Pete Sixsmith is not getting carried away. Why should it be otherwise? We narrowly beat a limited Fulham side and, though we could have doubled or tripled the margin, we could also have drawn or lost had they made more of the two or three glaring lapses of concentration at the back. Our distribution in the first half was woeful. BUT WE WON, and Pete – whose half-time verdict was “turgid” – is content. But if you were among the idiots booing Paul McShane, even when he’d kicked the ball, prepare yourself for a well deserved scolding from teacher…..
PART 1 OF OUR TYNE-WEAR DERBY PREVIEW
APPEARS TONIGHT
To paraphrase Robbie Burns, who was 250 (sort of) on Sunday, all wins are important and this one was a win of such importance that the Bard of Ayrshire (Burns, not the ubiquitous John Penman) may well have been tempted to write a paen in praise of Kenwyne’s lightning fast reactions as he pounced on Schwarzer’s parry to win the game for us.
He didn’t do a great deal more, but I do think that some people expect far too much of him.
This is his second season at this level and opponents are aware of him and mark him closely. Last season he was big and raw and ran around like a hyper active boxer dog, chasing anything that was within 30 yards of him.
This year he is much more aware of conserving his energy and of making sure that he is in the right place at the right time. He took his goal really well and has scored regularly since he got back into the team. What more do people want?
Some of the moaning at games annoys me. Grumbling at Jones, grumbling at Cisse and openly booing Paul McShane when he came on. What’s that all about? He has not had the best of times at Sunderland, but how can anyone boo a player in a red and white shirt? Even Colin refrained from booing Andy Kerr!!
So, three points and we are top of page two on Teletext. It may have changed by tonight, but we have pulled Fulham back into the Great Grimpen Mire that is the bottom end of the Premier League. West Brom, Stoke and Portsmouth all lost and we have to play all three. A win on Sunday would be a real bonus. Over to the Mags.