As the dust settles on the epic battle/brutal thuggery that was Sunday’s Tyne –Wear derby, Pete Sixsmith thinks it is time to move on. Or at least he does until tonight.
It’s Wednesday now, and important things are happening all around the world that have little to do with Lee Cattermole, Cheick Tiote, Alan Pardew or Martin O’Neill.
Across the Atlantic, the Republican Party are torn between the delights of Mitt Romnet, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich in their increasingly desperate attempts to find somebody to stand against Barack Obama. Look at those names again – the political equivalent of a midfield of Shaun Cunnington, Paul Lemon and Jeff Whitley.
Here, we have had the excellent news that Nissan is taking on extra workers at its Sunderland plant to build its new compact car, to be known as the Sessegnon – quick, nippy and low maintenance. They might have called it the Tiote, but they didn’t want a car that rolled when it hit the ground.
In football, we saw the sacking of the Chelsea manager, Andreas Villas-Boas after eight months in charge and with no replacement lined up. The Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovic, hires and fires managers at will and still can’t get it right. The news that Rafa Benitez is angling for the job almost makes me hope that the man I consider to be the worst manager in living history gets the job and takes Chelsea back into the nether regions of the league, where a club as charmless and graceless belongs.
I do like to dip into non-league football and on Saturday I visited Peterborough Northern Star of the United Counties League, in order to watch their FA Vase quarter final tie with Dunston UTS.
I travelled by train in the company of the Arsenal-supporting Northern League chairman Mike Amos and met up with various chums in the Fenland city pre-game, including the estimable Clive Adams, a follower of Watford, who told me Nyron has steadied the ship at Vicarage Road and is already a hero, despite his Mohican cut.
Football was discussed over several pints in the excellent Coalheavers Arms, a spit and a throw from the scene of our third round triumph in January, and we arrived at Northern Star’s ground in good spirits.
We got a really exciting game, which the Tyneside team won by the odd goal in 7 (that’s 4-3 for those who are mathematically challenged) after extra time, the winner coming two minutes from the end from the prolific Andrew Bulford. That, coupled with the news of West Auckland winning 2-0 at Bournemouth, sent Mr Amos into paroxysms of delight, unequalled anywhere since the day Ji Dong-won slipped that winner in against Abu Dhabi Rovers.
In the semi-final draw on Monday, the Northern League clubs were kept apart, which leaves me with a possible dilemma, for which your assistance is required.
Should one (particularly West Auckland) or both get to the final at Wembley, should I go? The problem is that the game takes place on Sunday May 13, the same day that we play Manchester United in the final game of the season.
I don’t imagine that we will be in any danger of relegation that day, although United may well be in with a chance of clinching the league title. It could be a dead game with nothing at stake, in which case you might well say “go to Wembley”.
But this season is the first, and probably only, time in my life that I will do every game. I have had seasons when I have missed a handful of games, but I have never done the full set. Should I miss that last game in order to watch what could be West Auckland’s greatest day since Tim Healey appeared in the village WMC and swore his undying love for the fragrant Denise Welsh? (No, you belong at Sunderland – M Salut).
Finally, well done to all of those who spotted the deliberate mistake. Craig Gardner is not suspended for the Liverpool game and has not reached the magic number of 10. He is still three behind Captain Cattermole in the race to see who gets the most this year.
Oh and finally, finally, for those who have nothing better to do, I am representing all that is good and red and white on the BBC Radio Newcastle Fans’ Forum tonight between 6 and 7.30pm, with me nipping off a bit earlier to watch North Shields play Northallerton Town. It’s a good show, hosted by Simon Pryde with Marco and John Anderson and I just hope I don’t drag it down to the level of the Three Legends.
I couldn’t possibly agree more with you about Benitez Pete. Terrible manager. Remembered for the second half fight back in the Champions League Final. What about the first half?
He has to be the most over rated manager in the history of the game. He has been well and truly found out now though.
