Sunderland and Newcastle have sucess: May it last

It was in the autumn of 1974 that I first became a regular at Sunderland Football Club at Roker Park, following them at many away matches over the next fifteen to sixteen years that I was a loyal season ticket holder. I stopped as they slid from the first to second and into the third divisions of the football league. There was a gap of year before I became caught up in the Kevin Keegan era at Newcastle where I remained a season ticket holder for about 14 years. Some Sunderland supporting politicians thought this was a great betrayal.

By about 2005/2006 I became disenchanted with the development of Premiership football which had become finance governed in terms of the payments made to players resulting in a situation where only club with unlimited financial support could purchase and keep the top players and therefore have the opportunity to win the Premiership or major European competitions. There was also the issue of the cost of attending matches and the impact of getting older and less enthusiastic about watching games when the weather was poor to bad. As had been the instance when I first stopped buying a season ticket there was the question of how many game experiences did one enjoy?

I did enjoy watching Sunderland gain promotion into the Premiership in 2007 at their new purpose built stadium but after that it was back to normal fighting to avoid relegation which is what happened to Newcastle under the managership of Alan Shearer. The whole saga of what happened at Newcastle under the ownership of Mike Ashley led to taking the decision that I would not return to watch games at the club while he remained in control. This position remains although is a separate issue from my support for the team as my support for Sunderland AFC has continued.

This year Sunderland ended the contract of Steve Bruce the second former Manchester United player to fail at Sunderland within five years, the other being Roy Keene. The choice was former Sunderland supporter Martin O’Neill who had a great careers as a player with Nottingham Forest winning a European Champions and then as an International for Northern Ireland with 64 appearances. He had also had a substantial and successful managerial career talking Leicester City to Football league Cups and winning the Scottish premiership and in his first season with Celtic the team not only one the Scottish Premiership Title but both cups. He left football to care for his wife who developed cancer in 2005. He then joined Aston Villa which he took to the first Cup win in ten years and finished 6th in the Premiership in each of his years with the club. He shocked the football world resigning from the club at the commencement of the 2010/11 season with lack of funds to progress the club considered the main cause.

Since joining Sunderland he has quickly created an enthusiastic team unit playing to the best of their abilities. Just before Christmas the team had a dramatic 3.2 win away to Queens Park Rangers and at Everton the award of questionable penalty prevented a second win away so they settled for draw. Their biggest challenged under the new Manager came the following week at home when they faced the present leaders Manchester City and won in the dying seconds of the game. They went to Wigan Athletic and won 4.1 thus gaining a total of 10 points out of 12 and moving out of the relegation zone into mid table. This Sunday Sunderland was the penultimate game to be played in the third round of the F A CUP, competition that Martin O’Neill has never won as a player or manager. Moreover the reason why the game was one of two selected by ITV to be shown is that over the past decade Sunderland has gone out in the early rounds of cup competitions to clubs from lower divisions.

That afternoon Peterborough the home side managed by the son of the Manchester United Manager were nervous and handicapped by injuries failed to show the attacking flair for which they are famous while Sunderland carried out a professional and rather clinical performance which won the game by two goals to nil. They have been rewarded with a home tie in the fourth round to North East neighbours Middlesbrough.

Their closest neighbours and fierce rivals Newcastle had one of the best starts to a Premiership season since the day of Kevin Kegan now some 20 years ago. Lee Catamole, the Sunderland captain played for the Boro before their relegation to the championship which will add spice to the match although it is not anticipated the game will be featured live because of the emphasis on potential giant killing.

In contrast to Sunderland Newcastle United had their best start to a season since the Kevin Kegan era rising fourth in the table and then slipping to 7th as they played and lost to some of the more accomplished sides in the Premiership. The surprising and best buy of the season and of most seasons was the decision of the club to take Demba Ba an extremely talented player but with a suspect knee which led Stoke City among several clubs to pass him by. Not only is an excellent frontman but he performs as a creative midfield player with defensive awareness when required. He quickly became one of the Premierships leading scorers. His performance against the present Champions Manchester United was regarded as not just 10/10 but the best performance in a single game by a forward in British football this season.

