View From The North Stand
One man's views on Sunderland AFC - County Durham's premier football club.
| TALKING POINT | | | EATING OUT |  | | | EATING IN | | | | PAST TIMES | | |
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Both eyes on the beach
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| UNTOUCHABLE: Kenwyne Jones was one of few players with his eyes on the ball on Saturday |
IT IS one of football's more tiresome cliches to say a team has got 'one eye on the beach' after a particularly poor end of season performance.
But for Sunderland down at Bolton on Saturday, it wasn't a case of having one eye on the beach, it seemed that most players had already jetted off for Gran Canaria and were sat on the golden sands with their bucket and spade.
It was that bad.
I'd even go so far to say it was our poorest performance of the season - there was no creation, the passing was poor, we couldn't keep the ball, and the atmosphere was flat.
Bolton deserved their win, but it couldn't have been any more gift-wrapped for them. Some commentators described their win as 'battling'.
Surely 'battling' would suggest that the other side matched them for long spells? Not in the match I was watching.
If our players had turned up to the Reebok in a relaxed frame of mind, they are more foolish than I thought.
It's generally accepted that Roy Keane is planning a massive overhaul of the squad, so there are certain fringe players who were in the team on Saturday, who may not be around in the next few weeks.
I'm talking about the likes of Liam Miller, who played well against Middlesbrough last week, but reminded everyone why Roy Keane transfer-listed him with an abject display in the North West. He couldn't keep the ball, and when he did pass it, the target player would be left bemused by an overhit, out of range ball.
A great deal of the squad will see Sunday's game, against Arsenal, as the ideal platform to show Keane what they can do. But sadly, I think Keane already knows who will stay and who will go.
I'm looking forward to Sunday. A full house, new kits being shown off for the first time, the promise of good weather, and an Arsenal team who, despite this season's disappointment, still rank as one of the best passing sides in the Premier League.
They are a beatable side though. Whether we will be the ones to beat them is a different matter.
Well done to our reserve team, who lifted the Durham County Cup after a 2-0 win against Gateshead. Gateshead, who celebrated promotion to the Blue Square North over the weekend, represented the toughest challenge the reserves have faced in this campaign, so the result was no mean feat.
I have watched high-level non-league football for a long time, and I know that these sides have a great physical presence. They also play a lot more football than our reserves do, so fair play to them.
Just as the presses were rolling into action, news reached us of Roy Keane's first casualties.
Out of contract Stan Varga, Andy Cole, Ian Harte and Stephen Wright have all been told that their futures lie elsewhere. Meanwhile, the club are speaking to Dwight Yorke with a view to a coaching role.
I'm not surprised by any of these moves. The real surprises will come next week, when Keane moves on to the contracted players at the club.
4:26pm Friday 9th May 2008
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