A cold day in Northern England part 2

After the pitiful performance in Milan on Wednesday night, Emerson and I were both hoping for better as we made our second trip to Sunderland on consecutive Saturday’s.

With my foot now better, and after the fun and games of the train last week, I decided to drive this time. Having played football near the Stadium of Light several times over the last few years, I knew a short cut and a good place to park (Southwick if you’re interested, ten minutes walk from the ground).

After the freezing temperatures of last week we both hoped it would be slightly milder this time, especially as all the snow and ice had long gone. Plus it was sunny when we left Darlington so Emerson decided to wear his new red jacket while I made the mistake of wearing one less jumper.

In short, it was colder. Much, much colder. The wind was freezing and while it had said 5 degrees in the car, it felt more like minus 5 on the walk alongside the River Wear to the ground.

We were slightly closer to the front this time, and more to the left of the goal, but that was not that the only change. Luckily we were not in the Scottish section and the atmosphere around us was pretty good, at least before the game started anyway.

View from our seats.

The team was announced and we were both happy to hear RvP and Gervinho were playing, but Emerson was a little disappointed Theo was only on the bench.
As he saw the team warming up, and the subs having a kick about away from the starting XI, Emerson thought Theo looked sad.

‘’Still, it’s his own fault,’’ he said, rather unsympathetically. ‘’After the last two games I think he probably deserves to be on the bench today.’’

Our usual prediction game was hard this time. I feared the worst but wanted to be positive so I went for a 3-2 win. With Fabianski in goal and Djourou at the back I felt sure we would concede, but I hoped RvP would do the business at the other end.

Emerson was less optimistic.

‘’1-1 or 2-2,’’ he said, but he did not sound convinced and I think he really meant 2-1 to Sunderland, although like me did want to admit to it.

After a bright start our injury problems returned as we lost a defender for the third match in row – Coquelin hobbling off with a hamstring injury inside 7 minutes.

That saw Squillaci come on to partner Djourou in the centre of defence so I knew there would be no clean sheet for us now. These two clowns have got to be among the worse centre backs we have ever had, and quite how we have got to the point where these are the best we can get goes some way to explaining our current problems.

Yes, we perhaps could have had a penalty when RvP went down under a challenge from O’Shea – Emerson, at least, was convinced it was a pen – and Gervinho was denied by Mignolet, but there was no getting away from the fact that we deserved to be behind at the break.

The half time trip to the toilet was less stressful than last week, although the atmosphere in the concourse was not great. Plenty of unhappy Gooners. Emerson just wanted to go back up to his seat, but it was much warmer in the concourse so I made sure we dragged it out until the teams had returned for the second half.

Emerson trying to look as though he's not cold.

I really thought we would come out with all guns blazing; a-la Villa in the last round, but it seemed we just had nothing left in the tank.
Having been critical of Sunderland’s style of play last week I feel it is only fair to give them praise this time.

They actually reminded me a little of Forest from the late 70’s/early 80’s. The two centre backs are not the greatest footballers but are very strong and well organised, they have two good, fast wingers, Lee Cattermole is in the Kenny Burns destroyer role, and they play on the counter-attack.

I guess that should not be a total surprise as O’Neill played under Clough in the glory days, and if I were a Sunderland fan I would very excited about the future. Unlike us then...

Despite being well below par, again, I kept thinking we would somehow snatch an equaliser. Wenger brought on Walcott and Rosicky for the injured Ramsey and Squillaci, moving Song back into defence. Why he didn’t just do that in the first place I don’t know.

We switched to a 4-4-2, with Theo playing up front alongside RvP, the very position I have been saying he should be playing all along.

Emerson, of course, was happy to see his hero, unlike everyone around us who started to show their disapproval almost immediately. Some were shouting at him almost as soon as he came onto the pitch. Yeah, nothing like giving the lad a chance eh?

The second goal, ten minutes from time, was again a disaster. I felt sorry for the Ox, who bust a gut to get back after losing the ball (you watching Arshavin?) and was unlucky to deflect it into his own net after it come back off the post.

That was enough for many fans, who started to walk out. I must admit I was tempted to do the same, mainly because it was so cold, and I wanted Sunderland to grab a third just to bring an end to the suffering. At 2-0 you know, deep down, you still have a chance, even though the reality in front of you suggests differently. But 3-0 would end all hope and you can breathe a huge sigh of relief it is all over.

