Looks like a good promotion/relegation year for the Irish (Well done Mick!)

[eirebhoy]

Kav didn't have a good game last night but with the exception of JR did anyone? kav played in the Ipswich game, arguabley our best performance of the season. Then was probably our best player in the Millwall game. Played in two decent away performances at Brighton and Forest and was one of the better players in a bad performance on Saturday. In conclusion I do not agree that the arrival of Kavanagh has had a negative influence on the team.

I was one of the band of people who didn't agree with the signing of Kav but he has proved me wrong and really impressed in every game. How many times, both last night and Sat, was Kav the last line of defense, clearing any danger??. He even made a run (Ellington's job in that second hlaf btw) to pick up a thru ball to the corners while Duke was scratching his arse.He covered every blade of grass last night.

.....

[ken foree]

excellent! thanks. i am being further wooed by the prospect of a kav/keane partnership

[Slash/ED]

The most important thing that can happen for me is Wigan to come up, it'd be even better than Sunderland despite the amount of Irish they have. Kavanagh really needs premiership football now and this is one of his last few chances to get it and to be ready for it if he does go up. If he gets into the premiership he;ll force his way into our mid field beside Keane imo.

For Sunderland, I'd worry about Elliot. Alot of managers think as soon as they go up they need to sign a host of experienced players and it can hurt the youngsters, Elliot is first choice now but Kyle will almost certinaly get back into the team when he returns because Sunderland will have to play to their strenghts, I'd expect Elliot to partner him with their current crop but Mick could be tempted into signing an experienced striker with a proven record in the premiership. I honestly think Sunderland staying down and another season of division one football could help him alot, but it looks like it's not to be and massive credit to McCarthy for that.

Sean Thornton is another who could find himself down the pecking order even more if new signings are made.

[tetsujin1979]

Will Sunderland have that kind of money available for new signings?

[eirebhoy]

from Sunderland official website:

Kevin Kyle scored five times in front of Mick McCarthy as Sunderland Reserves moved off the bottom.

The big striker notched two goals before the break and three after - including a penalty - to complete a remarkable comeback game.

Michael Bridges scored the other two as the Black Cats beat Aston Villa in a 12-goal thriller in Durham.

McCarthy has said that Kyle is unlikely to play first-team football again this season because of his hip problem but even the Sunderland manager must have been surprised by this show.

Kyle opened the scoring in the fifth minute and scored his second before 12 minutes were on the clock.

Bridges also grabbed a first-half goal to give Sunderland a 3-2 lead at the break.

Kyle slotted home a penalty after a handball in the 47th minute to complete his hat-trick and Bridges got his second in the 66th minute.

Kyle scored twice in the last 10 minutes before leaving the field to a standing ovation.

Sean Thornton, who hit the bar in the first half, did not re-appear in the second half, needing two stitches in his leg after a challenge.

Matt Piper also played to hand McCarthy a boost but the night belonged to Kyle.

Villa, who twice clawed back a two-goal deficit, were reduced to 10 men in the 76th minute when Kevin Mulcahy (Irish) was dismissed for a foul on Bridges.

Gavin McCann, Villa's ex-Sunderland midfielder, played for 65 minutes as he makes a comeback from injury.

[Stuttgart88]

Kevin Mulcahy?

[livehead1]

seen kavanagh against forest, a club he turned down when leaving cardiff. he was simply a class above anything else that was on the pitch. ran the show for the whole game, he passing was first class and his movement off the ball and time he created for himself mean that he is definately a premiership player. he has more to offer to a club than the likes of holland, delap etc and i think that will be shown if wigan go up.

[livehead1]

someone said they think wigan will go down if they come up but i disagree with that. with dave whelan behind them (owner of jjb sports) there is no doubt in my mind that they will invest reasonably heavily in current premiership terms. i could see up to 8million been spent and they have a good young manager in paul jewell

[carnstien]

For Sunderland, I'd worry about Elliot. Alot of managers think as soon as they go up they need to sign a host of experienced players and it can hurt the youngsters, Elliot is first choice now but Kyle will almost certinaly get back into the team when he returns because Sunderland will have to play to their strenghts, I'd expect Elliot to partner him with their current crop but Mick could be tempted into signing an experienced striker with a proven record in the premiership. I honestly think Sunderland staying down and another season of division one football could help him alot, but it looks like it's not to be and massive credit to McCarthy for that.

Sean Thornton is another who could find himself down the pecking order even more if new signings are made.

