SAFC will recoup some of the cash Roy Keane wasted on Greg Halford as the misfit is set to join Wolves for £2million.
In another periphery staff news, former Northern Ireland international Alan Fettis has joined the Sunderland Academy as goalkeeping coach.
Meanwhile, Fraizer Campbell’s old man, who is also his agent, reckons his lad’s more likely to go to Hull City than Sunderland. Fool. Campbell senior said: “I have spoken to Paul Duffen and Phil Brown, and they are the only two people I have spoken to. It is purely and simply down to Manchester United, when they sort themselves out then it is fine. There are no deadlines at all.”
Elsewhere, Quinny’s told Hibs boss John Hughes they he wants Anthony Stokes he’ll have to cough up that cash to buy him. Hibs are after him on loan, but SAFC want hard cash!
Meanwhile, former porn star and current Stoke City winger Liam Lawrence reckons the Potters should buy Dean Whitehead. He said: “I think it would be a good signing. I had three great years with Dean. He’s a Glenn Whelan type who has a good
In other news, Michael Chopra has joined Cardiff City for a fee of £3 to be paid in £500,000 instalments. Not particularly good business, but at least we got something for him
Niall Quinn reckons we’re no longer a yo-yo club, but at the same time will not sign anyone who refuses to have a relegation clause in their contract. He said: “We try very hard when it comes to relegation clauses and for new players now, we would insist. That would tell you what their intentions are across the table too. I’m not trying to put them in a weakened position, but there should be some consideration given to ‘Yes, I’m going to give you all the money, but if you fail, next year I can’t’. It’s as simple as that and even if it cost us a signing, I would stick with that, definitely. There’s no point talking about finishing in the top four at the moment. It’s nonsense. You’ve got to gradually have achievable aims and our next achievable aim is to become a comfortable Premier League club. We’re about to start our third year in a row in this division, so one of the yos have gone – we’re not a yo-yo club any more, we’re a yo club! We just need to get rid of the other yo now.”
Meanwhile, we’ve been linked with Rangers midfielder Steven Davis for a fee in the region of £5m. The former Aston Villa player would be an excellent addition to the squad.
In other news, Peter Reid, who has been linked with the Southampton manager’s post, reckons he’s happy in Thailand. He said: "I know nothing about the reports; they were just speculation from England. I'm happy to remain head coach of the Thai national team."
ALS have priced up a pre season package which includes travel to Amsterdam and two night’s accommodation in three star city hotel for just £250 per person.
Travel details: Executive coach departs SOL at 10pm on 23/07/09. Travel to Dover overnight and get the 6am ferry to Calais and arrive in Amsterdam in the early afternoon so you can check into your accommodation (www.hotelcasa400.nl)
After a quick snooze/pint/shower the coach will then depart the hotel at 5pm to arrive at the AmsterdamArena (which is on the outskirts of the city) in time for the games on the Friday night (there are two games that evening kicking off at 7pm and 9:15pm).
Saturday will be a day off to take in the delights of Europe’s most hedonistic city
On Sunday we’ll check out of the hotel and take you back to the Arena for the final games. When it’s all over we’ll travel back to Sunderland overnight.
We are also offering coach and ferry only packages for £100
NB: Prices are based on twin/double rooms and include breakfast. There is a single person supplement of £58 for people travelling alone.
The full pre season programme is as follows. 16.07: Darlo, 19.07: Portimonense, 24.07: Benfica, 26.07: Atletico Madrid, 01.08: Celtic, 04.08: Peterborough United, 08.08: Hearts. ALS are running travel to all games except Portimonense, click here for details
The latest players to be added to the two thousand we’ve already been linked this summer are Norwegian striker Moa Abdellaoue and Honduran international midfielder Hendry Thomas. Steve Bruce has done well in the past by bringing in unknown foreigners, such as Wilson Palacios, and establishing them as top Premier League players. He explained: "Bringing in Wilson Palacios at Wigan was one of my best bits of business ever. To get in this kid and have faith in him, to work hard with him with the coaching staff and see him blossom into the top player we always felt he was capable of being, gave us great satisfaction. If Wigan could have held on to him in the January transfer window, rather than him going to Spurs, the club would have had a stronger end to the season. But he has a great attitude to the game, and sometimes it's got nothing to do with where a player is from but the desire he has, and Wilson certainly had that."
