With Roy Keane installed in the manager’s chair down the road at the Stadium of Light - and no I won’t be rhyming it with anything Newcastle fans - one of the many big cheeses who travelled up from London yesterday to attend his first press conference asked the question, are Sunderland more interesting than Newcastle now?
Certainly Keane - who I have to say was very charming and even smiled at me, although that may have something to do with the fact that I tripped over a BBC cameraman midway through his press conference - was quick to argue that Sunderland had the potential to compete with Newcastle, both on and off the pitch.
Of course, if Keane was to stand toe-to-toe with Glenn Roeder in a charity boxing match I reckon he’d be the favourite. Mind you, while he used to box as a youngster on the Emerald Isle, Roeder showed some pretty nifty footwork as a player, so perhaps he’d dance around the ring before sucker punching the latest Irish convert to the Wearside faith.
The point, though, is that, as far as national media organisations are concerned, Sunderland are the more interesting story at the moment. It’s worth remembering that Keane, as a hugely successful former Manchester United captain and a fabulous player, is one of the biggest names in English and world football.
He is the story, but there is genuine fascination about how he will do and Sunderland will benefit from that. His presence is not just enough to kick Sunderland’s under-achieving players up the backside, it is also enough to utterly transform the image of Sunderland from national joke to serious national talking point.
Having dominated the sporting landscape in the North-East for so long, Newcastle are going to have to get used to sharing the limelight again so I’m sure there are a few noses out of joint at St James’s Park at the moment.
Then again, without wishing to sound like I’m stirring things up, Newcastle fans can comfort themselves with the knowledge that not one single member of Sunderland’s first team squad would get in Roeder’s side, they are playing in Europe, while Sunderland are near the bottom of the Championship and have already been knocked out of the Carling Cup. They can also comfortably fill their stadium for home games.
The times aren’t exactly changing just yet, but somebody at the Stadium of Light has reached for the Best of Bob Dylan CD....
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