Delap linked with Sunderland

[tetsujin1979]

From http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=358728&CPID=8&clid=&lid=2&title=Delap+set+for+North+East
Premiership strugglers Sunderland are keen to sign Southampton's Rory Delap on transfer deadline day.

The versatile Republic of Ireland international has been offered a two-and-a-half year contract to uproot and switch from the South Coast to the North East.

Delap's agent Neil Sillett told skysports.com that a free transfer is on the brink of completion.

"There's a few i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed," Sillett informed skysports.com on Tuesday morning.

"He's agreed personal terms and it's a two-and-a-half year deal.

"He is looking forward to linking up with Mick McCarthy after working with him with the Republic of Ireland national team."

Delap had previously been linked with Sunderland's North East rivals, and opponents on Tuesday night, Middlesbrough.

[zinedineontour]

yep .. hes just signed .. decent signing for us .. hopefully he can produce the goods and keep us up ( only joking ) .. no be a good signing to get us back up from the championship and hopefully get into the ireland squad again ..

[OwlsFan]

The versatile Republic of Ireland international

Kiss of death to be called "versatile". Means you're average at everything and nothing special in any particular position because if you were, you'd hold down that position.

Don't see Delap having an Irish future I am afraid. He's long enough in the tooth to have made an impact by now. Strange to see Mick signing him because I am not too sure he played him that often when he was our manager although I know he was injury prone.

[NeilMcD]

I think I said that Sunderland woudl go down at the start of the season with a record low total. I think Zidane you laughed at me at the time.

[OwlsFan]

They'll pick up 3 points at home tonight against 'Boro and record their first home win in the Premiership under Mick.

[zinedineontour]

I think I said that Sunderland woudl go down at the start of the season with a record low total. I think Zidane you laughed at me at the time.

yes id still laugh cause wont be record low total at all ... can see us getting at least mid twenties or early thirties in points

[finlma]

yes id still laugh cause wont be record low total at all ... can see us getting at least mid twenties or early thirties in points


I'll be adding that quote to this quote:


worst side in prem history ? Dont think so . Obviously you have not watched any of our games. We have played a lot of good football this season and will improve with every game . Id be surprised to see us go down honestly and we will show in the weeks to come we are a better side than wigan, west brom , west ham for starters .. Dont be writing us of yet ffs there is 6 games gone ....

both of which will be dug out in May again.

Terrible move for Delap - why is he wasting his time. Hope its only a very short term contract.

[zinedineontour]

I'll be adding that quote to this quote:



both of which will be dug out in May again.

Terrible move for Delap - why is he wasting his time. Hope its only a very short term contract.

Dig away ... we are not the poorest team in premier league history and time will show that .. Why terrible move for delap ? going to a side that are very likely to come back up next season rather than a side who could be in relegation trouble with southampton ... sensible move for delap . Its a pity so many on here are delighted with mick doing bad ... Very Irish attitude ....

[NeilMcD]

Zidane I am not delighted Mick is doing badlyl. But Sunderland are rubbish and your quote after 6 games has been shown to be worthless as you were totally wrong in it. You said they were better than Wigan West Ham West Brom which is laughable.

[zinedineontour]

Zidane I am not delighted Mick is doing badlyl. But Sunderland are rubbish and your quote after 6 games has been shown to be worthless as you were totally wrong in it. You said they were better than Wigan West Ham West Brom which is laughable.

well 1 out of 3 aint bad .. we are a better team than west brom who sadly will prob go down with us ... to be honest we are in a different league financially to every single team in the league and would have taken a much braver chairman to keep us up ..

[NeilMcD]

U are not better than West Brom they are ahead of you in the table. The league table does not lie.

[zinedineontour]

U are not better than West Brom they are ahead of you in the table. The league table does not lie.

well if thats the case might as well relegate the bottom 3 now and sure give spurs the champions league spot cause table doesnt lie ...

[NeilMcD]

No cause the rules of the League say its over a 38 game season. However there no logic to you stating that West Brom are not as good as Sunderland. My logic is the current league table. What is yours.

[FarBeag]

But it's telling the truth at the moment.Sunderland are awful and tbh are worse than any team in the bottom part of the premier or top six in league one,surely even you can admit to this.I really do not think that anyone is blaming Mick, he just does not have the players or the money to compete and buying Delap proves this.

[zinedineontour]

No cause the rules of the League say its over a 38 game season. However there no logic to you stating that West Brom are not as good as Sunderland. My logic is the current league table. What is yours.

So with your logic spurs are a better team than arsenal and wigan better than bolton ?? my logic is that we beat west brom recently away and drew at home with them scoring a 93rd minute goal .. so overall we have looked a better team when we have played them .. there you go ...

[zinedineontour]

But it's telling the truth at the moment.Sunderland are awful and tbh are worse than any team in the bottom part of the premier or top six in league one,surely even you can admit to this.I really do not think that anyone is blaming Mick, he just does not have the players or the money to compete and buying Delap proves this.

