TRANSFER TALK: Who do you think should be Sunderland's first choice targets in the summer? Which positions do you feel the club need to strengthen? • Share your views here

EDITOR'S CHOICE NEWS Keegan reveals name for £100m hospital Public's views needed as vision for town unveiled PM pays tribute to NHS 100 jobs to go at NHS prescription division FILM REVIEWS The Mist (15) Kung Fu Panda (PG) NEWS IN VIDEO Plane named in Keegan's honour Hartlepool bus crash victim hands over fundraising cheque to air ambulance Newcastle's new signing - they call him spiderman and here's why... Rocket to the Toon RACING PODCAST Racing tips and reports with Graham Orange of Go Racing FORMULA 1 News and Race Reports F1 Blog Circuit Guide Predictions THE HEADLINE GAME * Pit your wits against The Northern Echo and TFM in The Headline Game GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL Just register

Most read Comments 1 Sir Elton has 'em rocking at the arena 2 Elton John: Viv Hardwick's review 3 Schoolboy hit by car dies 4 Children questioned over slaughter of 100 animals 5 Golfer dies after being mugged on holiday 6 Man charged with murder of former girlfriend 7 Man charged with firearm and drugs offences 8 Three charged following social club stabbing 9 Man charged with attempted murder 10 Elton John in concert coup for Darlington Today | 7 Days 1 Sir Elton has 'em rocking at the arena 2 1066 and all that 3 Villagers pledge to fight plan for second wind turbine site 4 Tragic teen forced to drink petrol and set alight 5 Park and ride scheme plans hit the brakes 6 Children questioned over slaughter of 100 animals 7 Council defeated in court windfarm bid 8 European Union 9 Elton John in concert coup for Darlington 10 MPs defy pressure to reform their expenses

Comment

IF the rest of the season is anything like the second half of Saturday's game, then the Sunderland fans are in for a stressful four and a half months.

From the moment El-Hadji Diouf's 41st minute free kick found its way into Craig Gordon's bottom left-hand corner, the Black Cats were on the back-foot.

On the plus side they were still 2-1 up and Bolton were so poor they could barely muster an effort on Gordon's goal despite their dominance, but the over-riding feeling was one of panic amongst the Sunderland players.

Defending a lead for ten minutes is one thing but for 50 against a poor side is another.

The fear of losing is clearly having an effect on Roy Keane's players, but they won't be gifted a game quite like they were on Saturday.

The injury-time third was a bonus but Keane must quickly instil a confidence amongst his squad that appears lacking.

They will play few teams between now and May that offer as little going forward as Gary Megson's side - and there will be few occasions when playing on the back-foot for so long will yield three points.

10:34am Sunday 30th December 2007

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login