Roker Report - All Posts

Reports: Sunderland Players Complain To PFA Over Di Canio

2013-05-21T10:16:27Z

Paolo Di Canio has been given a warning by PFA Chief Gordon Taylor after some members of the Sunderland squad complained about the hefty fines being handed out by the Italian. This comes after Di Canio publicly criticised several players for their unprofessionalism after the side's 1-0 defeat at White Hart Lane in a 20 minute monologue on Sunday.

Taylor criticised Di Canio, stating:

We are aware of the situation and of Paolo Di Canio's comments. It is something we had to deal with at Swindon as well.

One hopes he will be respectful of the position, and our rules of discipline which are agreed with the Premier League and Football Association. We expect him to abide by these.

He cannot be a law unto himself. We are aware of player unrest at some comments made publicly, and other situations. No club is a law unto itself. The rules are agreed. Paolo benefited from the same rules when he was a player and a member of the PFA.

A number of players are involved. I don't want to be confrontational but we expect him, and Sunderland as members of the Premier League, to abide by the rules agreed along with the PFA, and FA.

It is believed that one of the players who has complained is Phil Bardsley, the man at the centre of a recent controversy after he was photographed in a casino in the early hours covered in a pile of £50 notes, and the main target of Di Canio's ire on Sunday. Both he and fellow defender Matt Kilgallon were fined two weeks ages for their involvement in the incident, along with five other players for separate events.

According to Luke Edwards of The Daily Telegraph, one senior member of the squad was fined for leaving training early, while another left the training ground with an 'infection', turning his phone off so no-one could reach him. The players are also annoyed that Di Canio has come out in public to have a go at them.

I for one hail the players' bravery in coming out and going to their union. In publicly criticising his players and plotting to get rid of them, Di Canio has once again shown he can't get away from his fascist beliefs. For the players to speak out against his regime, they risk feeling the wrath of the Italian's death squads, and they can only be praised for their courage.

This is especially true when you consider just how harsh Di Canio's time as manager as been thus far. Several of the players are unhappy about the effect their long training sessions are having on their personal lives; time that could be better spent getting drunk in a casino snapchatting pictures of themselves covered in all the glorious money they have to be seen by all of their working class supporters, rather than sticking around the training ground trying to become better at their jobs.

It's not just the players bravery that demands recognition. Phil Bardsley's partner Tanya Robinson also came out on Twitter and criticised Di Canio's harsh regime, appearing to accuse the Sunderland boss of being a 'psycho drama queen'. Though she was later (presumably) forced to deny that the insult was aimed at Di Canio, Robinson should be commended for risking her own safety for the good of her footballing partner.

She also claimed Bardsley later gave the money to charity, excusing him for turning up to training hungover the following day, and that he hadn't 'raped or killed anyone'. I must remember to use that one the next time I turn up late for university.

Sunderland are set to release Matt Kilgallon when his contract runs out next month, and it's certain that Phil Bardsley will join him out of the door, with Hull and Stoke being strong linked to the right back.

Reports: Bramble Set For MLS Switch

2013-05-21T09:15:04Z

With Titus Bramble nearing the end of his contract it's being widely reported this morning that he will be leaving the country and making a switch to the MLS, although no teams have been named as having an interest in the bulky defender.

Having signed for the club on a three-year deal in 2010 from Wigan Athletic, it's been a tumultuous time for Bramble on Wearside and there's absolutely no chance he'll be having his contract renewed.

Surprisingly he has had some decent games, however the vast majority of his 42 appearances for the club have been relatively poor, as we had expected when he arrived. Call it regressing to the mean.

Bramble has been on the fringes of the team throughout his career with Sunderland for one reason or another. Form is one issue but all too often he hasn't been fit enough. Certainly not fit enough for Paolo Di Canio who has had him completely out of sight and out of mind since he arrived to replace Martin O'Neill.

One option which I'm just throwing out there randomly could be Toronto FC. New manager Ryan Nelsen has taken a chance on Tal Ben Haim and is supposedly looking at other Premier League rejects, so Bramble would be right at home.

It's little surprise the 31-year old fancies a move Stateside. You've all seem Man Vs Food, right?