I agree we have been terrible and the financial restraints have not helped .. mick has made some bad purchases with his little money and can be partly to blame but the main problem is our chairman to be honest .. Delap is really all we can aim for at the moment due to the fact we are after free transfers and even some of them have fallen through due to high wages .. the only teams i think we are currently better or similar to are pompey and west brom ..

[NeilMcD]

Strange logic I would rather go on 22 points versus 9 which must be pretty embarassing as a Sunderland supporter. I would say someting ifyou were close to West Brom but you are miles behind them . There is not much between Arsenal and Spurs and I think it could come down to the game at teh end of the season between them. At the moment spurs are 4 points better with a game in hand for Arsenal which could bge just 1 point so thats a hard one to call. Wigan Bolton is the same as Bolton have 2 games in hand so you are not comparing like with like. Sunderland have 1 game in hand which brings them to 12 if they win it. Something they have done 2 times all season and never at home. This will still leave them 10 points behind West Brom.

[Den Perry]

Strange logic I would rather go on 22 points versus 9 which must be pretty embarassing as a Sunderland supporter. I would say someting ifyou were close to West Brom but you are miles behind them . There is not much between Arsenal and Spurs and I think it could come down to the game at teh end of the season between them. At the moment spurs are 4 points better with a game in hand for Arsenal which could bge just 1 point so thats a hard one to call. Wigan Bolton is the same as Bolton have 2 games in hand so you are not comparing like with like. Sunderland have 1 game in hand which brings them to 12 if they win it. Something they have done 2 times all season and never at home. This will still leave them 10 points behind West Brom.

On present form, Spurs are a better team than Aresenal

[zinedineontour]

Strange logic I would rather go on 22 points versus 9 which must be pretty embarassing as a Sunderland supporter. I would say someting ifyou were close to West Brom but you are miles behind them . There is not much between Arsenal and Spurs and I think it could come down to the game at teh end of the season between them. At the moment spurs are 4 points better with a game in hand for Arsenal which could bge just 1 point so thats a hard one to call. Wigan Bolton is the same as Bolton have 2 games in hand so you are not comparing like with like. Sunderland have 1 game in hand which brings them to 12 if they win it. Something they have done 2 times all season and never at home. This will still leave them 10 points behind West Brom.

not really that strange cause when ive seen sunderland v west brom and can compare like for like sunderland have looked the better team on both days .

[NeilMcD]

Well I think league points are a much better guage of a teams ability rather than one off games. That is why the league is considered a bigger prize than the FA Cup.

[dancinpants]

Sunderland 0-2 Boro HT

[OwlsFan]

They'll pick up 3 points at home tonight against 'Boro and record their first home win in the Premiership under Mick.

:o Mick was on the verge of tears in his aftermatch interview. I am amazed the SUnderland Board has had such patience. I feel for the guy.

[tetsujin1979]

I think it's more to do with the fact they can't afford to pay him off, bring in a new manager + backroom staff and provide him with a transfer budget than patience

[zinedineontour]

:o Mick was on the verge of tears in his aftermatch interview. I am amazed the SUnderland Board has had such patience. I feel for the guy.

to be honest its not patience thats keeping mick in a job .. the reason is if they sack him now they will have to sack him on a premiership contact and will cost around 3m to get rid of him and ian evans .. the plan is to get rid in the summer when micks contract is back on championship wages. . As well as that if they got someone in now they will be on a prem contract so wont be done till the summer from what ive been hearing ..

[NeilMcD]

So are they really going to finish on mid 30 points there Zidane. I think they will do well to get 18. They were rubbish again last night. What was Gary Breen at. They are surely the worst team ever to play in the Premiership.

I think Mc Carthy is too nice a guy for the big time in my view.

[zinedineontour]

So are they really going to finish on mid 30 points there Zidane. I think they will do well to get 18. They were rubbish again last night. What was Gary Breen at. They are surely the worst team ever to play in the Premiership.

I think Mc Carthy is too nice a guy for the big time in my view.

with my rose tinted glasses yes ... but with our current plight prob not ... rubbish last night agree totally and gary breen has been a disgrace all season ... mick is a championship manager ...

[NeilMcD]

... mick is a championship manager ...

Do you mean the computer game then!!!!! Thats how Stan got the Ireland!!!!

[finlma]

gary breen has been a disgrace all season ... mick is a championship manager ...

Breen has never been anything other than that and McCarthy never has been / never will be a decent manager.

Did Delap play last night or was he not registered?

[NeilMcD]

To be fair thats exactly what he is a decent manager, he is also a decent guy. I just think he lacks the personality to manage at the big time. U need to be a bit of a ***** to be a world class footballer or manager as you have to have arrogance and a siege mentality etc. Mick is too nice in my view and that has been a trait for a long time now.

[zinedineontour]

Breen has never been anything other than that and McCarthy never has been / never will be a decent manager.

Did Delap play last night or was he not registered?

