Pompey win was the best of the season
3:46pm Thursday 17th January 2008
SUNDAY'S win against Portsmouth was a fantastic effort, and our best performance of the season.
We needed a reaction after the Wigan debacle, and we got one.
There was not one poor performance on that pitch, and even a 60 per cent fit Kenwyne Jones managed to make a massive difference to the game.
Jones is a colossal player. I didn't realise how good he was until I saw him against Reading in his first home start of the season.
If you'd asked me at the start of the season if I'd rather spend £6m on Jones, or the same on David Nugent, I'd have said Nugent anyday.
But I'll admit I was wrong. Nugent looked average and clueless against our defence on Sunday, while up the other end, Jones had Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin - both a revelation for Portsmouth this term - in his pocket.
Kieran Richardson took his goals well and was unlucky not to get a hat-trick with his second half rasping shot.
But the win still doesn't get away from the fact that we need quality in the squad. The midfield, as it was on Sunday, was as strong as I've seen it, but injuries will leave it paper-thin.
Signing the likes of Stephen Hunt will plumb the gaps on the left, but we need a dynamic right-sider to replace Edwards.
As good as Anthony Stokes was on Sunday, we need someone who can provide quality crosses and hug the touchline like Carlos can.
You may remember me saying that there was no chance of Steve Sidwell coming to Sunderland, when the news broke a couple of months ago.
Reports earlier in the week would suggest that I'd be currently baking humble pie with a view to eating it sometime towards the end of the transfer window.
But who knows. By all accounts he's interested in a move to Everton, who seem to have no scouting network, judging by the amount of interest they show in our transfer targets.
If Sidwell comes, he'll be an asset to the team. But I'm still convinced that Sunderland won't interest him.
Forgive me if you will, but I couldn't help but pass comment on this week's goings on up the road.
That's right, Joseph Kevin Keegan has returned to Sid James Park to finish where he left off.
He jumped ship shortly after throwing away a 12-point lead at the summit of the Premiership and now he's back, with his new team just six points clear of the drop zone and in dire need of a boost.
Some say it's a fairytale story, I say it's more pantomime.
Special K has got form as a serial - or should that be cereal - quitter, jumping ship from every club he's managed. Newcastle - bottled. Fulham - quit to join England, a job he bottled in 2000. Manchester City - bottled.
Who knows how much he spent in that time, but certainly his tenure at Newcastle saw Keegan herald a phase of chequebook management, a habit that all his successors have struggled to kick. And now they have closed the cycle, and the prodigal son has returned. How long before he bottles this job? And how much money will he haemorrhage along the way?
I can't wait to find out.
I was looking forward to listening to Radio Five Live on Wednesday night, as there were a few FA Cup matches, such as Havant and Waterlooville and the Newcastle game, where the underdogs had a good chance of causing an upset.
I was the only one upset in the end though, as I lasted ten minutes before turning the radio off in a rage. Stoke had Newcastle on the ropes for the first ten minutes of their game, but Newcastle's first attack yielded a goal - and the press box went mental.
"Newcastle back to their best!"
"Keegan's not here at the moment, but his spirit definitely is."
Claptrap. Is this what we expect from the best sports broadcasters in the world, the BBC?
In 1993, the media disappeared up Newcastle's backside. It appeared briefly to catch a breath, but it's well and truly back in there now, 15 years on.