Not A Bad Way To Make A Debut
If there was a guide to help footballer's win over sceptical supporters it would inevitably include a chapter called 'Coming Off The Bench On Your Debut And Scoring An Injury Time Winner Over Much Fancied Premier League Team From London.'
Okay, so it would probably have a snappier title than that, but things couldn't really have gone much better for Michael Chopra at the weekend could they?
I think it is probably only natural that some Sunderland supporters questioned the wisdom of spending £5m on a striker who was not deemed to be good enough for the Premiership 12 months earlier and who, as we all know, was an ardent supporter of Newcastle United long before he ever became a player for them.
Indeed, while Chopra has since claimed he never had any doubts about making the move and Roy Keane insisted he had never had any qualms about signing him, it is fair to say the two will have discussed the potential problems it would cause.
However, as far as Chopra is concerned, there has only ever been one way he could make the move a success - goals. Score goals for the Black Cats and nobody will care who he supported, who he used to play for and, for that matter, what he thought of The Simpsons movie. Score goals for Sunderland in the Premier League and nobody would care that he hadn't been considered good enough to play for Newcastle, except maybe for Newcastle themselves!
There is a long way to go of course and only time will tell if he can consistently score goals at the top level, but Chopra, who did not start the game against Spurs, has at least got off to the perfect start and the whole "he used to play for Newcastle" thing has been addressed, discussed, debated and, hopefully, put to bed until at least the first derby of the season!
As for Keane, well as he said, he couldn't care less if a player is from New Zealand or Newcastle as long as they do a job for his team. Mind you, I notice he hasn't signed any Kiwis so maybe he does have something against them after all!
For both manager and new striker it was the perfect start to the new season and sets them up nicely for the trips to Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic this week which, whether they had beaten Tottenham or not, are the sorts of games they need to take points from if they are going to stay up. I think it's pretty safe to assume Chopra will get to start at St Andrews on Wednesday night.
Finally, I have been told - albeit by Newcastle fan who may have been making mischief - that, as he celebrated his late winner on Saturday, Chopra went to lift up his shirt and kiss the badge before thinking better of it.
Whether this was because he didn't want to upset his Newcastle supporting family and friends or whether he thought Sunderland supporters would think it was a bit rich I don't know, but it was probably a wise decision. Best to save that sort of thing for scoring in a Tyne-Wear derby game eh Chops? Now that would be a story!
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
As a Newcastle fan, I must say that seeing Chopra scoring for Them didn't bother me at all - I was happy for him!!! I was especially happy with his celebration. He lifted his right arm like you-know-who... Too bad he eventually lifted his left arm too... But hey, it's not his fault because Roeder discarded him! He's a decent striker, and may he score goals for Them every week, except against Newcastle of course!
Keane has just sign a New Zealand trialist today so i think we can rule out your Kiwi theory!
Note From Luke
Crikey James, you know more than me. Although I am at the cricket so therefore detatched from the world of football for the day. I'd better have a look and find out who the Kiwi is hadn't I?!
Oh yes, Jack Pelter, played against Scunthorpe in pre-season. I know the one!
I expected a great first chapter to the Chopra book, with a half dozen goals early on, but I still think it will end in tears when the goals dry up, in a few months time and when his new friends from Sun'lun remember that he is a proud geordie lad who modelled himself on his hero Shearer.