Black and white to turn red and white?

There's speculation today that Mick McCarthy is considering taking Skunks' defender Steve Caldwell on loan to the Stadium of Light.

McCarthy was at Kingston Park on Monday for NUFC's reserve team match against Wolves, and tonight's Evening Chronicle has raised the possibility that the gaffer was there to check out Caldwell's form.

Even though Jonathan Woodgate is currently out of action with an injury, 23 year old Caldwell has not been called upon to see any first team action, and it's thought that Sir Bobby Robson would consider loaning the player out.

Caldwell's younger brother Gary, 21, is currently on loan at Derby County FC and could well play against us at Pride Park this Saturday.

Superkev - "I'll always have an affinity with Sunderland"

Sunderland's post-war record goalscorer Kevin Phillips has told the club's official site today that he feels he'll always have a bond with the club and its supporters.

The 30 year old striker signed for Gordon Strachan's Southampton in August in a £3.25m move, after spending just over six years of his career with Sunderland - a period which saw the opening of the Stadium of Light, heartbreak in the play-offs at Wembley, three different managers within one season, promotion with a record high 105 points and relegation with a record low 19 points.

Phillips said today "I really hope Sunderland come up again, because I will always have that affinity with the club and the supporters. It’s been fantastic to get so many nice letters from people up there.

"While I accept it was time to move on, it was so difficult because the North-East gets in your blood - the fans, the club and the place. It has been an emotional time for me to leave the area.

"I didn’t feel I had a chance to acknowledge the supporters last season.

"The final game was a 4-0 defeat by Arsenal - it wasn’t really the right occasion for a farewell.

"The club and the fans were good for me and I won’t ever forget that."

Derby County team news ahead of Saturday's match

Derby County manager George Burley has had both good news and bad ahead of our match with them this Saturday at Pride Park.

The good news (for them, anyway) is that they've managed to secure the services of Matt Svensson - on loan from Charlton - for a further month.

Svensson has scored in three of his five games for the Rams so far this season, including a 73rd minute goal in Derby's 3-2 defeat of Watford at Pride Park last night.

However Burley will be without Michael Johnson after the defender suffered a neck injury after crashing into pitch-side advertising hoardings in the first half of last night's match.

Burley told Derby's official website today that the 30 year-old Jamaican had remained in hospital today to undergo more tests, and says he regards the player's injury as a big miss for them.

F.A. send a message to England fans ahead of the Turkey match

A message to all England fans from the F.A.

Dear Football Supporter,

You will be aware of The FA's decision not to make tickets available to England fans for next month's European Championship qualifier in Turkey. Given the unfortunate recent history between our countries, we have taken this difficult decision to ensure that this important match passes off as smoothly and as safely as possible for everyone concerned.

The FA, supported by the Government, the Police and UEFA, urges anyone thinking of travelling to Istanbul and who might be considering purchasing black market tickets NOT to do so. The Turkish authorities are not expecting our supporters to be present and there will be no segregation in the Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul for England supporters.

The England team has worked extremely hard to secure pole position in Group 7 and, throughout this qualifying campaign, the vast majority of England fans have provided the team with fantastic support. We are extremely grateful for this. However, due to a number of unsavoury incidents involving some England supporters home and away, UEFA have made it very clear that any further trouble could lead to the team's expulsion from the tournament.

We realise that our policy will prevent some fans from pursuing their hobby. We also realise that our stance penalises innocent fans. However, we are doing all we can to protect the wider interests of the game. The England team is as important to the millions of fans who watch matches on TV as it is to the thousands who watch the team live.

Please do not put our country in a position where our players' and coaches' efforts are undermined by problems off the pitch. Please ensure we do not have to face the shame and indignity of expulsion from a major tournament. On behalf of The FA and all of the England players and coaches, please respect our request for England fans not travel to Istanbul.

Thank you for your support and co-operation.

Paul Barber
Director of Marketing and Communications

Breen to miss "up to six games"

Sunderland AFC have confirmed that Gary Breen could miss as many as the next six matches after suffering a groin strain in Tuesday's away defeat to Stoke City.

Breen was replaced by Joachim Bjorklund and Mick McCarthy said afterwards that with hindsight, he believes he should have replaced the Irishman sooner: "Gary suffered a bit of a groin strain and, while I have criticised the players for being bullied a bit, perhaps we should have taken him off and got Jocky Bjorklund on earlier."

The Lads must be keeping the physio busy at the moment, with Jason McAteer, Matt Piper (knee ligament), Phil Babb (groin), Darren Williams (ankle) and Stephen Wright (calf) all currently missing from first team action. Piper and McAteer are expected to take longest to recover from their respective injuries, and are both looking at spending around six weeks on the sidelines.

But the outlook isn't so grim as it might look with Darren Williams back in training and Stephen Wright hoping to be fit for this weekend's trip to Pride Park.

The Lads could potentially play as many as eleven first team matches in the next six weeks, depending upon their progress in the league cup - and the fact that Sean Thornton will miss the home match against Ipswich on Tuesday 30th September won't help matters. Stand-in skipper Paul Thirlwell will also have to be on his best behaviour as he's already on his fourth yellow card of the season so far; his next will see him face a one-match ban at a time when Sunderland can ill afford to have any first-team players missing.