One thing Mick is, and often to his detriment, is loyal to his players. Remember the likes of Harte and Breen when he was managing us? I don't think Elliot or Thornton have much to worry about. If they are 1st choice and playing well now, they will probably be 1st choice next season aswell.

[Stuttgart88]

Sunderland are up, thats a cert.

Hmmm, maybe not!

[razor]

Kevin Mulcahy?

Signed by Villa a few years back from Douglas Hall in Cork.
Don't know a whole lot more about the lad.

[eirebhoy]

Kyle scored another 3 the other night for the reserves against Bolton so thats 8 goals in his last 2 matches for the reserves.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Yes Wigan V Man City that's a real Manchester derby!

[OwlsFan]

"well done Mick"

But I'll never forgive you for cocking up my enjoyment of the last World Cup with your totally inept and arrogant display...

Got though to the last 16 and lost in a peno shoot-out to one of the strongest teams in world football, Spain with a team comprising for the most part of journey men like Harte, Breen, Holland, Kilsella, Kilbane etc etc. - doesn't seem "totally inept" to me but I'm not wearing red glasses.

Thanks for the memories, Mick - I'll never forget Robbie's last gasp equaliser against Germany (even if all my mates spillt their drink all over my new carpet when the goal went in - or the 1-0 over Holland). Magic. You're also the old Irish manager I've seen cry when we failed to qualify (in Brussels). Passionate about your country unlike some.

Best of luck with Sunderland - Dumpy and Laughing Bill thought you wouldn't be able to cope there. Great job done.

[Colie]

Yeah, well done to Mick & Ian & all the Irish players there, it'll be more top flight experience for loads of current & potential international players which is what they really need & can only be good for us. So regardless of whether you dislike McCarthy or not, you gotta want Sunderland (& of course Wigan) up.

I can see McCarthy & Evans back at the helm of the Republic in about 10 years, after Kerr decides to retire after retaining the world cup.

[RedX]

I was never a McCarthy fan and i am a huge Ipswich fan..how do you think i feel?..but in fairness McCarthy has done a very good job..he has built a very strong hard working side and they probably deserve to be right up there..it would be good for the Irish players there if they get promoted..If Ipswich go up there are at least half a dozen Irish in the youth set-up which is flyning right now..they have a fabulous academy and there connections with Ireland are getting stronger so Sunderland and Ipswich would be best for Irish fans..its hard to predict who would stay up if promoted..deends how they start and of course who's signings work for them..

[Colie]

Yessssssssss.

They're up! Mick & Ian are legends.

And Ipswich won the youth cup (3 Irish I think?)

[Green Tribe]

Well done Mick! Look forward to seeing him getting into the limelight again (stop laughing Eire06 + Peadar ! He deserves some positive feedback.

[pete]

Well done on Mick McCarthy securing promotion today. Must be one the biggest turnarounds for a long time.

[Donal81]

Thriving on the Wear and tear
23/04/2005


Mary Hannigan finds Sunderland and its denizens enchanted by the gruff charms and winning ways of manager Mick McCarthy


Promotion Close? "Yeah - and Midfield Drive." Na? "Honest." Na.

So Ian Laws, the Sunderland Echo's chief soccer writer, takes a detour on his way back in to the city from the club's training ground, through the streets that once led to Roker Park, and points to the sign at the entrance to the rows of townhouses now occupying the site of the old stadium.

Promotion Close. And Midfield Drive. And Turnstile Mews.

"Needless to say," he adds, "when the Echo ran the competition to name the new roads Newcastle fans tried to sabotage it." Their offering? Relegation Close.

Well, it was probably, much to the amusement of the inhabitants of Sunderland, the last footballing laugh they had down the road in Newcastle. Events there in recent weeks have become every Sunderland fan's favourite soap opera. That's when they're not preoccupied with their own drama. As the sign says, "Promotion Close".

So close it could be clinched today, if results go their way. It would be the club's third promotion in a decade, a period that has also seen them relegated from the Premiership twice and lose out in penalty shootouts in two promotion play-off games.

"That's a lot of heartache for any supporter to endure," says Martin McFadden, the man behind the independent Sunderland website a-love-supreme.com.

"Before Mick McCarthy it was two years of rubbish and the supporters are still bitter about it. They were left heartbroken, a bit like a bad relationship with a woman. Now they're almost being emotionally forced back into the relationship, but the trust isn't really there, they're probably just waiting for it all to go wrong again.

