https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/20...d-players-to-ever-represent-sunderland-part-1 https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/20...d-players-to-ever-represent-sunderland-part-2 Feck me I really didnt realise Stubbs was such a kunt towards us. His wages should have been scrapped and he should have been fined after that Everton game.
He was a disgrace and what a trio we got fron Everton, Stubbs, Rodwell and Moyes in any order would be my top three rats. .
I remember being pretty excited when we signed him aswell. All of these players signed for one thing and one thing only, and thats for the over inflated wages we gave them compared to what other teams would have given them for their worth. Its a sad indication of why we are now in the position that we are in. We should have signed players that wanted to play for the shirt, and the money was just an added bonus, instead of bribing players to come to us by giving them huge salaries and then have them take the pish out of us. Jermaine Lens is another that springs to mind.
The first part were players who at least tried. Chopra was a bit of a twat, granted, but he still put in a shift more often than not, the Newcastle bottle job aside. Darren Bent scored a lot of good goals for us. Jack Colback always gave 100 per cent whenever he pulled on the red and white stripes. As for Rodwell, N’Dong and Stubbs, spot on for all three. Lee Clark - another one who always gave his all and even the t-shirt incident could still have resulted in him staying at the club.
I agree with Clarke, he did try to be fair, the same goes with Chopra until he purposley missed that sitter against the Scum. I dont think either of them signed to play for the shirt though considering they are both massive Geordie fans. It was obviously to stay in the area, get regular game time and get a huge pay packet. Which other team would have been daft enough to pay 6m to Cardiff for Chopra??
I'm sure he said he was leaving that summer anyway because he didn't want to play against Newcastle while being a Sunderland player.
I just can not understand the Clark thing. He made no secret at all about being a N/C Fan. He was never asked to keep quiet about it. His Team reached a cup final and like any other Fan, he was over the moon. And if he was a 'Sad Makem Bastard' that day, after they lost, he was the only one in the country. Certainly the rest of us Makem Bastards were happy enough. Just consider the number of Newcastle Fans who have played for us. There were THREE in the 73 Final squad for a start, the same number as were from the Sunderland area. Bob Stokoe while ever after having a soft spot for us was always, first and foremost a NUFC Man. I can not recall any of the Newcastle born players who pulled on our shirt ever letting us down through lack of effort.
I always remember seeing Clarke outside the SOL when he played for us. I was with my little Sis, and she must have been about 6 or 7 at the time. She was kitted up in a Sunderland top etc. I was getting her autographs and all the lads were spot on and made abit of a fuss about her etc. Clarke just walked past us with a scowl and ignored us both. I hated him from then on after that.
When you watch the Chopra ‘incident’, yeah he should have shot, but the ball over, he’s genuinely mortified when he over hits it. He didn’t wanna score against his team, partially understandable, but he was prepared to have the assist, he just ****ed it. Overall he scored some big goals for us. His career never recovered from that. Clark was a fantastic player for us.
Going further back I remember us buying a couple of players who we all (at the time) thought were outstanding buys... Steve Whitworth from Leicester and Ian Bowyer from Forest. Both came with huge reputations and in Bowyer's case I know (from a mutual friend) that he came simply for more money...both were hounded out by fans, but nothing compares to Rodwell
I always felt Clark got too big a fall-out from the T-shirt incident. He was with his mates and they got him to put the T-shirt on, it was "funny" precisely because it was inappropriate but overall I'd always judge the player by what he does on the pitch. Compare Clark with Rodwell or N'Dong and it's just no competition for me. Same for Chopra mind (despite the "incident") in my eyes. I didn't like Keiron Dyer as a person (he used to be seen out in town lighting cigarettes with £50 notes) but he was fine on the pitch so as a fan I liked him at my club. If you want a Geordie player to dislike I'd have put Danny Graham ahead of either of the two mentioned here.
