Thankfully, Black Cat Friday didn’t materialise

LAST Friday promised to be a fairly quiet day at our fanzine’s HQ. Sure, Sunderland had been awful for almost a month, but we’ve been bad for most of the 30 odd years I’ve been following them, so that’s no big deal.

But then a rumour hit the city that Roy Keane had fallen out of love with SAFC and had walked away from the club. The first text about the subject hit my phone at 11.30am and it didn’t stop ringing, beeping and generally going nuts until someone from Sunderland’s press office slipped our local newspaper a word to say it was all a lie.

It was amazing to see just how easy it is for rumours to take on a life of their own. Our magazine’s message board was one of the first places that news leaked of Roy’s apparent departure. Then a local radio station took the plunge and ran the story on their midday news bulletin. From there Sky and Setanta picked up on it and before I’d had a chance to gauge an opinion on Keane’s tenure it was being broadcast as fact from Athlone to Azerbaijan.

As with most of these rumours it thankfully turned out to be a load of rubbish, although it has highlighted the need for Keane to sign a new contract, with his existing deal running out at the end of the season. He’s often stressed that in his playing days he happily let deals run down to expiry without any panic, but there’s little doubt that Keane is a one-off. I’m sure if one of his players were to do the same he’d not be happy. His chairman shouldn’t tolerate it either.

The version of Friday’s events that appears to have the most credibility suggests that our biggest shareholder, Ellis Short, had a meeting with Niall and Roy recently. During this get-together the manager asked Short how much he’d have to spend during the January transfer window. Apparently Keane was told he should sign his contract before questioning the cash he’ll have, and as a result, wasn’t too pleased.

Thankfully a win at Ewood Park, our first victory since destroying Newcastle last month, means the pressure is now off Keane and we’re able to laugh about Friday’s events rather than letting the row rumble on.

We jumped from 19th on Saturday morning to 11th by the time I was snuggled up in bed watching Match of the Day; such is the Premier League’s too-close-for-comfort nature at the moment. Everton are seventh yet only six points from the drop zone. It’s balmy, yet at the same time vital we keep our noses out of it.

There were plenty of positives at Blackburn. A lean and mean Kieran Richardson machine chasing down every ball as if his life depended on it for 90 minutes was one of those. The midfielder shed a lot of weight over the summer and has enjoyed god-like status in the city after his rocket of a winner against Newcastle.

If Stuart Downing can hold down a regular place in the England squad whilst having an average season, it can’t be long until the in-form Rico gets another international chance.

Up front we now have a partnership that looks like it could cause trouble to most sides in the league. Djibril Cisse and Kenwyne Jones seem to have it all; they’re big, strong, powerful and fast. Most importantly, they score goals too. Cisse has netted five so far this season which means he’s only a couple off Jones’ total haul of seven league strikes that saw him become our top scorer last year.

All’s well that ends well.

* Martyn McFadden www.a-love-supreme.com