Roker Riches End Of Season Roundup

2013-05-21T09:00:04Z

Season Summary

As the curtain fell on an all too forgettable Premier League season, here at Roker Report we crowned the first winner in our Roker Riches competition, Luke Bowley, with the final table looking something like this:

Pundit	Last Week's Profit/Loss	Current Balance
Luke Bowley	-£10.00	£129.54
David Boyle	£16.66	£35.00
Karl Jones	N/A	£28.25
Craig Clark	-£7.00	£17.34
Chris Weatherspoon	N/A	-£19.50
Simon Walsh	-£1.00	-£111.00

As you can see Luke wiped the floor with the rest of us despite joining the competition at a late stage of the season, finishing ahead of his nearest rival, my good self, by just shy of almost a whole one-hundred quid - a fantastic effort really.

Despite some ballsy bets and huge odds from the lads on the final day of the season in a desperate bid to leapfrog Luke there were to be no ridiculous winners to announce from the final series of fixtures. However there was a twist in the tale in the battle for second spot, the wooden spoon if you will. The victor in this "battle" was indeed yours truly as my punt on Spurs to win to nil clawed back enough winnings from my £10.00 stake to overtake both Craig and Karl into the runners up spot with a final total of £35.00.

An honorary mention has to go to the gaffer Simon Walsh who managed, somehow, to finish up a whole £240.54 behind our Champion - a truly sterling effort in offering our readers a great service in who to avoid from their weekend's coupon.

Discounting Simon's piss-poor performance there were some great bets over the course of the season. Dan Williams, before moving on the pastures new, gave us our first big win of the season in November when he returned a massive £93 profit from an 18/1 accumulator made up of Championship fixtures.

Karl Jones also had a nice win to compliment Sunderland's fantastic win at St. James' Park in April having had the foresight to back a Sunderland victory over their arch rivals and bring home £40.00 profit for that week. A win which gave our plucky Welshman a glimmer of hope of catching Luke at that stage, with the gap between the two down to twenty-quid.

Even Simon Walsh brought home a decent return early in the season when he predicted a draw between Sunderland and Liverpool and a return of £24.00 profit that week, a result that actually saw Walsh move into joint first place... how things changed over the course of the season!

Although the story of the season was Luke's consistent returns since his introduction to the competition, avoiding the temptation to pile his money onto quads, trebles or even doubles and remaining loyal to backing singles more often than not.

So what can we take from this year's competition...

Backing a Sunderland game to feature under 2.5 goals is more often than not a winning bet - this was certainly my tactic on numerous occasions and brought in steady profit.
Unsurprisingly backing Steven Fletcher to score either first or anytime was a solid, if predictable tactic, especially during his hot streak at the beginning of the season.
Avoid multiples! Luke proved this year that the secret to prolonged success and profit is to back singles and back them well for small yet consistent returns.
Much like Mark Lawrenson on a Friday, whatever Simon Walsh predicts back the opposite.

See you all next season for more betting picks from our hapless tipsters

Captain's Blog: Di Canio Right To Give Players Public Short Shrift

2013-05-20T14:00:04Z

That didn't take long. Seven games is all it took for Paolo Di Canio's patience with the Sunderland squad to break and for him to lift the lid on the apparent mess he has inherited at the Stadium of Light.

The Italian's verdict is a damning one. Since arriving at the club he has discovered problems within the squad on a 'day by day' basis, some of which 'disgusts' him, and the environment at Premier League Sunderland is less 'disciplined' and players more 'ignorant' than the ones he encountered in the lower leagues with Swindon Town.

It surprises no one. Not really. I mean, sure, we didn't know the true extent of the problems but it has been clear for some time that something was badly rotten within the squad.

There are those who question the wisdom of Di Canio's decision to deal with this publicly in such brutal fashion. It certainly can be described as the 'management by hand grenade' that former Swindon chief Jeremy Wray warned us about. To some it is seen as a needlessly high-risk strategy that could alienate players and cause a dressing room revolt.

To those people, I ask one question: what do the club actually have to lose here? Really consider it.

Is the goodwill and contentment of Phil Bardsley and his drinking buddies really a pivotal factor in a glorious Sunderland AFC future? The preservation of his footballing talents at the club certainly are not.