Newcastle has only beaten Manchester United three times in the past two decades. I watched the previous two games at the ground while the latest match was with the help of 3D so it many respects it was not just as good as being there but better with the benefit of close ups and replays. There were two great goals while the icing on the cake was a dreadful own goal by Manchester United which will be replayed in howlers of decade programmes for decades to come. The much maligned Shola Ameobi also had an excellent game and the two tall and strong front men created such problems for the united defence that their forwards could rarely get into top gear.

It is in sport and artistic performances that 3D has its great potential although as with 3D in general it is an aid to a performance and not a performance in itself. It provides the opportunity to feel part of the reality of the experience rather at a distance and separate. It will not make a boring game or event interesting once the novelty of the medium wears off. So far I have also watched darts, the Horse of the Year show and some rugby union. I look forward to tennis and motor-racing although I suspect the latter will be dependent on Sky gaining the rights to Formula 1 and of course the Olympic Games but the main joy will be cricket and it will be interesting to see if England’s games with Pakistan in Dubai will be shown in the medium.

The main talking point of the past couple of months, making the front as well as rear papers of the newspapers has been incidents of racism. A Liverpool player has been suspended for eight games because of repeated remarks made to a Manchester United player. The two teams have now been drawn to play each other in the 4th round of the F A Cup. Liverpool players unwisely supported by their Manager wore shirts in support of their player which may have influenced an individual fan making offensive remarks to an away team player at weekend which distressed him to the extent that the game was stopped and the police carried out an investigation with an individual arrested and charged. John Terry who has already lost his captaincy of the England team last year because of a private life scandal is to be prosecuted for alleged racist comments against QPR player. |The spate of these incidents together with a random racists killing of a student from India may be a coincidence and not indicate some form of organised response or general reawakening and also nothing to do with the conviction of two member of the gang who killed the school boy Stephen Lawrence nearly two decades ago. The police through racism and incompetence and perhaps some corruption although the latter has not been substantiated while the former were following inquiry failed horribly. The family were forced to bring a private prosecution which failed and it was only through persistent campaigning that the law was changed to enable a second prosecution when sufficient evidence to convince a judge and jury became available because of improvements in forensic science. The continuation of racism in British life remains an indictment of the British character.

1397 A Saturday at Cricket

It has been as good Saturday, not brilliant but a good day. I worked all morning, then went to cricket taking my lunch to eat mid afternoon. I left the match before the end of play to shop, returned for evening meal, watched an awful film, listen and partly watched a U2 video, could not find mobile phone, found mobile phone, searched for Film Theatre membership, found membership card, felt sad but understood why.

I awoke at a reasonable hour after a mixture of waking dreams which I understood quickly shaking off the feelings they engendered.

I wanted to continue about national and local politics knowing it was a work which I might not send to those who it could influence because of the implications of doing so. I knew from previous experience hoping that someone else might also say what needed to be said was not good enough. I did not want to take on the responsibility involved in submission but I needed to complete the writing and then decide. It is the kind of writing which involves prolonged concentration and then a break and a fresh look and repeat the process until satisfied.

The sun broke through the mist and then the clouds and I decided to go to the second day of the match where Durham was playing Hampshire. There was a better crowd that anticipated given the number of cars parked. The game was being played on the last pitch, furtherest away from the Pavilion although some members were content to watch from the seats at this part of the ground. I made my way to a point on the southern part of the ground behind the wicket after finding the northern area closed. It was a good seat four rows up three seats away from the sightscreen area and in the sun. Durham were all out at the point of arrival some 37 runs short of the Hampshire first innings, a disappointment with more to come. The Hampshire opening pair played and missed a bit, were close to giving catching opportunities but gaining confidence commenced to build a dangerous opening total of over 90 runs which to which was added those gained on the first innings.

