Just for one day, it would be nice to let Sunderland and their supporters forget about what happens next. That's the curse of modern football. Maybe even of modern life. Always moving on to the next thing before an event has finished. Always looking ahead. Always planning. Never quite able to enjoy the moment. So before the final whistle had even blown at Wembley yesterday, some sought to see the game purely through the prism of relegation. What would the Capital One Cup Final do for Sunderland's chances of staying up, everyone asked. Help or hinder them? Energise or exhaust? For 90 wonderful, enthralling minutes yesterday, the answer was simple: who cares. This was a cup final. This was about taking us back to that FA Cup Final victory in 1973. This was about seeing Jim Montgomery's double save in our mind's eye again. This was about a grand occasion. Not a series of innocuous events that end up with the great victory of finishing 12th in the Premier League. This was about something that will live in the memory. Not fade away. Sunderland were brilliant yesterday. Their players and their fans. They helped to turn the final of England's third competition into one of the most memorable events of the football year. They played it beautifully from start to finish. In fact, they played it beautifully from before the start. Their supporters enjoyed themselves in London's West End on Saturday night. A score of Bob Stokoes toured the town in trademark hats, a nod to the joy of '73. And yesterday afternoon, manager Gus Poyet decided to delay his team's arrival at Wembley as late as he possibly could. He wanted his players to see the fans in their colours, he said, to see their faces, to see what it meant to them. Poyet wanted Sunderland to be inspired and they were inspired. They played with skill and assurance and panache and desire. And they played with their hearts. They played for their fans. They gave everything. And it was nearly enough. The team threatened with relegation nearly beat the team vying for the title. Sunderland flew at City in the first half and went ahead when Fabio Borini brushed aside Vincent Kompany as if he was a lower league defender and smashed the ball past Costel Pantilimon. It wasn't a fluke. They could have gone further ahead. They outplayed City. They were first to every loose ball. They harried City into mistake after mistake. Jack Colback, Borini, Phil Bardsley, Lee Cattermole, Alonso and Wes Brown all excelled. "We did not give anything to Manchester City today," Poyet said after the match. "We made them earn it." In the end, City did earn it with two brilliant goals in two minutes. But still Sunderland flew at them. Still they made City's defence look brittle and unsure. Still they pressed, still they created chances. If Steven Fletcher had a right foot, they might even have grabbed an equaliser in the dying minutes. And even though no one wanted to move on, even though Sunderland supporters wanted to revel in the occasion for a little bit longer, the questions started to come. What happens next? Poyet said he didn't know. He didn't know how his team would react. He didn't know how easy it would be to pick them up from this. He didn't know, for instance, how Jozy Altidore, who was left out of the squad yesterday would react. Perhaps three facts are enough for now. Sunderland are currently third from bottom of the Premier League, one point from safety. They have 12 league fixtures left, including visits to Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea and City. If they play even half of them the way they played yesterday, they will stay up. [video=youtube;Ywzzy4jAa4k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywzzy4jAa4k[/video] [video=youtube;C2UCJpI_XyE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2UCJpI_XyE[/video]
That's It the mocking finishes and I have take it a tad to for so I sorry. I am also sorry for being a dick to lot of The fans I normally get on with. A fair amount was deserved as you have a few cocks who do invite mocking and reactions. So from now on I will not mention Sunday and leave you be. I will be back for general mocking But not as over the top. Sorry 2010 tops
Here's my list of knob jockeys: 1] Alan "Stitch This" Pardew 2] The pitch-invading season ticket tosser 3] The horse puncher of Old Newcastle Toon 4] 500 post-derby defeat rioters 5] The bloke who can't spell "boycott" 6] The organisers of the B & W coffin funeral 7] Joey Barton Discuss...
They weren't actually supposed to be in order, but he's as good as any I suppose. Probs the horse puncher for me though...
8Bowier & Dyer 9Gazza and his fishing rod 10The Hereford pitch invasion hooligans 11The Wigan amateur game pitch invasion hooligans 12The play off pitch invasion hooligans 13The Darlo pitch invasion hooligans 14The Atromitos pitch invasion hooligans 15The Forest pitch invasion hooligans 16The beer belly fans with their tops off 17The Twat with the Andy Cole Tattoo 18Willy ****ing Wonga! 19The Honey Monster
20. the colback facer 21. his brothers pizza order 22. the season card giver upper 23. if i won the lottery i would buy andy cole back 24. sponsoring sunderland 25. sports direct arena 26. malcolm macdonald 27. the funeral 28. the gates 29. that yellow strip 30. the announcer
31.The 7 managers in 500 days 32.Kevin Keegan and his rants 33.Steven Taylor 34.Drunken topless Ashley 35.John Hall and his claims that they would soon be sick of playing Barcelona 36.Freddy Shepherd (News of the World exposé) 37.Joe Kinnear 38.The Golden Fan 39.Gazza and his rap, Geordie Boys 40.Bellamy
41. the ashley out rap 42. cockney mafia 43. selling kebab 44. denis wise 45. joe kinnear 46. the dissallowed goal v us 47. 0-3 48. 0-3 49. 2-1 50. 1-9