Is the rampant indiscipline and lack of professionalism that has been evident in the performances and physical condition of the squad all season really deserving of no more than a quiet and resistible challenge to be swatted away and beaten down within the sanctity of the Academy of Light's walls?

Are the players who have blighted our spirit really worthy of further protection and yet another chance at the club to do it again?

We can dress it up all we like amidst clichés of player power and pages from a David Brent management manual about the importance of a pampered work force, but if you think Di Canio is playing a high-stakes game here then you have grossly over-estimated the club's current position.

The fact of the matter is that right now Sunderland have nothing left to lose. The club is on a collision course with oblivion with the squad its cindering hull. The end of the season may have delayed that collision, but no amount of fire-fighting or patching up will alter the trajectory.

Neither will a pretence of possessing some semblance of pride and dignity. They were jettisoned months ago and replaced with sheer desperation and hollow prayer.

Why pander to the people - the players - who have done this to the club? It would be wrong to tar the entire squad with the same brush, but we all know the main culprits.

They are the ones who have got two highly protective managers the sack. The ones who have plodded their way around a football pitch, taking home a seven-figure salary from the club whilst failing to show it any kind of respect at all. The ones who have slapped the faces of the fans who have spent literally thousands following them and supporting them.

Granted, we can't profess to be in a position to judge every individual. But we can say with certainty that Titus Bramble has failed to keep himself in an anywhere near acceptable physical condition for an even moderately dedicated professional athlete.

We can say with certainty that Kadar Mangane has stolen a living from the club if he has been unable to challenge the incumbents of this team. We can say that Matthew Kilgallon has been happier counting the numbers on his Premier League pay-cheque than counting his appearances at Championship level.

Having seen the difference a commitment to his fitness made upon Phil Bardsley's game a couple of years ago, questions can fairly be asked of why he has not seen fit to adopt it as his norm and bare minimum requirement, and serious questions must be asked about Lee Cattermole's injury record too.

Are these the players we should be worried about Di Canio upsetting? The ones who have got us into the mess with their sheer disregard for the club? The rotten core that infects the rest?

You only need to take one look at Danny Rose's general demeanour and contribution to see how far Sunderland are behind the rest in terms of basic professionalism. He has quality, of course, but also the conditioning, both mental and physical, of a professional.

Even if we were fortunate enough to see Rose join on a permanent deal this summer, how long before that rotten core would infect him or the likes of Alfred N'Diaye and drag them down to their level. How many more of Ellis Short's millions in the transfer market would that see flushed down the toilet?

I would agree wholeheartedly that in a perfect world you don't want to see your manager air the club's dirty laundry in public. The world that Sunderland have found themselves in is not perfect though. It is a bleak and desperate place where only desperate measures will ensure survival.

I think Di Canio is switched-on enough to know that. I think he knows that the only possible way forward is to cut out that core and rebuild it to higher and more modern specifications. Obviously the extent to which he can achieve it will depend largely on the level of backing he receives from Short, but one way or another its influence will be removed over the summer.

The players have had enough protection. They have been allowed their unity and freedom and none of it has produced results. Why go through the motions again? Just so that we can be sat here in a year's time, Short having spent millions more, fans having spent thousands more, continuing to lose games, and no one any happier except the players as they lie on a Casino floor in the early hours of the morning drunk and covered in cash?

We simply don't need players who refuse to embrace the standards of professionalism that the club both demands and deserves. They are surplus to requirements and unfit for purpose - quite literally some of them - and have had more than enough chances to be part of the solution.

After all, what is the worst that can happen here? They take offence to Di Canio's comments and start moaning, and whining, and refusing to train properly or put the club first. They might even go on strike. Well, I'm not all that sure how we'd notice the difference.

Quick Kicks: Thoughts And Reaction From Tottenham And The Season

2013-05-20T09:00:04Z

What The Gaffer Said

We're obviously disappointed with the result but the lads have done a very good job.

They gave everything in terms of commitment and desire but we're still going back with zero points from the game.

Gareth Bale made the difference once again for Tottenham with a great piece of play.

I'm very happy with the performance, it was disciplined and we didn't lose our brains.