On a different matter – last match or Wembley. Here’s what to do:
Accept you are bound by the outcome of a coin toss; heads it’s the last match, tails it’s Wembley. Now toss the coin.
How do you feel about the outcome you got? If you’re happy go with it. If unhappy remember you really aren’t bound by the outcome and go with what you feel.
Fook – Benitez is shite, prob the reason he’s been sacked from every job
Living on his relatively lucky champions league win …. Oh well
Enjoyed the derby at the weekend, not arsed about tough challenges although tiotes acting skills would put my 5 year olds Xmas play into Oscar territory – he was gonna get a red card regardless so why make yourself look like a coont
Inmy view, Benitez was/is an awful manager. He didn’t win the Champions League, A.C. Milan lost it. He wasted millions of pounds on poor players. He was graceless in defeat and gloated in victory. I didn’t like him. Don’t like Dalglish either. Don’t like Liverpool F.C.
I just hate the way he used to say ‘important for us’ in his annoying voice, placing emphasis on the word ‘us’ but linking it to its previous word ‘for’ but missing out the vowel. He then related that phrase to every possible question he was asked or point he was trying to make, as if he knew i was watching and was trying to p**s me off.
‘it is/was important fruuuuuusss’ grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Graceless in defeat
Ferguson
Mourhino
Wenger
Pulis
Bruce
Pardew
Hughes
I could go on
By your logic Sunderland didn’t win against Blackburn, Blackburn lost it?
Wasted millions – maybe you have me there…
Romney, Gingrich and Santorum. If they had been around in the 1970s they could have been mistaken for a progressive rock trio in the mould of Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
What an analogy to compare them with Shaun “the Cod” Cunnington, Lemon and Whitley.
I’d prefer to compare them with a defence including Lynch, Hetzke and Saddington myself, or Whitfield, Hinnigan and Chisholm, or even Corner, Heathcote and Hall.
I’d better stop now, before this makes me ill.
You’ve gotta go to the Man Utd. match Pete. By the time May 13th comes around you’ll have been to Wembley twice with Sunderland and you’ll be sick of the sight of the bloody place! Yes, if you listen carefully, you can just about hear the sound of chickens being counted….. .. .
“The news that Rafa Benitez is angling for the job almost makes me hopes that the man I consider to be the worst manager in living history …”
Is this the same Rafa Benitez who went past the top of my street in an open top bus with three trophies on board?
I’d be happy if MON does as badly for us and have to say there are a lot of people down here who don’t share your opinion.
Of course it isn’t. That was Houllier. Now remind me, as I’m suffering from a surfeit of successful managers, just what was it Benitez won? Ah yes, the FA cup and forgetting Champions league after going 3-0 down.
And he also kept Gerrard at the club.
Interesting point the mag made, the fact that Tiote’s reaction is irrelevant. Hadn’t thought about it like that myself until yesterday really. Didn’t we all come on here (i did) and make our feelings known towards Pulis and the Stoke fans when they threw every single injury-simulation based insult at David Meyler?
Yes, yes alright the main point of our anger was in the fact we didn’t think Meyler dived or play-acted in any way, whereas Tiote clearly did. The point is though, well mine was (and it was well received), that the red card was coming out of the ref’s pocket regardless of what Meyler then proceeded to do. Red card, get over it. We all said it.
Don’t get me wrong, i still think that Tiote’s reaction was a disgrace and the actions of Meyler weren’t of the same practice. It is certainly something that needs addressing. It seems a bit too easy and of without great objective thought, though, for us to make a huge song and dance about it afterwards. His un-punished antics during the game? sure. His reaction to the elbow? not for me, not attached to the derby game analysis anyway. By all means it can be used in a different discussion.
Those weren’t my initial sentiments of course, as stated earlier. I said and thought the same as everybody else as the incident unfolded. It just goes to show that we all lose our capacity to think objectively when it comes to our beloved.
I don’t see any inconsistency in the views of the majority of regulars on here or of yours.
