O'Neill: Tales of irregular ref visits from Toon.Speaking in a post match interview, Mackems manager, Martin O’Verrated O’Neill, cast light on the unusual sending off of Sunderland’s bad boy hatchet man, Lee Cattermole, who was given a straight red card by Wirral whistler, Mike Dean, a full two minutes after the final whistle had sounded. It brought his total number of bookings up to 64 yellow cards and 7 red cards in a total of 193 senior appearences so far.
It was a match marked by controversy, which of course is not an unusual thing in Geordie / Vagrant derbies. No less than seven yellow cards and two red cards were brandished by the Wirral whister. The indiscipline also spread to the dugouts, where Alan Pardew and O’Neill were shouting and waving their handbags at each other on two occaisons, with goalkeeping coach, Andy Woodman, also being banned from the dugout for the second half after what was reported as a “scuffle in the tunnel” at half time.
Coming back to the original story though, it transpired that “Clattermole” had taken issue with Dean’s second half decisionmaking in a not altogether polite fashion as the players and officials were walking off after the game. According to O’Neill, the Sunderland camp had also heard that a Magpie mafia had paid a visit to Dean’s dressing room at half time, possibly to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse?
Speaking on the incident, the Ulsterian explained that although Cattermole was a very naughty boy, there were mitigating circumstances, saying:(more…)
The Mackems: A tougher test than they used to be? Venue: St James’ Park. Date: Sun 4th Mar 2012. Kick-Off: High Noon. Referee: Mike Dean.
Hello Geordies and welcome to our regular match banter feature.
Today of course sees the Magpies pitted against the Mackems in another one of those “must win” derbies against our much loved and respected neighbours from the so called “city” of Sunderland.
In a recent interview for the Daily Torygraph, Alan Pardew claimed to now know everything about the about the town and the psyche of we fans. The Silver Supremo revealed:
“There’s nothing I don’t know about what’s going on in the town – how they feel about us, how they feel about the club, how they feel about removing the sign at the ground, how they feel about the performance at Spurs, how they feel about this game, whippets, number 9s, brown ale, spotty cakes… Gawd bless ’em!”
This he ascribed to assistant and native guide, John “why aye man” Carver, adding later in the interview: (more…)
Return of the Mackems.Venue: St James’ Park. Date: Sun 4th Mar 2012. Kick-Off: High Noon. Referee: Mike Dean.
It’s that time again. Time for the Mackems to rise the challenge of walking upright and drag themselves to St James’ Park for what is undoubtedly the best derby fixture the Premier League has on offer.
The Mackems have been somewhat rejuvenated under Martin O’Neill’s leadership although their form has stuttered a bit in their last two games. Then again, our form has suffered a similar dip in the last two games.
But form isn’t always a good indicator when it comes to derby matches anyway. Extra tension creeps in and it can sometimes be about mistakes and about which players rise to the challenge and which shirk away from it.
Both sides have been talking up the game of course. Yohan Cabaye said: (more…)
Pardew: More sponsorship, or the players will go!In a move which may or may not be coincidental with the kerfuffle over the club’s recent stadium rename, Alan Pardew has told the Sunday Mirror that though Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias have put the club in a much stronger position finacially, it still needs to bring more sponsorship in.
He also added that if the club failed to bring in more sponsorship, we may lose our best players. The grey gaffer started with praise for Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias’ financial stewardship the club, though it is still in more debt than it was when Ashley gained control of the club in the summer of 2007.