Then when it looked that Hampshire were about to achieve an invincible position, the younger Harmison threw the ball from just inside the boundary towards the wicket at the bowler's end and it was a direct hit. One could spend a lifetime trying to do this and not be successful. I thought, as did those around me that the batsman had managed to complete his run but the umpire ruled he had not and Durham had their first wicket. The second quickly followed and then something extraordinary happened. Steve Harmison who had been toiling away with success seemed to get quicker and more accurate and within a blink of an eye he had sent four batsman back to the Pavilion and the game swung again in Durham's favour.

The sun was bright and hot, burning through the cloth of my trousers so I had put my Jacket over the knee. I had been liberal with the sun block to my face and neck. I enjoyed three salami and lettuce sandwich halves around 3pm, having had two rounds of toast and coffee around 11 am, such was the drive to write. There had been no music although I checked the test score where there was no play before lunch and also what was happening at Durham on the text. Otherwise it was work and work on.

On arrival I bought a ticket for the semi final game against Kent which saved £6 if I had been a non member and bought in advance or £9 if bought on the day. One other person was buying a ticket before me and we were invited into reception for the purchase. He had been to Lords last year for the trophy winning final The previous and only other time he had visited Lords he had cycled from Durham to London, staying with a friend at Thornton Heath which is not far from Croydon and Wallington. It had been over fifty years ago. We had both been in our teens and I still had my cerise bicycle. He had seen Denis Compton play for Middlesex and Len Hutton for Yorkshire. I told him I had a copy of Len's autobiography which he had signed at the Army and Navy Stores. It was a good chat for a few minutes sharing experiences which only other cricket fans would be interested. We went our separate ways to out favoured parts of the ground, perhaps we would never see each other again.

The sun went in around tea time when I had the fourth half sandwich and some more of the coffee which had kept hot. Later towards six I appreciated being able to wear the jacket. The sun returned as I left, It was a brilliant June evening but I was proved good in judgment at leaving because the two at the wicket continued until the day ending. The match was evenly poised. A continued stand in the morning could see Durham facing a difficult total given their first innings performance. It was unlikely that the match would go into its fourth day.

I shopped at Lidl buy two packs of frozen bream which had been reduced by over £1 thus making them an even better buy than previously. I also bought more of the tins of prepared salmon with different sauces and dressings, tomato and parsley one I remember also one with a Lemon dressing. I bought a prepared 500 gram pork roast with a mixed pepper topping, some frozen prawns and a loaf of brown bread. There were only quarts of semi skimmed milk. I also liked the look of some packs of Chinese and Southern Fried starters. The total was expensive but I did not feel guilty given the plight of others. I heard on the news that In Zimbabwe aid charities ahd been banned which suggested the government did not want them to witness the intimidation of those in the country or bribing by only giving them food if they voted for the President.

I had defrosted some southern friend chicken for the evening meal which I eat with baked beans followed by strawberries and ice cream and coffee. Later before bedtime when I revived a little I eat grapes and drank ice cold water.

I returned home in time to watch the second episode of the Dr Who, the Library. Last week I commented that this was not a programme suitable for children because it was scary and had very unhappy moments. The second part carried on from before but with excellent acting and a clever story, ended very well. I was impressed by the performance of Catherine Tate but even with the happy ending this was more a programme for adults than children.

I will mention the DVD film Carlito's Way. It is a glamorised and romanticised tale about an Italian, a Black and a Puerto Rican murdering drug traffickers carving out a business having met in prison and bribed guards who achieve a comfortable living, wining and dining and running their business, finding themselves women willing to fit into their lifestyle and then getting away with it with the Puerto Rican and the Black living in Paradise West Indies. I am not being racist by the way as this is the point of the film showing that people who rule the ghetto racial groups could get on with each other albeit in murderous criminal enterprises under the eye of corrupt cops. It is a nasty film.