Sometimes in final games the players are too relaxed and thinking about their holidays, but that was not the case today. Spurs had to work hard to get their three points.

The team did well considering players like Jack Colback and Sebastian Larsson weren't in their normal positions.

They did very well, but in the future I would like to have more difficulties when it comes to choosing my team.

A big thank you to the fans - I cannot measure the number of fans who were here today.

They sang all the way through the game and they were louder than the opposition fans and I loved seeing them in the section of the stadium in their red and white shirts.

I wish we could have got a point for them to have something to celebrate. Unfortunately that didn't happen, but the players wore the shirt and played the best way they could today and that's the best we can deliver.

A fair an honest assessment from Di Canio of the game. The effort was there, the preparation of the players was evident in the organisation, and no one could accuse them of 'being on the beach'.

With what was available, it was a very credible performance.

The real story however, was Di Canio's subsequent revelations, prompted by 'Casinogate' involving Phil Bardsley, but he certainly didn't stop there.

I saw the picture on a website and moments later he was out of my squad.

How can I play a player that probably is blurry for three, four days after what's happened? I want to deliver a very clear message: there is no excuse to behave like he did.

I could understand it if we had won the Champions League or maybe the FA Cup.

I thought that at Swindon... arrogant, ignorant footballers because they've not had many chances to stay at the top level.

I have to tell you unfortunately I found a worse environment in terms of discipline in this club.

Some player that couldn't involve [himself] in my squad today for a different reason decided: I don't train today.

They make that diagnosis. He didn't go to the Academy of Light because he said "yesterday I had poisoned food".

The doctor tried to contact him. His phone was switched off for three hours. This is the situation at Sunderland.

These players will not be here next year. Not under me. The owner and I are going to sit at the table and go through but he knows many things.

I spoke to him before by telephone and he told me we are going to change many things.

This is what he told me before. [He said] "Relax, don't worry because we are going to change many things", so it sounds like he supports me completely. We will see in the future.

So there we have it, laid bare for all to see. A worse and less disciplined environment than at Swindon, players faking injury and ignoring calls from the club, and wholesale changes planned. Basically, Di Canio is going to war with the dressing room.

You have to be careful of believing everything you hear, of course, but there is something about all of this that just fits.

All season long, Sunderland have played like a rabble of indisciplined and unprofessional incompetents. Second to almost every ball, a yard slower than almost every opposition, mentally 'blurry' to borrow a term from Di Canio himself.

It's not the only issue, and there will be a debate over whether or not it should have been made quite as public as it has been, but it's pretty clear that the squad is absolutely rotten to the core in terms of attitude and professionalism.

Awesome Jack! But Not The Future...

Jack Colback's performance at White Hart Lane was frankly superb. He was up against a really tricky customer in Aaron Lennon and he defended with both heart and ability.

As good as he was, though, I'd advise caution over hailing him as some kind of magic solution to the continual left back problem. He is great cover, and has developed into a really solid stay-at-home full back.

That is great when your backs are up against the wall and your focus is defending, but defending hasn't really been Sunderland's problem this season.

When it really matters - against the teams around us in the league and when we need to impose ourselves on the game - it just isn't enough. That extra thrust of a modern and dynamic full back is what is needed who can powerfully stride up up into the attack without worrying about lacking the pace to get back quickly enough should it be required.

Getting Danny Rose back would be the ideal solution, but even if that doesn't happen you have to fancy the search starts over.

The 'Miracle' Of Di Canio

Paolo Di Canio claims it is 'a miracle' that Sunderland achieved Premier League survival. Though much of it is his flair for the dramatic just coming out again, it is actually quite difficult do disagree.

Di Canio was robbed of his best players for what we presumed beforehand to be the key fixtures, and those results against Newcastle and Everton in the end were the club's salvation.

Only really the Villa game stands out as an aberration, and he did well to take this lot away to Chelsea and Tottenham and make both work their socks off to get a result against us.

Hopefully, Ellis Short will back him now over the summer and allow him to make at least most of the changes he has spoken of, because it sounds like he wants to essentially strip the club of under-performing unprofessional plodders and replace them with actual footballers. We don't have to spend fortunes, we just have to spend wisely.

Thank God That's Over!

