This would explain why he apparently disappeared from the end of the election campaining:
http://blogs.soccernet.com/ontheroad...sunderland.php
Whoever really wrote this surely has a big future as a sports journalist. Few, if any, have managed to capture the simple pleasure and shared joy of the people's game. My favourite line perhaps deserves reiteration:
A friend of mine who watches Sunderland has often commented that, ideally, he’d do so in grounds empty save for him and a few selected family members, and it was easy to see why.