To make up for this experience I decided to watch a sixteen track U2 Videos from 1900 to 2000. I only knew three of the tracks well. It's a beautiful day. One, one life one love where the documentary covered the three versions of the video. The Third song and second video was Sarajevo which included the visit of U2 to the city. None of the other tracks appealed.

Ever since I could not find the membership card for the Film Theatre I have searched and searched so tonight, after dark I decided to through the environmental box even more thoroughly and sure enough it was there inside the original.

I celebrated by staying up and watching a Billy Bob Thornton movie. It was a curious film. More on than tomorrow.

1108 Cricket Luvly Cricket

10.00 pm 5.7.2007.No sooner do I recover from one experience away from my home that I arrange another, as this morning my ticket arrived for the Final of the Friends Provident one day competition at Lords in mid August. I immediately investigated accommodation and found that there was nothing available at a discount in central London but less than half price was available at the new central Croydon accommodation, situated within a short walking distance of either East or West Croydon stations. I booked for four nights. In the event that the one day match cannot be completed on the Saturday then it continues on the Sunday. I travel down on the Thursday, thus I have the Friday for other activities, possibly the Sunday/

I then investigation the transport options and was able to travel by train on both journeys and also order a greater London travel pass ticket for the first day. By going on the same train as before (11.30) it will be possible for me to return to central London for the cinema, theatre or concert, on the Thursday evening if I wish. Again by booking immediately I was able to obtain a fifty percent reduction on the standard return fare. So everything was quickly organised, but I will leave until later, consideration of how I will use any additional time. I have still not investigated what happened to the Saatchi.

It is approaching the fifth birthday of the Baltic. I purchased the Newcastle regional morning newspaper because there is a significant feature about the new owner of Newcastle Football Club and about his intentions, However inside the paper there is also a feature about alleged differences between the Director, the third since the opening, and members of staff, and that the Board had recently been changed. Such developments are peripheral to my life and I no longer feel guilty that once having held an important role in the local community I feel under no obligation to involve myself, nor I think would involvement be welcomed by those who hold responsibilities today. It is their time and burden.

It was sunny and warm earlier so I made a quick picnic of two soft rolls filled with lettuce and prawns and a banana, and put the new rucksack to further use. This purchase, made on impulse, has proved a major triumph. I include the weatherproofs and hat, and afterwards know that it will be wise to include a small towel, perhaps even a spare shirt depending on the length of distance and time that I will go out. I will make this a regular event with either rolls or a made up salad.

Today because the decision was taken after midday I headed straight for one of the benches overlooking the mouth of the Tyne River, with the remains of the Tynemouth Prior bathed in sunshine on the opposite bank of the river. It was a joyous lunch, especially because of a communication received shortly beforehand. I had also enjoyed listening to the CD of George Melly, deciding to purchase another from Amazon together with the book written by his wife.

The steep steps down the hillside to the lower park walk or across the road to the car park, picnic area and river mouth have been transformed in two ways. In addition to the attractive repaving, there are attractive light installations and barriers to prevent accidents, and the side banks have bee replanted with a mixture of shrubs and flower arrangements which are surprisingly well designed for an area rarely used because most people enter the park and journey to the hilltop by different routes.

I have not made the lower walk before which goes around one side of the beautifully manicured bowls pitches and the bowling club itself, discovering what looks to be a scented and raised garden, although again this in an out of the way corner of the park. Leaving the park I am amused to find that the Pier Theatre, (although some distance from the Pier) will be hosting a play called Role Play over the coming week. I have not been to this theatre before, in all my thirty years in the area, and this deficiency will be remedied. I then pass the fish and chip restaurant and the smell is delicious and I half regret having had the salad rolls. Well when I have reduced by a half a stone, I will have a treat.