Some guy behind us started shouting 'Spend some f**king money,' although quiet how we are supposed to do that now the transfer window is shut I am not sure. Maybe he just wanted his mate to buy him a pint and a burger.

As Wenger prowled along the touchline, the Sunderland fans started singing ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ and there were nothing much we could say in response. Of course he won’t be sacked but maybe it is time for him to do the honourable thing. I mean it is clearly not working anymore.

The last ten minutes were among the worst I have ever witnessed. At least at Man. United in August we had our excuses and the fans stuck with us. This was just a feeling of utter despair. And it was cold, so very cold.

Emerson always likes to guess the amount of stoppage time at the end of the game so I went for 3 minutes, but Emerson just said, ‘’I hope there is none at all so we can just go home.’’ Yeah, that sounds good.

As it turned out there was 3 and I was convinced we would score right at the end when it was too late to make any difference. But of course we didn’t. We could have played until next week and still not scored.

Coming out the ground we had to walk through all the happy Sunderland fans singing about going to Wembley. Emerson was a little upset and started undoing his jacket to show everyone his Arsenal shirt underneath.

‘’We are still better than you,’’ he said, although no one was listening to him.

We finally got back to the car and I turned the heating up to maximum as we tried to thaw out. It soon became clear I was far more depressed about the day’s events than Emerson, who now was looking forward to his McDonalds and thinking about the next match we could go to.

‘’Can we go to the Milan game?’’ he asked.

‘’No Emerson, it’s a school night.’’

‘’What about Liverpool away?’’

‘’Maybe, we’ll see.’’

After what I just witnessed, the last thing I wanted to think about was doing it all over again. Perhaps a win over Spurs on Sunday will renew my enthusiasm. Perhaps.

But of course it is hard to stay sad too long when I have Emerson with me, and by the time we reached McDonalds he had managed to cheer up.

''It's okay dad, we might win the cup next season,'' he said as we at down to eat our not-so-happy meal.

''Yes, Emerson, perhaps we might.''

A cold day in Northern England.

Sunderland 1 Arsenal 2

Since Thierry Henry returned to Arsenal in January, Emerson has nagged and nagged me to take him to a match so he could see him play live for the first time. Unfortunately it had coincided with my foot being in plaster so getting to a game was not easy, but when I heard this trip to Sunderland would probably be his last in England, I knew we had to be there.

With driving out the question, we had no choice other than to take the train. So we arrived at Darlington station at 13.00 for the short trip to Newcastle, before catching the Metro to St. Peters. Despite living in these parts for over 10 years I had never been on the Newcastle Metro before and Emerson was particularly excited.

''Will it be like the London Underground?'' he asked.

''Yeah probably,'' I replied, although we hoped the trains would be rather less rattley!

The first leg of our journey was livened up by the presence of a hen party heading to the Toon. Emerson did not know what to make of it all, but I found it hilarious. For some reason we found ourselves caught up in the middle of it all, and one woman - a Man. United fan - told Emerson Sunderland would win 2-1. Yes, she had been drinking...

As it turned out the Metro was not rattley at all, although it seemed to take forever to reach Sunderland. We played our usual prediction game to pass the time and Emerson went for a 3-2 win, although the only thing he really wanted was to see Henry score. I, rather optimistically, went for 4-1.

''Dad, are you serious?'' asked a shocked Emerson.

''Yeah, why not?'' I replied.

After a quick stop for chips, we got in the ground half an hour before kick off to see the atmosphere building up nicely. The last few minutes of the Manchester United v Liverpool match was on the TV in the concourse and I was shocked to hear the Arsenal fans singing 'Evra you're a c**t' when he appeared on screen. Yes, he is a loathsome individual, but come on, he was the victim in that little story.

View from our seats.

Once in our seats I soon remembered what I hate about games in the North-East. The away end is full of northern Gooners who rarely go to games in any other part of the country, so you have to suffer their moronic comments for 90 minutes. As luck would have it Emerson and I were in the 'Scottish' section. The last thing you need on a freezing cold Saturday in February is to be stuck with a load of pissed up Jocks. They really were the most miserable bunch you could ever wish to meet. One in particular, sitting just behind Emerson (wearing a kilt in -4 degrees, genius), kept shouting 'for f**k sake Arsenal, come on!' every time Sunderland got the ball.