I genuinely don't think I have ever been as happy to see the end of a football season arrive. This year has been an arduous slog through a bleak and desolate wasteland and I'm thrilled to finally see the back of it.

Tottenham Hotspur Vs Sunderland: Player Ratings

2013-05-19T18:30:07Z

Simon Mignolet - 8

Another decent outing for Mignolet. Especially given that his defence seemed hell-bent on giving away as many penalties as possible and forcing him into more work with a succession of poor back-passes. He ends the season on a high.

Seb Larsson - 5

Installed as an emergency right-back in the wake of Casnio-gate and did about as well as you would have expected. Struggled through large parts, "gave away" a stonewall penalty which wasn't given and generally spent a lot of the time waving his arms around and blaming everyone else for his misfortune.

John O'Shea - 7

A reasonable outing. Marshalled the makeshift defence well and barring one horrendous back-pass which nearly cost us, he was much as he was all season - solid and unspectacular.

Carlos Cuellar - 7

One of a many players who on any other day gave away a penalty. It wasn't given though and away from that he made a few good blocks to help us out of trouble.

Jack Colback - 9

In at left-back where we know already he's quite dependable but he really did have an exceptional game. More on this further down...

Adam Johnson - 5

Johnson reverted to type for his final game of the season. Spent most the game on the fringes of the action and when he was involved he basically just overhit a lot of crosses, because that's what he does all the bloody time.

Alfred N'Diaye - 6

Not as stellar as he was for the last few games but still a bit of a beast in midfield. Did well to impose himself on Tom Huddlestone and really nullified his influence on the game. Sure to have an even bigger role next season, he finished this one strong-ish. Didn't quite see much of the ball though.

David Vaughan - 4

Didn't do much again apart from spin-around on the ball. His sending off was ridiculous. On a yellow card he clattered into Aaron Lennon when he didn't need to at all. Reckless and stupid even if it wasn't malicious. He'll be suspended for the start of next season, although that's unlikely to be a problem for Paolo Di Canio.

James McClean - 4

Wish I could say something about him but he was completely anonymous throughout. Rumoured to be on his way out of the club and on the basis of performances like this it's unlikely he'll be missed. A poor performance and was eventually replaced by debutant Billy Knott.

Connor Wickham - 7

Linked up well with Graham on one or two occasions in the first half but his attacking threat faded in the second when more hard-work was needed. Ran about a fair bit, put in a shift. He has a career-defining summer ahead of him now and while he did well, he can't afford to rest on that performance.

Danny Graham - 5

Much like Wickham's performance. There was a brief spell where he linked up with Wickham well but that was soon put to an end by the incompetence of both of them. Still doesn't look like he fits in at all and not at all like a footballer. Extra point for actually outpacing/getting past someone. Seriously, watch Football First later.

Billy Knott - 4

Was put in a difficult position as seconds after coming on to the left wing he was moved inside on account of Vaughan's silly sending off. Rarely had a kick, although that wasn't his fault at all.

Mikael Mandron - 5

Same as Knott really. Was forced immediately out to the left-wing. Still looked managed to look slightly better the Graham just on the fact he's got more mobility than a housing estate. Picked up a silly booking.

Adam Mitchell - 4

Did little but show Bale inside for that goal. A great strike, and not Mitchell's fault at all. Sadly though it was his only contribution to the game.

Man Of The Match - Jack Colback

A brilliant game from Colback today. Now let's not get carried away here, Rose is obviously still a better option, but Colback once again defied his critics and put in a superb performance. He'll be a very handy player for us to hold on to next season, and who knows, should the price tag be a little high on Rose he'd not be the worst replacement. A good end to the season for Colback though, and hopefully it shut a few up. Mignolet ran him close for today's awards though, that has to be said.

Find more reaction to today's game in the coming week right HERE in our Match Stream.

Match Report: Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Sunderland - Goodbye And Goodnight For Another Season

2013-05-19T17:45:38Z

Even before the game kicked off today, Sunderland had nothing to play for with Wigan's midweek loss against Arsenal ensuring their relegation. That was pretty lucky, considering that injuries, suspensions, recalls and drunken hijinks had all combined to leave Paolo Di Canio with just ten senior outfield players to play. With all of these starting, our bench looked worryingly inexperienced with reserve goalkeeper Keiren Westwood the only non-youth player on it. In fact, youngster Mandron was the only outfield player on the bench with any Premier League minutes to his name at all, and they comprised of just four minutes at the end of our mauling from Aston Villa a few weeks ago.