A month, is it already as long as month, I told visitors that there were 100 swans on the boating lake in the Victorian designed Second Park. It is very difficult to count the swans who scurry to a bank whenever there is the prospect of being fed and then swim away at a pace elsewhere. The clouds are gathering and I self congratulate the decision to bring the showerproofs, especially as I need to replace the small umbrella. Nevertheless I walk around counting swans but because of those hidden among the shrubs and trees on the island and their swimming speed I settle for a total of between 85 and 90 and decide to do another count another day.

I walk along the length of Ocean Road and then the pedestrianised town centre to Wilkinson’s where I hope to find the umbrella and a couple of pints of milk. I ask an assistant about the umbrella and we have a grand tour, passing from assistant to assistant but eventually I find the container with full length sporting umbrellas in one corner among the stationery section and the small ones at the opposite end of the store immediately on entry and easily missed. The umbrellas are all of different sizes and prices. The one I want has no price bar code and an assistant takes one from a similar but not same umbrella for £2.99 and I decide on a second, a mini for £.75.The mini will fit into any pocket or handbag and is amazing value.

On the return journey I stop at the fruit and veg stalls tucked under the Metro station, the market being closed on Thursdays, in order to buy a pound of cherries. This is cherry eating month as the prices become reasonable. I adore the large deep red sweet cherries which can be purchased at a premium at Marks and Spencer's. I settle for the less expensive for most days and get the M and S quality once a week. I divide into two portions, eating one as mid afternoon tea and the other intended for the morrow after the evening meal of a cheese pasta bake with spinach, because I am too lazy to prepare the fresh pineapple and water melon, but I will do so in the morning. This evening I enjoyed a glass of Tallowood Creek Shiraz, product of an Italian born family in the Riverina area of New South Wales, Australia.

I broke off making these notes to listen to the under 25 version of Question Time which accepting the atypical audience contained more intelligent comment than the entire seasons of programmes since the last such event. The programme was then followed by an exceptional edition of the weekly political round up where for once all three outside contributors had something of importance to say. The first had married into the Bin Laden family and what she said confirmed my judgement that those against becoming religious and cultural Muslim, or who wish their children and grand children to have the choice have a long term and major fight on their hands, and it is a fight which the democratic west will have difficulty in sustaining, but where Russia and in time China, will have the right and political systems to combat the threat more effectively. One cannot fight those who have no political objectives with politics and those who think so are dangerous fools. That is why resolving the Palestine and Israel question is only important, outside the countries and peoples directly involved, in reducing one cause which acts a recruiting agent, but there will be other causes across Africa, Asia and South America which will be exploited. It is a war almost impossible to fight because the enemy has the cover of an important religion with quality ideals and cultural values and those engaging have been trained and will continue to be trained to function under cover for long periods and thus when they rise up and act, and to some extent the actual blowing up is not important, but it is undermining confidence between races, religions and communities. The allegation that those perpetrating the recent failed terrorist attacks are doctors who with others worked for the National Health Service is the real success of the operation because from now, whenever anyone goes to see a doctor trained or born in a Muslim country then there will be caution and suspicion.

I think that the only effective way to stop the movement from growing and of pushing back the threat will come from Muslims taking action, especially young Muslims. They have to engage in proactive opposition to the level of a lifelong crusade, as will Catholics and Jews in saying no those within their religions who preach that their faith is the only true faith and that everyone else are non believers who need to be forced to believe or be exterminated.

There was an excellent contribution by a metrologist and presenter that the natural consequence of global is increase precipitation and flooding. There was a healthy discussion about the failure of the London based media to understand the impact on Hull in particular and the North Generally. The political elite were too busy changing guard in preparation for the next general election and the media remains London area blinkered.

The third contribution identified the significant political ups and down of the week and the Ming Campbell’s joke about Gordon Brown's open door being a trap door was the highlight. Gordon's gaff about only being P.M for five days will live to haunt him given that he wished for the job since childhood and has been plotting and planning for over a decade since Tony was elected party leader. The slip undid the otherwise excellent performance on taking office and when commenting on the terrorist attempts and constitutional reform.