Meanwhile, Anthony Stokes looks set to complete his loan move to Hibs before the end of the week and Steve Bruce is keeping tabs on Barcelona star Eidur Gudjohnsen. Now that would be a signing to get fans excited.
Manchester United front man Fraizer Campbell has been linked with a £6million move to Sunderland, but we are also apparently in for Peter Crouch, Kevin Doyle and Darren Bent. Maybe we’ll sign one of them and hopefully not play one up front next season.
Peter Lovenkrands wants a move to Sunderland if he can get it, seems that he’s quickly seen what a shithole club the mags really are. He said: "Sunderland is certainly an interesting club. The city is near Newcastle, where we have settled fine and it would be attractive to stay in northern England. I would not mind to continue to play in England and particularly in the Premier League."
We are supposedly also in for Alan Smith who has a price tag of around £2.5 million.
In other news
Djibril Cisse has sorted his £7 million switch to Panathinaikos from Marseille. The Greeks went mental at the airport with 3,000 turning up just to see him drive! He said: "I am very enthusiastic from the welcome and I have not witnessed anything like it in my life. I really didn't expect nor imagine it."
bruce excited... gomez gone, quinn looks to extend
Steve Bruce can’t wait to get to work at SAFC and with the pre season shaping up nicely he’s been talking it all up. Personally, I’d like a bit more time off! He said: "It's a challenging schedule. But we've got some mouthwatering games to look forward to. It's a great honour to be involved in the famous Amsterdam Tournament and, of course, games in Scotland are always tough. The games we've chosen are very competitive, but pre-season is all about the right preparation. These games will stand us in good stead for the start of the season and the challenges of the Premier League."
Meanwhile, Roy Keane has taken Antonio Gomez from Sunderland as a fitness coach at Portman Road.
In other news, Quinny will look to extend the SOL capacity to 60,000 if Sunderland is successful in its bid to become a host city for the 2018 World Cup. Niall Quinn explained: "We're getting 44,000 averages in the bottom five, what would we get for a team in the top half? We'd certainly have to think about it (expansion). It could be done in a pre-season. We know we have a lot of the components here to make a great World Cup. It is not just about getting a few games of football here; it is about making a statement for the city. I don't see this as a head-to-head race between us and Newcastle. This should be seen as a regional bid and if Newcastle got games as well, that would be great. I think 15 cities will be bidding for the right to be a host city and it is up to us to create such a swell of support to make sure Sunderland is included in England's bid. It s about time the World Cup came back to England. The FA have a hell of a job on to get the 2018 tournament here. There's a lot of political persuasion to come, but getting the 2012 Olympics for London showed it can be done. We need the FA to feel good about the support that's behind their bid – we need to drive it on for the FA."
Sunderland is one of 15 cities competing to host group stage matches if England is successful in its bid to host the tournament in 2018. The football club, Sunderland City Council, Sunderland University, the Sunderland Echo and other partners are putting together a campaign to bring the tournament to the city. As part of the bid Football bosses will be looking at the city's facilities, the Stadium of Light and speaking to football fans and people from the region, to find out how they feel about the plan and will be looking for a real commitment to welcoming the world to Sunderland.
Speaking at the launch of the Black Cats' campaign Niall Quinn said: "I've experienced first hand the huge excitement a World Cup generates, and it would be absolutely fantastic to see the Stadium of Light and the north-east play a big part in such an international sporting phenomenon. The warmth and enthusiasm of the people are such assets for us and I ask everyone, young and old, to put their heart and soul into supporting our bid. I know that football fans from around the world will fall in love with this city and the whole of our region, so let's put football rivalries aside and pull together and show everyone what Sunderland and North-East England are all about."
SAFC marketing and commercial director Lesley Callaghan said: "What will win the bid is not just technical excellence. It is about hearts and minds and ordinary people spreading the word. It is about people really feeling they want to put Sunderland on the world map. We have to show we want to turn this spotlight on the city and want to welcome the people of the world here. We're urging everyone - football fan or not - to show their support for a move which would raise Sunderland and the region's profile on a global scale, not just during the tournament but potentially for years, both before and after."
Anyone who wants to pledge their support to the campaign can do so by registering at www.sunderland2018bid.com and selecting Sunderland as their choice.
The agent of former Newcastle forward Peter Lovenkrands has refused to comment on speculation linking the 29-year-old Dane to a move to Sunderland. He said: "I really can't say anything about this as Peter is on vacation and we will talk to him about finding a new club when he returns. He enjoyed playing in the North East but I will not say what interest there has been in him this summer as that would not be fair to the clubs."