The first half was characterised by Sunderland sitting fairly deeply in a compact 4-4-2, and Spurs applying nearly all of the pressure. Tottenham were noticeably trying to make good use of their wide players, with the full-backs Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Kyle Walker playing extremely advanced as they tried to open gaps in Sunderland's defence via long diagonal cross-field balls. Sunderland barely managed to even get inside the Spurs half for the first twenty minutes, but despite Spurs having nearly all of the ball they had no real chances apart from several corners which came to nothing.

The first real point of note in the game came on twenty minutes. A rare Sunderland attack was followed by a rapid Tottenham counter-attack, and as Gareth Bale took the ball into the penalty area he went down under pressure from make-shift right back Seb Larsson. The Swede had been behind the Welshman, and was never going to catch up with him, and ended up forcing him down as he grabbed at him with both hands. A nervous wait followed as Andre Marriner blew his whistle, but much to the anger of Bale and the Spurs fans the referee, instead of pointing to the spot, decided to book the quadruple player of the year for diving. To be honest, even I was a bit surprised by this. On first look it had seemed to be a penalty, and the replays did nothing to change. I think Bale's reputation of being occasionally over-dramatic in the penalty area may have played against him here.

Sunderland's first real chance of the game came on the half hour mark. Wickham ran at the Spurs defence before playing a lovely through ball into Graham, the striker then put a low cross in for Wickham only to see the young "Playboy model"s shot saved by Lloris. It was a nice move, and it was good to see Wickham playing some nice passes and generally linking up well, something he would carry on doing throughout the match. After this Sunderland began to attack a little bit more, with McClean putting in a cross, and Wickham having another two shots, both of which were unfortunately blocked before they could even test Lloris in the Spurs goal.

A few minutes later McClean managed to get himself in the book for a wild and late tackle on Tom Huddlestone, but Bale's resultant freekick was saved fairly comfortably by Simon Mignolet. Just after this, Sunderland nearly undid all their hard defensive work so far when John O'Shea backwards header fell for Bale in the penalty area, with Mignolet out of his goal in no-man's land. Luckily good pressure from the Belgian Keeper meant that Bale couldn't quite managed to tip it around the post and in.

Throughout the whole half Spurs had built up patiently and applied a lot of pressure to the Sunderland defence, but ultimately the lads' makeshift managed to defend competently and Tottenham just could not find a way to get a goal. Indeed, the last chance before half time actually went to Sunderland, with Adam Johnson flinging in a freekick from the wide right, only to see it easily punched away by Lloris.

Straight after the break, there was more good work from Wickham. He first tried to play Graham in with a ball over the top of the Spurs defence, however the goal abstaining striker's effort was typically weak and went wide without troubling the Spurs keeper. Just a few minutes later Wickham successfully managed to rob the ball off a loitering Tom Huddlestone in the centre of the park, the young striker then played Danny Graham in nicely, but although his effort was an improvement on the last one, Hugo Lloris was still equal to it and managed to save the shot. The action moved down the other end, and Spurs were left feeling unlucky not to get a second penalty as Adebayor's shot appeared to be diverted by the arm of the falling Carlos Cuellar.

David Vaughan picked up his first booking of the match with a clumsy attempted block-cum-tackle on WW2 fighter pilot Lt. Scott E. Parker. It was late and pointless, and a deserved yellow card for the E.T. lookalike. Spurs continued to fruitlessly create chances as they began to win an increasing number of corners and freekicks around the Sunderland box.

The visitors were particularly lucky when, just after the hour, Mignolet dropped a cross yet somehow Jack Colback managed to produce two stunning goal-line clearances to keep the game level. Seeing it live I was convinced Spurs had managed to score both times; it really was amazing work from Sunderland's Jack-of-all-trades to keep the ball out of the net.

