Frazier Campbell Out Of Pompey Game
By · CommentsCampbell hasn’t been given a great deal of opportunites this season but when he has been involved, he’s usually been played out of position. It’s a shame as we’ve hardly been prolific in front of goal this season and he must be feeling a little aggrieved.
Benjani will likely be back-up to Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent at Fratton park. It would nice to see him score against his former club.
Jordan Henderson Sidelined For At Least 4 Weeks
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Sunderland hot prospect Jordan Henderson is expected to be injured for around 4-6 weeks.
He picked up the injury against Wigan on Saturday. After seeing the way he reacted I thought it was going to be a lot worse. There was talk of him breaking his ankle but after undergoing tests, it’s been revealed that he’s probably suffering from a twisted ankle.
Henderson will undergo a further scan this Thursday after the swelling has gone down.
Up until the injury Henderson was causing Wigan all sorts of problems and he was instrumental in our equalising goal.
Steve Bruce commented: “It seems to be our season so far where people who have been playing very, very well for us get injured or suspended.
“That’s been the problem over the last couple of months. The kid’s done fantastic and he’ll be a very big loss for us.”
Get well soon Jordan.
10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Portsmouth FC
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Here’s 10 facts you probably didn’t know about Portsmouth FC. It’s a lighthearted and interesting read about Pompey ahead of our important game at Fratton Park this Tuesday night.
These facts were sent to me by Colin (a top man) who runs the Portsmouth Football fansite: www.pompey-fans.com.
1. Sherlock Holmes was never a Pompey goalkeeper. Contrary to popular myth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, never played in goal for Portsmouth FC. He did, however, play football for a Portsmouth team in the early 1890s, eight years before PFC was formed.
2. Pompey goalkeeper John Milkins once saved three penalties in a match against Notts County in September 1973. The referee twice ordered a re-take and each times Milkins was equal to the task. Pompey lost the game 2-1.
3. Pompey held the FA Cup for seven years. After Pompey won the trophy in 1939, it was kept in the club’s safe keeping until the competition resumed again in 1946 after the second world war.
4. Sunderland-born Kevin Dillon played for Pompey in the 1980s and he achieved the ‘distinction’ of being sent off at all three major north east grounds for the club: Roker Park (1988), Ayresome Park (1985) and St James’ Park (1987).
5. Pompey were the first English club to scrap its reserve and youth teams in 1965. The club reinstated them in 1973.
6. The first substitute to be substituted in the Football League was Pompey striker John Kerr in September 1987, when he came on and then went off during the game at Watford in the old first division.
7. Pompey have had two first-class cricketers play for them since the war. Centre half Ron Tindall played for Surrey, while goalkeeper Jim Standen played for Worcestershire.
8. When the ‘invincible’ Arsenal team of 2003-2004 won the Premiership, the only two sides they failed to beat in the league were Manchester United and… Pompey.
9. Pompey had to literally move the goalposts in November 1989 when the referee noticed the crossbar was too low ahead of an England Youth international with Czechoslovakia.
10. Goalkeeper Alan Knight MBE played 801 games for the club from 1978-2000 and appeared in every domestic competition bar one. The Premier League. At 42, he was an unused emergency substitute for the PL game at Aston Villa in January 2004.
Sunderland 1-1 Wigan
By · CommentsSunderland looked the better side on the ball but they found it difficult to test the Wigan goal. Wigan probably just edged the game before the break but after half-time it was all Sunderland and our pressure paid off when Jones converted an accurate Jordan Henderson cross.
After that it was very much backs to the walls stuff for Wigan but they managed to hold on and the game ended 1-1.
The result means Sunderland haven’t won in the Premier League now since our win at home to Arsenal in late November. Wigan were shockingly poor today. It was like playing a Championship side and we still struggled to even compete at times. Bruce is finding it difficult at the moment and the sooner we win a game, the better.
Next up, Portsmouth away!
New Benjani Chant
By · CommentsIt’s a simple one to learn, enjoy!
Benjani Chant
To the tune of ‘Chase the Sun’ by Planet Funk
Da dada da da dada da da da dada da da da
BEN-JA-NI!
Introducing Our New Signings
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What should we expect from these two players?
Alan Hutton signed for Tottenham for £9m from Rangers in the 2008 January transfer window. However in his two years at White Hart Lane he only managed to make a total of 29 appearances. He’s been blighted with injuries but hopefully they are all behind him now. He’s a Scottish international, a combative right-back who isn’t afraid of getting forward. I can imagine he’ll go straight into the Sunderland team as we’ve been struggling in that area and have been crying out for some quality. Bardsley isn’t bad defensively but he isn’t the most creative of players and struggles to offer us anything going forward.
Alan Hutton is a welcome addition.
Benjani Mwaruwari is an experienced Premiership player having played a total of 93 games for Portsmouth and Man City respectively. He’s scored 23 goals and is the Zimbabwean international captain. He signed for Man City in the 2008 January transfer window from Portsmouth for around £3.8m. Actually, he was late for that too, having missed two flights because he had fallen asleep at the airport! Subsequently he was only given the green light to move nearly a week later and signed on the 5th of February.
Benjani scored on his debut in a 2-1 win against Manchester United. At Old Trafford! What a start eh? Again, I think he’s a good signing. He’ll certainly offer Sunderland more quality going forward and with the outgoing signings of Murphy and Healy I think we are stronger for it.
Here’s Benjani in action:
Post Stoke – Bring On Wigan
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What a horrendous game it was on Monday.
Two poor sides, frightened of losing an important fixture (scary, it’s February and a home game against Stoke was considered a must win). Having drawn the game 1-1 we now look to Saturday and a win at home to Wigan is absolutely essential if we are going to avoid yet another relegation battle. We haven’t won for 11 games. After our last win (which happened to be against Arsenal) I didn’t think I’d be writing that this season.
There weren’t a great deal of positives we could take from the Stoke City game. We kept a clean sheet and on the most part we defended well but yet again there was no creativity going forward. And in terms of entertainment, it was about as fun as a vegetarian being shown around an abatoir.
We didn’t really test Sorensen. Whitehead come close to scoring for Stoke in the early part of the game but apart from that there was very little goal-mouth action. Whitehead should have been shown a red card when he kicked out at Cattermole but referee Howard Webb completely bottled it, deciding to give him a yellow instead. On the whole, Webb was shocking. Kenwyne Jones was constantly fouled throughout by Shawcross and Huth but Webb bottled several strong penalty shouts.
So, on to the Wigan game. New signings Alan Hutton and Benjani Mwaruwari are likely to feature in the game. Michael Turner should be back in action, deputising for the injured John Mensah. Ricco is unlikely to be fit for the game and Anton Ferdinand is still out. Brucie’s under a lot of pressure to get a win.
I think we have enough quality in our side to turn our season around and get back to winning ways tomorrow.
Haway the lads.