Meanwhile, next to us were the Theo Walcott appreciation society. I am getting sick of tired of hearing so-called Arsenal fans constantly getting on Theo's back. Several times he was given a dreadful pass, usually by Song or Rosicky, and he tried his best to control it or keep it in play, but everyone immediately jumped on his back when he failed to do so. Shameful. Okay he didn't have his greatest game here but while he is on the pitch we should support him. Plus he has had a good season overall. Not that these clowns would know as they have probably only seen about 2-3 games. Anyway I digress.

The first thing that became clear was the state of the pitch. Yes, the weather has been bad but this was just a disgrace. There are park pitches in better condition. What is the groundsman doing? My initial thought was that they had made it that bad on purpose, to hinder our passing game, but I was later informed it was just as bad for their last home against long-ball merchants Norwich.

Unsurprisingly the first half was a low-key affair. We dominated possession but found Sunderland happy to sit back and try to catch us on the break. They had one or two half chances, while the nearest we came was a shot from Theo that flew across the face of the goal. I really wished it had gone in just to see the morons around me having to cheer something he had done. Hypocrites to a man.

Emerson braving the cold weather.

Half time led to a mission to get to the toilet. The concourse area is far too narrow for the number of fans inside, leading a dangerous bottle-neck as people queue for refreshments while others try to squeeze past. Just getting to the toilet and back with Emerson took up the whole 20 minute half-time break, so how anyone can manage to get food as well is beyond me. Oh yes, you leave your seat with 10 minutes still to play...

We showed a bit more urgency at the start of the second half, but all Emerson wanted to know was when Henry was coming on. I have been lucky enough to see the great man play many times, and score many, many goals, but Emerson's first match was not until 2008, the year after he left. Of course I have told him all about Henry and he has seen the DVD's, but now he just wanted to see him play in the flesh. He did not have to wait long.

The 'fans' around us were disappointed it was the Ox who went off and not their favourite Walcott, even though the teenager had contributed even less, but we didn't mind one bit. Just to see the great man in the team again was a magical moment, and it would much better later on.

But first things looked to be going wrong when Sunderland went ahead twenty minutes from time. Mertesaker, who had been having a decent game, went down when chasing the ball, twisting his ankle on the awful playing surface, leaving McClean with a clean run on goal.

After our recent poor run we simply had to get something from the match and Ramsey, who had just come on for the unfortunate German, equalised within five minutes with a shot that went in off both posts. Emerson was unsure who had scored until it came up on the scoreboard opposite us.

''Aaron Ramsey??'' he said. ''Isn't he usually rubbish?''

For an 8 year old he certainly knows his stuff.

''Yes, Emerson, he usually is, but not today.''

I felt sure we would win now as Sunderland looked to be feeling the effects of extra time in midweek, and Wenger made his third inspired substitution, finally taking off Theo (to massive cheers around us) and bringing Arshavin on.

It almost paid off immediately when the little Russian sent in a superb left-wing cross, but RvP could only head straight at the keeper. That appeared to be our last chance but, just as the fourth official had put up the board saying 4 minutes of stoppage time would be played, came the moment we had been praying for.

Again Arshavin whipped in a great cross from the left and Henry arrived to flick it home from 2 yards. Yes, Henry had scored. To say the away end went mental was an understatement. Emerson was jumping around like mad and we both ended up buried beneath a bunch of happy Jocks. It's not often you can say that...

It was only then I realised Emerson hadn't actually seen who had scored. He had only seen the cross from Arshavin and then everyone going mental. As he looked up at the scoreboard he could not believe what he saw.

''He has scored, dad, he has scored...'' he kept saying and almost had tears in his eyes.

It was simply the best moment I had ever experienced in over 30 years watching football and I found myself welling up too.

''Yes, Emerson, he certainly has...''

The players celebrate after a very important three points.

The final whistle brought joy and relief, while Henry came over to say his last farewell to the travelling fans. Emerson wanted to run down the front to get closer, but it was far too congested so he decided to stand on his seat instead, manically waving in the direction of his hero.

