad to hear after some of the people we saw arrive 12 months earlier.

No disrespect to the likes of McShane, Higginbotham etc., but they very much fit into the bracket of good Championship players, rather than proven Premiership class.

IRONICALLY, it was one of Roy Keane's mantras that undid us on Saturday.

Throughout pre-season, he has told us his dealings in the transfer market were going to be "quality rather than quantity".

And he's right. This time last year, we had picked up the likes of Chopra, McShane, Higginbotham, Etuhu and so on - hardly names who set the world alight and who could be fairly described as better-than-average Championship plyers who may be able to make the jump.

This time, we have seen Chimbonda, Tainio, Malbranque and Diouf added to the ranks, all players with not just Premiership, but European and international experience.