Worth Keano’s while to put a call through to his former teammate Giggs

WITH talk of Ronaldinho going to Manchester City last week, it’s Sunderland’s turn to look for an audacious summer coup now, with one Ryan Giggs apparently topping Keano’s summer shopping list.

As daft as it sounds, it wouldn’t be the most unlikely of transfers. Although Giggs is English football’s most decorated player, there’s only a year left on his contract and having been a fixture in the Manchester United side for 17 years, you suspect he’d struggle to come to terms with reserve team football as his legs start to slow.

So what would he do as the clock ticks down towards the end of a fine career? He could sit on the bench at United and win another medal or two, in return for the odd cameo appearance. Alternatively, he could be reunited with one of his old teammates, become adored at a club on the up and then end up on our coaching staff. It’d be a tough choice but, as we say in the North East, shy bairns get nowt, so it must be worth a cheeky bid. If nothing else we need a household name to kick-start the revolution at the Stadium of Light. At the moment we don’t have a name for fans to put on the back of their shirts, however Giggs’ wage bill would be repaid in no time in strip sales alone should he enlist to Che Keano’s Red & White Revolution.

Speaking of the unexpected, last weekend was pretty disappointing on the whole with everyone around us managing to pick up points.

Admittedly Bolton and Fulham still need to win every single one of their games and we’d need to lose all of ours before we worry about relegation, but it’d be nice to win one more to be safe. The Manchester City game presented us with a chance to sleep easily between now and the end of May.

The pleasing thing about the 2-1 loss (if that’s not a contradiction in terms) was that we looked like a solid, established unit. Save for a mad few minutes towards the end, we forced the play. Looking ahead to next season, it’s a bit of a relief to think that with the right arrivals in the summer we can be looking to move up the table with sides like City rather than slipping out as two established top flight outfits look set to do. At least we’ll be able to get over our City blues with a trip to Tyneside this weekend. This is a week where, across the North East of England, families don’t speak for days on end, friends become foes and sensible, rational people lose all control of themselves. It’s the reason why the Wear-Tyne derby is one of the most special games on the sporting calendar and why it’s one of the fiercest rivalries in the world.

It’s a game that costs managers their jobs, as Ruud Gullit found out in 1999 after he dropped Alan Shearer to the bench and Sunderland won 2-1. Following that match, we got such a boost from the result that we went on to finish seventh in the league despite a very ordinary start to the season prior to our visit to St James’. The very same thing happened the following year.

If we beat Newcastle and get a result against Middlesbrough a week later it will leave us in an excellent position. Safe from relegation, we’ll have remained unbeaten all season against our local rivals and be in a decent position to finish top of the North East mini-league which seems to have formed recently.

First things first, we need to beat Newcastle, for pride more than points. It’s the sort of fixture where you need big-name players to produce something special. Tell Mr Giggs to bring his boots, Keano.

Martyn McFadden

www.a-love-supreme.com