Jordan Henderson

Bravo Jordan: show Chelsea your class but stick with us

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Fabio Capello has given us a good excuse to show off addick_tedKevin‘s latest Sunderland player image. Michael Turner was also, apparently, in Capello’s list of possibles (that outstanding second half at Spurs not quite enough to clinch it for him?), Darren Bent would have been involved if fit, so all in all we have reason to applaud the rising quality of Steve Bruce’s squad …

Thoroughly deserved selection, and reason for celebration (a sober one, on the eve of Chelsea away) for Jordan Henderson.

The lad has advanced by leaps and bounds under careful care at Sunderland and it will be a source of pride for those concerned with his development, as well as Jordan himself, that he may be about to win his first full international cap at just 20.

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How not to scare Chelsea, Citeh and United off Jordan

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Image: A Love Supreme

Steve Bruce‘s dismissal of stories that he has put a £20m price tag on the head of Jordan Henderson is timely and wise.

One sure result of publicly stating such a value would be to announce to the world that Jordan was for sale.

And another would be to fix the quoted sum as the highly negotiable starting point, with one of the Manchester clubs, Chelsea or maybe even ‘appy ‘arry coming in with a joke offer of rather than less than half. For a player we very much want to stay at Sunderland anyway.

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Jordan Henderson: how we say `Hands Off` to the Brands

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England Under 21s 2 Macedonia 1, Jordan Henderson man of the match and sublime goalscorer … of course we want our boys to do well when on international duty. But what if Sir Alex, M Wenger et al are also reading the plaudits? Can we hope to hang on to our talent, even when home-grown, if the Brands come calling? …


“The excellent Jordan Henderson.” That was the Mail. Man of the Match, reports Ian at the Blackcats list, “he and Muamba controlled the midfield but JH also had three of England’s very few shots on target and scored England’s first with, according to all the pundits.`wonderful technique`.”

Why does that terrific response to a Sunderland player’s brilliance on the international stage fill some us with dread? Because it will fuel the speculation, already begun, about a supposedly “big” club – brand is shorter if we have either Manchester club, Arsenal or Chelsea in mind – coming in with a bid.

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Doing it for England: a good day for our Lads

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Darren Bent, Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson are basking in international glory tonight after playing crucial parts in England victories …

Darren Bent off the mark for England and would have scored twice had Shaun Wright-Phillips not made a mess of an easy pass in front of goal. Not bad for a substitute, securing the 3-1 win in Switzerland after the home country had halved the lead established by Rooney and Johnson.

But it doesn’t end there.

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Luke’s World Cup: roll on 2014

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Almost done in South Africa but it seems an awful long time since England were still involved. Luke Harvey tries to look forward four years to the next World Cup and wonders where our version of Mesut Ozil might come from …

Salut! Sunderland’s World Cup coverage has betrayed an uncanny resemblance to Christmas day in the Harvey household.

Much as we begin our Christmas Day as a united and happy family, we also began the World Cup with arms linked and faces smiling; we were ready to will England to victory.

And much like Christmas Day, it’s all ended in rather petty squabbling.

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Soapbox at Ewood Park: a turn for the better

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Having led Blackburn 1-0 and 2-1, the loss of two more points could be seen as another example of the sloppy, wasteful ways into which Sunderland have fallen. Sloppy yes, but Pete Sixsmith recognises the draw as a fair result and finds scope to take heart for the new year – and to salute a couple of touches from Daryl Murphy ….

The “typical family Christmas”, I assume, includes a phase where someone in the “family” with whom you have had a fall out over the past year turns up at your house, plonks down in a comfy chair and proceeds to spoil the whole bloody day by drinking your best Egyptian brandy and smoking your finest Manikin cigars.

For “typical family Christmas”, read “holiday trip to Ewood Park”. For awful relatives, read Pascal Chimbonda and El Hadj Diouf. It would not be controversial to say that neither was a huge success in a red and white shirt or that season tickets were sent back by the sackful when they were moved on by Ricky Sbragia.

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The A to Z of Sunderland’s Marseille connection

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la-canabiere

The injury to Lee Cattermole seriously tests the strength of our squad. But Colin Randall feels that in Cana and Zenden, Sunderland have two of this season’s canniest Premier acquisitions …

Confirmation that Lee Cattermole will be out for three months means that we will come to rely ever more heavily on the qualities of our pair of Marseillais. A for the Albanian Lorik Cana, captain of club and country (and captain at OM until his move), Z for Boudewijn “Bolo” Zenden.

The loss of Cattermole – cue for abject apology from the Liverpool players and officials who whinged so pitilessly when this strong, battling midfielder crumpled in a heap – is a serious blow.

He has been hugely impressive in every game since arriving on a transfer that, if we are honest, divided Sunderland fans.

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