STEVEN FLETCHER is eager to play his part in a record-breaking fourth successive derby victory after missing both of Sunderlandâs last two St Jamesâs Park triumphs.Fletcher has experienced the ecstasy of finishing on the winning side in a Tyne-Wear derby after scoring Sunderlandâs opening goal in last seasonâs Stadium of Light success over the Magpies. But the Scottish international has missed both of Sunderlandâs successive 3-0 victories on Tyneside due to injury. However, with Fletcher now recovered from the minor back problem which saw him lose his place in the side against Liverpool 10 days ago, the striker wants to help Sunderland to a fourth win on the spin over Newcastle United for the first time in the clubâs history. Fletcher told the Echo: âIâve missed both 3-0s when weâve been there so Iâm looking forward to it. âI wasnât even at St Jamesâs for both of them. I was stuck watching television with a moon boot on. âBut weâve got confidence that we can go there and win it again. âWeâve done it before so why canât we do it again? âThereâs a lot of confidence around the team at the moment, despite the draws. âWeâre keeping the door shut at the back which is great for the defenders. âWe know if we can get a few goals, then weâll pick up a win.â Three points at St Jamesâs would put a far more positive complexion on a season which continues to hang in the balance after a 10th draw of the campaign against West Ham last weekend. No side outside the top six has lost fewer games than Gus Poyetâs side. But equally, no side has won fewer than Sunderland and bottom two, Hull and Leicester, who have each managed just two victories all season. Fletcher falls into the âglass half-fullâ camp; stressing how being hard to beat is preferable to the soft-touch which applied to the Black Cats last season. The 27-year-old added: âYou get one win and you fly up the table. Itâs so tight this year. âWeâre still in good form which is good for us. âIt depends how you look at it. We got another point on the board against West Ham. âI know weâve got a lot of draws this year, but last year we were losing these games. âNow weâre keeping the door shut at the back, which is good, and we just need to take our chances and convert them into wins. âWe are set out to keep defending and keep the ball going into our goal, and catch people on the break. âWe are creating chances, we canât complain about that. We just need to start taking them. âIf we convert these draws into wins, it will be a happier place again.â
I would love to see a fully match fit Fletcher face the scum, their defence is ****e and I reckon him and Wickham will batter them. My fear is that we will start with Fletch on the bench again.
That kid in goal for Newcastle is way out of his depth, I thought they'd fetch in another GK after that Arsenal game. His positioning seemed amateur at times, that often leads to a shaky defence. Big call from Pardew if he's not getting in an emergency loan GK.
How comes? That's a bit harsh. Can you not fetch the kid from Forest in that you bought? At least he's got Championship experience!
Nope, no recall clause for Darlow. And because we have Darlow, Alnwick and Woodman all on "professional contracts" we're classed as having three fit and available keepers. It's a case of going with what we have unfortunately.
Evidently you don't 'have' Darlow. Where's the line drawn then? What if the kid gets injured, do you start looking to take your U-16's out of school? The rules are pathetic, although your third choice keeper really should be a bit more experienced. I think it's important to use the loan system to keep hold of your keepers, Forster should never have been sold for pittance, he'd have stayed on your books as long as you'd want him so long as he was being loaned out for experience.
If we receive another injury I think we'd then be able to apply for an emergency loan. Have to be fair to the club and say they've indetified our number 3 as not being good enough and signed Darlow to rectify this. A full season in the Championship will do him a lot more good than a season in our reserves. We'll certainly drop points because of our keeper situation though over the next month or so, that's almost a certainty.
Yeah, Fletcher doesn't seem like he's in a particularly benevolent mood. What Cazorla done was the sign of a real ****er to me, see if he tried that at 1-0 I'd be impressed. There's no need for that when the game was won and the young kid's been given a baptism of fire. Showed his class Cazorla there, complete piece of ****.
Way back in the B&W telly days we fielded a 15YO goalie (Derek Forster) for the first three games of the season when Monty got injured.