As you say the anger at Pulis came about because of his comments suggesting that it was Meyler’s reaction which led to the sending off. Meyler was fouled and the impetus of the collision on a snow covered pitch caused him to fall and hit the ground hard.
I haven’t read anyone who has said that Sessegnon’s red card wasn’t justified. The replays show Tiote’s lip and jaw moving as Sessegnon caught him but I don’t think anyone believes his theatrics influenced the referee.
Yes, but the point was, it was irrelevant even if he did roll around unhurt. The fact of the matter was/is that we told Stoke to stop moaning because the bottom line was/is that it was a red card regardless, as was this.
I understand how you have translated that differently to the point i was trying to make, but I didn’t say people were saying it was unjustified, or that Tiote’s actions got Sess sent off, i simply said that we shouldn’t go on about it due to its irrelevance. People are still moaning about his reaction, are they not?
just suggesting we should move on from it, as i am going to from now.
Good luck with the show tonight. You can’t possibly reduce it to Three “Legends” level (legends?? really?). They have plumbed new depths of broadcasting tedium. It’s like listening to 3 kids in a playground.
Good luck with tonight’s radio show Pete. One conclusion I have about Newcastle and their manager from the weekend’s match is “They don’t like it up ’em”.
I wonder if fielding a majority of non-British players had anything to do with it?
Don’t think Lorik Cana, Stan Varga, Julio Arca, any other other player whose name ends with an A, or the Dutch National team would subscribe to that view Puskas.
Hi lads… Comments from a Toon fan here.
I was at the match and it was brilliant, a proper cliche of a derby.
I haven’t come on here to wind you lot up or anything but i’ve tried to look at the match from a contructive angle rather than a petty one.
Brilliant atmosphere and I’ll say from the start (rather than put at the end) that a draw was a fair result.
Of course cattermole should have been a sending off after 40 odd seconds. In another game – he would have been. Admit it lads, if tiote had come out with that challenge and it was the opposite way around, you’d be screaming for a red also. (That’s the last time i use an ‘if’ or a ‘but’)
For the first 45 minutes you had the upper hand. We were playing our ugly ‘hoofball’ (i hate that term) which I personally don’t believe suits us at all and Sunderland passed the ball really well but never actually looked like getting close to a decent shot.
Williamson gave away a stupid penalty (not the first time he’s done this and he can be infuriating at times).
Half time – Ben arfa comes on and quite frankly – changed the game. You were already on the back foot at 45 minutes and setup to defend your 1 goal lead using a flat-back-11 well before you went a man down. I’m not being biased here. That’s how it was.
Anyway, I’ve got to hand it you, Sunderland defended brilliantly, I’ve got to hand it to O’shea, I don’t really rate him but he played his heart out (he used ba as a ladder on a few occasions mind).
Shola came on for an inadequate Cisse and didn’t get bullied off the ball once. We needed that. Wave after wave came in and it was a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ we would hit the back of the net.
Scrappy goal and a soft Penalty.
Maybe it wasn’t particuarly classy of Pardew to get in MON’s face ( i didn’t see this until replays were on at the pub) but really… so what. It’s nice to see both managers with a bit of passion. Isn’t that what derby day is about?
Tiote going down like he’s been shot? So what. It was a red card and him going down doesn’t alter that. he got elbowed, whether it was in the face or chest doesn’t matter (i’d argue inbetween – the neck, you see his chin wobble in super slow mo). Really, so what? If he hadn’t got hit and he went down like that then fair enough. But he did.
If our staff did go to the officials room at half time then that is completely wrong. but where’s the proof? it sounds more like sour grapes to me. innocent till proven guilty n’all that lads eh?
All the best… see you’s next season x x
Good to have a (relatively) balanced view from the other side. We did pass the ball around well in the first half and bodes well for next season when MON has been able to bring in some of his own signings and been in charge from the start of the season. Tiote was embarrassing. Maybe his chin was wobbling because he was about to cry 🙂