"So, yes, promotion's close, and we'll only miss out if we mess up on a big scale . . . but Sunderland are probably capable of doing just that," he laughs, nervously reflecting on the team's last two games, when they lost at home to Reading and drew away to Ipswich, where they missed a penalty and conceded a last-minute equaliser. The supporters, then, are barely able to look.

"My stomach's sick," says the taxi driver, echoing McFadden's reluctance to take promotion for granted. "It's so close you can almost touch it, but you start thinking how it could go wrong. What if we lose to Leicester and Ipswich beat Leeds, and then we lose to West Ham and . . . ?" He forgets to turn right and we're heading for Gateshead. "Sorry about that," he says.

In an attempt to lift his spirits we mention Norwich City's 94th-minute winner against Newcastle the night before. His reaction is much the same as was witnessed in Fitzgerald's pub in the city centre when the score flashed on the big screen during the Chelsea-Arsenal game. In time the staff will mop up the spilt beer, toppled by dozens of heavily tattooed, shaven-headed men in red-and-white-striped shirts when they catapulted from their seats to deliriously hug each other before dissolving into riotous laughter that reached decibel levels probably akin to the famed "Roker Roar" of old.

As McFadden put it, "Newcastle's demise has been entertaining, to say the least."

Back in the taxi the driver finds the demise so entertaining his shoulders are vibrating violently, while he cites the day Lee Bowyer threw punches at Kieron Dyer as one of his most cherished footballing memories.

Up there with beating Leeds in the 1973 FA Cup final?

"Aye," he laughs, "but I was only three then. I'll actually be able to tell my grandchildren about Bowyer and Dyer."

Which leads to him proudly contrasting the state of the neighbouring clubs and, specifically, the attitudes of the players.

Newcastle? "Overpaid, spoilt prima donnas with no pride in the shirt."

Sunderland? "A great bunch of lads who'd die for the club."

And who is responsible for this spirit?

"Mick McCaaaaarthy! He's fan-tastic!"

And that, it seems, is the consensus in Sunderland.

"There's genuine admiration and respect for the job he's done here," says Laws. "You've got to remember he took over at Sunderland when the club was on its knees. It had been on the slide for 18 months. Then Mick came in, with nine games to go. Lost them all. We were relegated. Then we lost the first two games of the next season - 11 games lost in a row. How many managers survive that? But the fans never turned on him - there were sections, obviously, who were frustrated and angry, but there was never a movement doubting that he was the man for the job.

"Howard Wilkinson (McCarthy's predecessor at Sunderland) hadn't been a popular appointment. He never connected with the supporters. When he went the man at the top of everyone's wish-list - which seems to be the same at every club - was Martin O'Neill, but that was never going to happen. Mick was available, he had the calibre, people respected him for dealing with that hellish situation with Roy Keane."

"Anyone who could deal with that psycho was alright by us," says the taxi man, who - while remaining reluctant to tempt promotion's fate - promises a warm welcome for Keane should he turn up with Manchester United at the Stadium of Light next season.

"Mick picked Ireland up when there was the pressure of taking over from Jack (Charlton). He had to rebuild and he did that," says Laws. "He's done the same at Sunderland - and this club needed to be rebuilt. The first thing he had to do in the summer, because of the financial problems, was get rid of around 25 players, an amazing clear-out. And this season his buys have been phenomenally successful: people like Dean Whitehead, Liam Lawrence and Stephen Elliott."

"Wilkinson was the most ridiculous appointment - he was a nightmare," says McFadden, still, like most of his fellow supporters, trying to decipher some of Wilkinson's statements when he was at the club.

"We did not deserve to lose today - we weren't beaten, we lost," he once said, before comparing Sunderland's relegation battle two seasons ago to "trying to push custard up a hill".

Even in the deepest south of England that class of talk wouldn't endear a manager to the supporters, but in the northeast uphill battles with custard - well, no. They like their managers to be blunt, straight, to the point, tough and honest, and to leave custard out of it. And in McCarthy, says McFadden, they've found the man who fits the bill.

"When he came in he shook every one up, called a spade a spade, talked straight, and he was respected for that. He had to get rid of our best 22 players but he made do, coped, got on with it, no complaining.

"I know Ireland was split about McCarthy, but he's been brilliant for us. He treats the fans well; there are lots of stories about him taking the time to talk to them, even when he's out having a meal with his wife. And he's good-natured with them. 'Right, tell me what I'm doing wrong' - that kind of thing."