Meanwhile former gaffer Peter Reid is in the running to take over as Southampton manager if a rival group beats Matthew Le Tissier's takeover consortium to buy the club.
Now that pre season is almost as long as the Premier League campaign, Sunderland have added a seventh warm up game to their schedule. We will visit Peterborough on Tuesday, August 4 (7.45pm kick-off.) The full pre season programme is as follows. 16.07: Darlo, 19.07: Portimonense, 24.07: Benfica, 26.07: Atletico Madrid, 01.08: Celtic, 04.08: Peterborough United, 08.08: Hearts. ALS are running travel to all games except Portimonense, click here for travel details
Meanwhile, we’ve been linked with Newcastle United’s Peter Lovenkrands, who is available on a free.
In other news, John Barnes has selected eight players to visit our academy as part of the Digicel Start Clinics programme which gives Caribbean youngsters an opportunity to train in the UK. Banes had this to say: "I've always said that the Caribbean has an undiscovered pool of football talent, and again this year I've seen some great potential in these Under-16 players. It was a tough decision to choose eight out of the 150 players that took part in the Digicel Kick Start Clinics to train in Sunderland, but I believe the eight footballers I have selected have the right amount of talent, desire and ambition to make it as professional players. I'd like to wish them the best of luck and I really hope that I come across them again in the not too distant future playing for a leading football club."
Niall Quinn added: "Sunderland AFC is delighted to once again be hosting eight footballers from the Caribbean to take part in one week's training at Sunderland's Academy of Light. The footballers that trained with us last year showed great talent and I understand their football careers have gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months."
Kovac speaks… Huddlestone to Sunderland and more gossip
Radoslav Kovac’s agent has said that his client would love to have a look up our way if an offer was made. He said: "Radoslav would be interested in a move. It would certainly be a solution he would welcome. He knows the history of the club so I believe that from his perspective there would certainly be interest if Sunderland did make a bid. He realised that he can handle the level of English football and could make an impact in the Premier League. He enjoyed his time in England and ideally wants to come back. If Sunderland made an offer of course he'd be interested."
Elsewhere, we have apparently had a £8.5 million bid accepted for Tom Huddlestone. Two other clubs have also had bids accepted (one club presumed to be Villa) and Husslestone wants to be away from London in order to have first team footie. We’re also chasing Zigic, Hunt and Robbie Keane to name but a few.
Meanwhile, local minnows Newcastle United are set to be in Holland at the same time as SAFC next month. The coppers are concerned that some of their hooligan element, who are used to having Gateshead as rivals, may try and mix it with Super Sunderland Studs. In reality our boys will be far too busy enjoying the delights of Europe’s most hedonistic city to lower themselves to such a level. Northumbria Police Supt Steve Neill said: “We are already in discussions with the Dutch police in connection with the Sunderland fixtures and have officers there today. We will now look to liaise with the authorities in Utrecht over the Newcastle fixture. In relation to both games, we will look to see what support we can offer to ensure all fans travelling are able to do so safely. We will also be mounting a series of operations on Tyneside to prevent known troublemakers making the journey. We know the vast majority of fans making the trip will be law-abiding and we want to make sure they can enjoy the football without it being spoiled by a mindless minority.”
David Healy reckons that Steve Bruce might not have to worry about goals next season if he gets his chance, let’s hope you’re right mate. He said: "I've got a couple of years left on my contract and I feel as if I haven't done myself justice. I had a frustrating season, not playing as many games as I would have liked, but I plan to do all I can to change that when pre-season starts. But hopefully next year, with a new manager and a new set of players, I can have a little bit of a lift and get off to a good start next season. Steve Bruce is an inspirational manager who hopefully can get the best out of the players we have. There had been a lot of names bandied about, but I'm glad that a British-style manager was given the nod. We don't want another season like last season. Hopefully we've got enough to challenge for a top-10 place maybe. It's an exciting time for the club and I want to be part of it.”
The Chief Exec Expects new Indians… Dinnit Gan Daft
Steve Walton expects that Sunderland’s involvement in the transfer market will burst into life anytime soon, much to his wife’s despair. He said: "Steve and Niall have both been on their holidays and getting some rest but I speak on the phone to Niall more times than I speak to my wife! Both him and Steve have been on the phone, just raising issues or thoughts they're having and I think it's often the way that when football people finally get away from it all for a bit, they can't help but find their minds turning back to the game again pretty quickly. Football never really rests – I learned a long time ago never to take a holiday in the January transfer window – and it won't be long before things crank up very quickly again. Football agents are regularly in touch with the club and things are just taking shape, but there's not a great deal of business done at this stage."