Mick is a decent manager and did great in the championship getting us up but he just does not have that extra bit of class like paul jewell ... Breen again is championship standard ...

Delap injured with achilles injury at the mo ...

[NeilMcD]

I agree with you about Mc Carthy. He does lack the bit of star quality or extra bit of class that Paul Jewell does have. In my view he went for quantity rather than quality in the close season and is paying the price for it now. How many average strikers does he need at the club.

[zinedineontour]

I agree with you about Mc Carthy. He does lack the bit of star quality or extra bit of class that Paul Jewell does have. In my view he went for quantity rather than quality in the close season and is paying the price for it now. How many average strikers does he need at the club.

agree .. too many signings in pre season by far .. le tallec , murphy , stead and gray all brought in when we should have gone for someone like darren bent when last season ended ... we have nobody with pace up front and with elliott out for so long all the others have not performed .. the only light for next season is the return of kev kyle and due to elliott been injured hopefully wont attract to many suitors this summer and will develop good relationship with kyler in championship..

[finlma]

and due to elliott been injured hopefully wont attract to many suitors this summer and will develop good relationship with kyler in championship..

From an Ireland point of view it would be great to see Elliot get his back sorted and move to a Premiership club like Bolton or Birmingham. We've don't have enough strikers playing in the Preiership.

[Den Perry]

From an Ireland point of view it would be great to see Elliot get his back sorted and move to a Premiership club like Bolton or Birmingham. We've don't have enough strikers playing in the Preiership.

They are the worst team I ever remember in the top division. I can't waituntil that p**** Evans is out of a job....

[zinedineontour]

From an Ireland point of view it would be great to see Elliot get his back sorted and move to a Premiership club like Bolton or Birmingham. We've don't have enough strikers playing in the Preiership.

true but as a sunderland supporter be gutted to see him go ... Yeah ian evans is a knob and wont be sorry to see him go at all ...

[OwlsFan]

I agree with you about Mc Carthy. He does lack the bit of star quality or extra bit of class that Paul Jewell does have. In my view he went for quantity rather than quality in the close season and is paying the price for it now. How many average strikers does he need at the club.

McCarthy managed to steady a sinking ship with Sunderland but Jewell failed with Wednesday and they continued their downward plummet under him. Strange but true.

McCarthy is a decent manager - however, he is not a lucky manager and tactically can get it wrong sometimes and be too loyal to players.

[NeilMcD]

Fair enough but he also led Bradford to The Premiership and kept them up and has done the same with Wigan and brought them to a Cup Final too.

To say Mc Carthy is not lucky is also a bit strange as Ireland were poxed lucky in the campaign of 2002. Our luck was not there for Euro 2000 though. luck comes and goes.

[Condex]

So are they really going to finish on mid 30 points there Zidane. I think they will do well to get 18. They were rubbish again last night. What was Gary Breen at. They are surely the worst team ever to play in the Premiership.

I think Mc Carthy is too nice a guy for the big time in my view.


Whatever happened to 'We all dream of a team of Gary Breens' and he new never let Ireland down, brigade......:(

[NeilMcD]

Well I think the Song about Gary Breen was 1st Started by Apres Match and it was sung in Irony. In addition just cause a player does not let ireland down does not mean you cant say their club form is terrible. I saw highlights of the match last night and he gave away the ball for the 3rd goal with a hospital pass. Thats why I asked what was Gary Breen at.

[zinedineontour]

Well I think the Song about Gary Breen was 1st Started by Apres Match and it was sung in Irony. In addition just cause a player does not let ireland down does not mean you cant say their club form is terrible. I saw highlights of the match last night and he gave away the ball for the 3rd goal with a hospital pass. Thats why I asked what was Gary Breen at.

gary breen has been making mistakes like that all season and blaming anyone around him for them .. would rather we gave neil collins a run in the side to get some experience and get breen off the wage bill ..

[Den Perry]

gary breen has been making mistakes like that all season and blaming anyone around him for them .. would rather we gave neil collins a run in the side to get some experience and get breen off the wage bill ..


Rather gary breen has been making mistakes like that all his life....I have never seen any centre half whose concentration dips so much EG Against yUGOSLAVIA IN LAST MINUTE A FEW YEARS AGO, AGAINS sWITZERLAND IN eURO QUALIFIER.....he is most definitely not an international defender

[Dan K]

Probably as good a move as Delap could have hoped for. In 2002-03 he was immense in the centre of midfield along side Oakley (who is Holland-esque in style), but got injured that season and seems to have been lacking the extra drive that he had.

Since then he's been used as a right back, right winger, central midfielder, forward and centre half, to varying degrees of success.

An honest player, but I think he's missed the boat as regards his international career.

Like many, he's been the victim of Burley's (much needed) purge of players down here, but it's a shame he's going to face consecutive relegations, especially with a team as poor as Sunderland.

Still, Burley needs to stamp his authority on Saints and mould the team in his image, if we're going to go back up next year.