Abuse is a load of Cobblers - View from the North Stand
9:53am Friday 26th September 2008
THERE were awful scenes at the Stadium of Light this week.
The Sunderland squad, fresh from their narrow Carling Cup win on Tuesday, turned up the following morning to pose for the official squad photo.
However, it couldn't go ahead until groundsmen had cleared up thousands of patellas, which had popped out of the wearer's legs after experiencing what doctors have labelled "a mass kneejerk reaction."
People will be walking with sticks for weeks after the Northampton game.
All of a sudden, to a section of fans, Roy Keane has gone from doing no wrong to be public enemy number one. They've removed Nyron Nosworthy from their dartboards and replaced it with Keane, complete with a steely glare.
Over-reaction? You better believe it.
Just to keep you up to speed, Keane has angered a pocket of fans for criticising their lack of support on Tuesday night. Keane also claimed he was subjected to personal abuse, which is just not on.
It's a storm in a teacup. We struggled against a side playing 50 places lower than us. It happens to teams every season. It happened to Bolton last round and the richest club in the world, Man City, were dispatched by Brighton.
We didn't even lose, yet you'd have thought we'd been spanked.
I've said time and time again, that a Sunderland fan isn't happy until they've got something to moan about, and putting a weakened team out against the Cobblers was just a red rag to the bull.
Fact was, we've got a good squad. The team out there should have beaten Northampton easily, on paper.
But football isn't played on paper, it's a cup game. League and cup form go out of the window. Clubs like Northampton will come to grounds like the Stadium of Light and suddenly transform into top quality footballers. They catch their bigger opponents by surprise.
It's happened to scores of teams before us, and we won't be the last.
But we won.
People seem to forget the fact that we are now one of just nine Premier League teams in the hat for tomorrow's draw.
Of course, performances need to improve, but the most important thing is that we got the win, by hook or by crook - or Anthony Stokes as he's known.
I'd rather us play poorly and win against Northampton, than play well and lose.
A part of me feels that the fans deserved better. But a match ticket is not a guarantee of entertainment. I'd expect my money back if I turned up to Disney on Ice and I saw Nyron Nosworthy stood in front of me, clumsily pirouetting. Likewise, I'd be perturbed if I saw Minnie Mouse clearing a shot off the line at the Stadium of Light.
Entertainment and football don't always go hand in hand - the fact we're through is enough for me.
We're eighth in the Premier League table after our victory over Middlesbrough.
I've found myself staring at the league table and smiling. I should really pull myself together though, it's stupid to look at the league table this early.
But we're slowly but surely pulling in the right direction.
Stewart Downing's penalty miss was a real turning point on Saturday, and goes to show the fine line there is between victory and defeat if you don't take your chances.
It's good to have Michael Chopra back in the goals. He needs to be playing centre forward week in week out while he's in this form, and I believe that he should be lining up with Djibril Cisse at Aston Villa tomorrow.
We only started to look dangerous in the second half, when we went 4-4-2. Otherwise, the midfield just seems to be crowded.
Steed Malbranque was a revelation, putting in his best performance yet in a red-and-white shirt.
Villa are my tip to break up the top-four dynasty this season, so we're going to have to get our tactics spot on tomorrow to stand a chance of coming away with anything.