In an effort to try and get the three points they desperately needed for Champions League qualification, Andre Villas-Boas subbed off Parker for Mousa Dembele. The Belgian midfielder certainly looked a lot more energetic when he came on, and Spurs began really cranking up the pressure. More and more chances were created, with Lennon especially looking dangerous as he tried time and again to wriggle his way into the box from out wide.

However, with the North Londoners still unable to get a goal, the husky voiced Portuguese rolled the dice again and brought seasoned goal-snaffler Jermain Defoe on for doe-eyed American Clint Dempsey. At the same time, Paolo Di Canio decided to turn to some of the boy scouts occupying the Sunderland bench alongside him and brought youngster Mikael Mandron and Billy Knott on for Danny Graham and James McClean. It would have been nice to see how this pair did, but we were denied that opportunity when just seconds later David Vaughan put in a similar challenge to the that had earned him his first booking. Andre Marriner quite rightly showed the Welshman a second yellow card, and he was left to trudge disconsolately from the pitch. This forced the Sunderland team to be shuffled around, with Knott moving into central midfield and Mandron onto the left wing. Mandron's inexperience in this position was shown a few minutes later when he earned a yellow card for a clumsy late tackle on Bale.

Before the red card the game had mostly been Spurs, but afterwards they entirely dominated the match. Villas-Boas brought Gylfi Sigurdsson on for Benoit Assou-Ekotto as his side searched desperately for a winner, whilst Di Canio took Wickham off after a promising performance, and in his place brought on Adam Mitchell - a young winger. Mitchell, put on the left wing with Mandron moving alone up front, was at the centre of the game's final act. From nothing, on Spurs' right flank, Bale ran at the youngster; Mitchell tried to show Bale onto his weaker right foot, but Bale simply outpaced him, took the ball inside and unleashed a fierce shot that went straight into the top corner of Simon Mignolet's net. The goal was almost a carbon copy of the one Bale scored a few weeks ago against Southampton at a very similar time in a very similar game. Sometimes you just cannot legislate for sheer individual brilliance.

After that both sides new the jig was up, Sunderland never looked likely to get an equaliser and 1-0 was how the game ended. Ultimately it was a solid and dogged, if uninspiring, defensive performance from Sunderland. For a while it genuinely looked like Spurs would not be able to find a way past the makeshift back four, but eventually Bale's quality showed and he won it for his side.

Sunderland at least looked competent today which was an improvement on previous matches. Colback put in another solid performance, with a couple of brilliant blocks preventing the home side from scoring earlier, and Connor Wickham looked very good up front - which is hopeful for next season. But, like so many times this season, we lost in the end. Let's all just forget about 2012/13 now, eh?

We'll have more match reaction in our Match Stream, which you can find HERE.

Tottenham Hotspur Vs Sunderland: Confirmed Lineups

2013-05-19T14:21:06Z

Paolo Di Canio decided that there just had to be more to life than this, and named a threadbare sixteen for the final day visit to Tottenham.

Phil Bardsley and Matthew Kilgallon paid the price for their casino antics by being left out of the squad entirely, whilst Kadar Mangane missed out through injury. It would be a shock to see any of them in a Sunderland shirt again.

With Stephane Sessegnon and Craig Gardner both suspended, that essentially meant that every single fit senior outfield player started, with Seb Larsson apparently winning the final 'right back lottery' of the season.

Sunderland (4-4-2): Simon Mignolet; Seb Larsson, Carlos Cuellar, John O'Shea, Jack Colback; Adam Johnson, David Vaughan, Alfred N'Diaye, James McClean; Connor Wickham, Danny Graham.

Substitutes: Keiren Westwood, Scott Harrison, Liam Marrs, Adam Mitchell, Billy Knott, Mickael Mandron, David Ferguson

Meanwhile Andre Villas-Boas named a predictably strong team in a must-win game for the Londoners.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Hugo Lloris; Kyle Walker, Michael Dawson, Jan Vertonghen, Benoit Assou-Ekotto; Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone; Aaron Lennon, Clint Dempsey, Gareth Bale; Emmanuel Adebayor.

Substitutes: Brad Friedel, Steven Caulker, Kyle Naughton, Moussa Dembele, Lewis Holtby, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jermaine Defoe.

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