He was also keen on avoiding the mistakes made in the past where panic buying saw us reel in some utter garbage at bloated prices, he added: “The club wants to get players in as quickly as possible but we're also very conscious of the fact that more than anything, we want to get the right players. There have been times in the past where this club has maybe rushed into signing players a little too quickly and both Niall and Steve say the priority is to get the right players in, rather than getting players in quickly just because someone becomes available. We invested very heavily last summer hoping to make that next step up in the Premier League. Steve has his ideas at how he wants to improve the playing squad and the club will be backing him all the way."
Finally he gave the current squad some credit and ruled out a complete overhaul. He said: "It didn't quite work out as we hoped last season but we managed to stay up in that difficult second season and we have to thank Ricky Sbragia for doing such an important job in getting us over the line. I don't think there's any doubt that the squad at the end last season was better than the one at the end of the previous season, which was better than the one previous to that. The good thing about Steve is that he's from the North East, he completely understands the area and the club and he knows that doesn't have to reinvent the wheel here in terms of where the club is and what he's inherited. We have a squad which proved itself good enough to survive in the Premier League and Steve will look to add to that, but both him and Niall are looking to do that wisely – the buzzwords are 'intelligent buying'."
Lots more transfer Gossip… Zokora fancies a trip up North
Didier Zokora’s agent reckons that he would just love to sign for Sunderland. So would I mate. She said: "He would do very well at Sunderland, they're a massive club. There are not many clubs Didier would leave Tottenham for, but I think Sunderland are one. Didier would definitely prefer to stay in the Premier League. If the terms of the deal are decent but also if the move is an adventure, then he would be interested,"
Meanwhile we have been linked with another raid on the mags for Habib Beye and ridiculously Steven Taylor. Surely the latter translated as utter bollocks. Patrick Viera, Kevin Doyle and Ismael Bangoura have also been linked to the club.
Sunderland manager Stevie Bruce is looking forward to turning Bolton over on the opening day of the season, and then leading the side to a top ten finish. Brucey said: "Bolton are difficult to beat especially on their own ground but it's a game that we'll go into full of confidence. We'll hopefully have some new faces and I've no doubt we'll get fantastic backing because everyone knows our away support is unbelievable. We've got Man Utd and Liverpool as well as Chelsea to play in our first nine games but you've got to play everybody twice whenever the fixtures come around and we'll look to enjoy the big games - but of course they're all big games in this league. The season is just around the corner with the players due back for training early next month, but at this stage of the year it's important to have a break because once the season comes around it totally engulfs you. It is the toughest league in the world and you have to be ready for it. The great thing is that having been appointed in the run up to pre-season I've time to think things through and then have six weeks working with the players before the big kick-off."
Meanwhile, judging by this morning’s media reports, it looks like Steve Bruce will be adopting a more attacking approach next season, with Sunderland looking to sign Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Fraizer Campbell, Lomano LuaLua and Lecce striker Cedric Konan to partner Kenwyne Jones up front.
Today saw the release of the new fixtures for the 09/10 Premier League which sees us face a trip to Bolton to kick the season off. It’s a tough start with a visit from Chelsea and Stoke away to follow, but there’s no easy games I suppose. Bruce gets his chance to get one over his previous employers Birmingham and most recently Wigan on October 24th and November 28th respectively. Our tense local derby against Hull is on September 12th, Boxing Day has us at home to Everton, and we begin 2010 the same way we began the season - against Bolton. The league winds down with a potentially rewarding looking set of games which include Hull and Burnley, games we really should be winning. The final game at the SoL is against Man U and we finish off the season at Wolves.
For any Mags browsing the site, Blackpool offers a tasty mid-week away game and whilst in October we face Man United, Liverpool and West ham you’ve got Scunthorpe, Doncaster and Bristol City. Shame.
ALS run coaches to every away game that Sunderland AFC play from our base opposite the Stadium of Light, click here for a full list of departure times, prices and ways to book for the 2009/10 season.
Bolton Wanderers 15/08/09 9am departure £18, Stoke City 29.08.09 8:30 departure £20. Click here to book...
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