As the results came through on the scoreboard we were given more good news, as after Liverpool's earlier defeat, Chelsea had also been beaten at Everton. Therefore Henry's goal had not only won us the match but had moved us back into the top 4. Not bad considering the problems we have had this season.

Our next mission was to get back to Newcastle on the Metro. For some reason they decided to shut the northbound platform so everyone was told to go south to Sunderland, cross over, and get the train back. Therefore the northbound platform was over-crowded, the train, when it arrived, was over-crowed, while the southbound platform was completely empty. Madness.

The problem was repeated at Sunderland station, and by the time we got back to the Stadium of Light station, two stops back up from Sunderland, the train was so full no one else could get on. I'm not sure who organises all this but apparently it is the same after every match. Why not just open both platforms and ease all the congestion? Shame, as the whole train experience had been rather pleasant until then.

Once on the train we discovered that Spurs were 4-0 up in twenty minutes against Newcastle. Sound familiar?? Of course they ended up winning 5-0, which wasn't a bad result for us as it meant the Geordies stayed below us, although most Gooners seemed a little upset. Come on guys, we are not going to catch Spurs anyway and finishing in the top 4 is all that matters. Let them have their moment, finishing above us for the first time in about 17 years means nothing really as long as we are also in the Champions League next season.

But nothing could wipe the smile off Emerson's face. He spent the entire journey home talking excitedly about Thierry Henry and asking why he cannot stay a little longer.

''His club need him,'' I said.

''But we need him too,'' replied Emerson.

We most certainly do, and hopefully he will return again one day. But in the meantime we have to prepare for a crucial Champions League tie in Milan on Wednesday before making the return trip to Sunderland in the FA Cup next weekend. With my pot due to removed this week I think I will drive to that one...

Harry Redknapp, England's saviour?

So, Harry Redknapp was cleared of all charges relating to cheating the public revenue, but do no think for one minute he is innocent. The jury may have been fooled by Redknapp's tale of being an illiterate technophobe, but the facts speak for themselves.

Why would he pay the Portsmouth transfer 'commision' into an offshore account named after his pet dog? Why not just pay it into a normal account, pay the tax and be done with it? As he said, he had paid enough tax over the years anyway.

He claimed his accountant dealt with that side of things, but ultimately that makes no difference. The fact is the money was paid into an offshore account, and the only possible reason for that was to avoid the tax.

Of course all this is largely irrelevant now. He has been cleared by a jury and is free to get on with his life. However, the whole case leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Redknapp claimed he was lying to the News Of The World journalist in an interview on the matter, so how can we now trust anything he says to the media again? This becomes an even bigger issue with the current England manager situation.

If Redknapp is given the job it will involve talking to the media on matters relating to the national team, but can we trust him to be honest with us? There will always be a feeling of distrust.

From a purely football point of view, Harry is without doubt the best candidate to lead the country into the European Championships and beyond, but is he actually the right man for the job?

Redknapp's own public admission that he took what can only be described as a 'bung', should rule him out straight away. It was, of course, the very thing that lead to George Graham getting a two year ban by the FA.

After the scandals of Eriksson, the disaster of McClaren and the circus that was Capello, it is vital the FA make the right appointment now. The game has been gripped by one crisis after another this season and the FA cannot afford to get this wrong.

The problem is the public, and the media, are crying out for an English manager this time, and Redknapp is the popular choice. Yeah, because all the previous Englishmen did such a great job didn't they??
But would he take it anyway? As things stand Harry can hold his head up. He was cleared of all the charges against him, he is doing a great job at Tottenham and has the whole country saying he should be the next England manager.

If he does take it on, the likelihood is he will hated by everyone within two years when it all goes wrong, as it inevitably will. Would the cheeky-chappy want that? I doubt it.

So where does that leave us? Personally I don't think it really matters who the next England manager is. The problems in our game are far deeper than that. The players are not good enough to win a tournament whoever is in charge anyway.

The only thing I would say is I hope it is an Englishman, someone with a passion for the country and the Three Lions. Other than that it doesn't matter. We will still be in the same position in 4 years time regardless. But the FA do not need another scandal, and Redknapp is a scandal waiting to happen.

The next few weeks could be very interesting indeed.