Setanta finally Give US based supporters some holiday cheer

Personally I have already had a strange new year. Despite promising myself that I would never, ever, do it…. I actually ended up in Times Square (only because it was unusually warm this year) on a cold winter night to watch a several million multi-colored dollar ball drop (that looked more like a golf-ball) while herded into a no-alcohol roped off area like cats trying to get into a sardine can. (a word of warning to other would be square-goers, get there early… like maybe four-o’clock or mid day if you want a better view, there are bars in the square you can spend a lot of the afternoon in, but make sure you are not in one of the ones that are roped off just outside, festivities usually start at six and a few hours before this they start closing streets off one by one.).

But its also been a strange last few weeks for Sunderland supporters, with a series of unfortunate scorelines determining a chaotic start to the new year and 2005 that have left the lads wobbling like a big Christmas jelly at a time they should be getting ready to clean up their opposition. Certainly if Sunderland want to have a decent go at not being in the playoffs and yet still being promoted in the top two they are going to have to improve on their current run of form, but currently, thanks to an equally strange series of scorelines that have befallen SAFC’s current promotion rivals, Sunderland still have a good chance and it would not pay to start throwing in the towel just yet…. After all, all it would take would be a good run of games and we would be in with a shot at promotion.

League-tables and recent losses aside however, 2005 has also brought with it some good news for Sunderland supporters in the USA and Canada in that Setanta Sports; a company that I have much berated in this column, despite their policy of showing a live championship league match once in a blue moon (which is still better then not having any championship matches), has finally relinquished the idea that *maybe*, just maybe, there is a market for more live television appearances in the league outside of the premiership, and they are soon to start showing a minimum of two live Championship matches now a week. With Sunderland being so near the top of the table we can certainly expect plenty of red and white action in the Big apple in the second half of the study.

This needless to say is going to be very good news, they already show the hated ‘almost live’ games (a bit pointless) and also insist on charging bars extortionate amounts (and not by simply charging them either, they instill their own paid employees to the bars they choose and even then only allow a certain number of bars in a certain radius to have the games, thus making sure they have the monopoly with a maximum attendance and simultaneously do not have to pay more employees to collect their self imposed ‘beer tax’) to premiership and cup matches. However this act is certainly in the right direction and Setanta (who do not charge for the pub channel in which they will show these Championship games) is showing another small shift in the American ‘pay per view’ culture’ towards fan friendly television.... at least till SAFC are in the premiership and we have to pay their extornionate bar entrance fee.

-'The Yankee Mackem'

If you or anyone you know is going to be around in NYC during this new year and want to talk to the New York Supporters then please send me a Personal Message to ‘The Yankee Mackem’ via the Ready to go Sunderland message board .

Sunderland 1-1 Gillingham

In mid-November, Julio put pen to paper on a new contract. Just under two months later, his teammates did their best to show Sunderland fans exactly how valuable that signing was. Without him, the team looked lost, nervous and decidedly uncreative. With McCarthy continuously speaking about our strength in depth, this performance, against a disciplined but very poor Gillingham side, if anything, highlighted how the absence of just one player can influence the performance of many.

His absence, however, didn’t just affect what happened on the field, but off it as well. It forced McCarthy into completely reshaping the side. In hindsight, a move which he may regret. With our two wingers, namely Julio and Lawrence, out with injury, McCarthy opted to revert to the 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 formation with Stewart and Elliott acting as wingers-cum-strikers. Whilst Stewart seemed to cope quite well with this, it didn’t work and this was clear throughout the match.

The early warning signs were there from the start. Even with three up front, there was no cutting edge and the wings looked vulnerable. Even though Sunderland had a goal disallowed after Thornton, in an offside position, stole the ball of Elliott’s foot, both Byfield and Hills had good chances from breakaway runs. And soon after this, following good work and a good cross from the left by a certain former Sunderland striker, Henderson met the ball with a good, flicked header, leaving Myhre stranded and granting Gillingham the lead. While this was just what they deserved, Sunderland took no time in hitting back. McCartney, reminiscent of his past form, powered down the left wing before cutting inside through two defenders and squaring the ball to Brown who took his chance well from a few yards out. This opened up what was a previously tight game, yet both teams still failed to carve out any real chances, with only Brown and Whitley having any convincing shot on goal before half time. The only real action of the last half hour being the substitution of Breen, who, after seemingly playing through the pain barrier in the last few games, limped off with a suspected knee injury.

During the half time break I had the displeasure of being on the receiving end of a one-way argument about the merits of Thornton over Whitley, although the second half would have done little to support any of our arguments, with Whitley being replaced by Piper just ten minutes into the half and Thornton, like the rest of midfield, becoming insignificant and non-existent. Whitley failed to show any of the effort and fight which I would have, if I’d got a word in, based my argument upon while Thornton failed to show any of the ingenuity and imagination he’d entered the side because of. Whitehead, meanwhile, like the aforementioned two, was a man off, looking tense and panicky every time he got the ball. This meant that the second half was always going to be an uphill struggle to get the winner and it proved just too much for the admittedly weakened Sunderland side. Piper’s introduction did lead to a bit more attacking prowess than had been shown before but all that Sunderland could muster during the second half was a couple of half chances and a failed penalty appeal. This came ten minutes before the end when, after the substitution of Brown for Bridges, Banks handled the ball, what looked like in the penalty area. However neither the ref nor his assistant agreed, awarding a free-kick on the edge of the box. A great disappointment as this looked the only way the Lads were going to steal a win. Indeed, if it weren’t for some poor Gillingham finishing they could have edged an unlikely and probably undeserved win.

So, without wanting to sound like a broken record, it was our lack of creativity that was, once again, our pitfall. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this has got to improve if we are to avoid those dreaded playoffs.

Man of the Match: Marcus Stewart, worked so hard in both attack and defence.

Matthew Woolston