After being well and truly outclassed against Chelsea on Tuesday night it was essential that we got back to winning ways yesterday.

Thankfully we ended up with the three points but we were certainly made to battle for them. Blackburn looked a strong side and a lot more organised than last year. Cana and Cattermole in the middle were the difference for us and of course Jones who took both of his goals fantastically. But Cana and Cattermole chased every ball and were constantly harrassing the Blackburn players.

At one point Cana went into the tackle, followed through and managed to rip the pitch in half. It’s still early days but he looks like a cracking acquisition. Cattermole not only worked tirelessy all game but he also supplied Jones for his second goal, putting in an inch perfect cross which was casually headed in by big Kenwyne.

Another positive was that we actually come back to win after going a goal behind! All in all, a tough well fought game. I think we’re all just relieved that we managed to take the full 3 points.

Next up…Norwich in the league cup.

Away Days – Sent in by one of our fans:

Journey was spooky as the sat nav sent us over the moors to the m6 when I wanted to head towards Leeds? Anyway two traffic jams and a storm later arrived at a Pride Park look a like stadia. Bit late so we went to Tesco’s for dinner and a piss then straight back to the stadium. Daft bet on Sunderland 3 Bolton 0 and Anton to score first goal (would have loved to have seen his white glove!!!!!)

Fans were great and Bolton lot poor. Benty got us the points with great displays from Cattermole and Cana. In the meantime one of our daft fat drunken fella was sick over quite a large area (you can imagine how much sick a fatty can hold) and the Bolton cleaning team came to the rescue, poor bastards. Final whistle saw a pair of trainers fly into the bottom tier and only one made it back?

Heavy downpour on the way out but who gives a damn, 3o minutes later car park cleared and we headed for home and a curry. Chuffed to bits with the performance and three well earned points.

Class day!!

To the people who are interested – we’re meeting upstairs in the newly refurbished Wheatsheaf (upper deck) on Tuesday before the Chelsea home game.

Come along for a sing song and a few bevvies ;-)

Bruce has got his man.

Cattermole has joined up with his former manager and will go staight into the Sunderland side against Bolton on Saturday. Bruce has revealed he wanted to make sure the spine of the team was addressed and I don’t think we could have asked for much more.

Cattermole and Cana in the centre of our midfield will give us a massive competitive edge. It’s about time we had some battlers in there, but not only do they battle, they can also play!

Cattermole has signed for an initial £6m on a 4 year deal. I’ve never felt this optimistic about Sunderland in my life. Bruce has brought in some great signings, I just hope they live up to our expectations.

Haway the lads!

Our preseason has finally come to an end. The game vs. Hearts ended in a 1-1 draw with Darren Bent scoring an equalising goal on his debut after David Obua had smashed in the opener on the half hour.

The game wasn’t the best from Sunderland’s perspective. Both teams appeared to lose their momentum in the second half after 11 substitutions were made in all. Hearts still however created the better chances but neither side had enough in them to grab a winner.

After the game, Bruce paid tribute to our fanatical fans saying “It was more like a cup match, and I have to say the best player on the park was our supporters – I haven’t seen away support like that for a long, long time in a pre-season friendly.

“I say thanks to every one of them because it’s quite something to get that backing for a friendly.

“The level of support and the way the fans are is one of the reasons I came here and it’s up to us to produce a performance next week to show we’re ready for this huge challenge.

“Everyone’s fit and raring to go – let’s bring it on.”

I can’t wait for next week. The 4,700 travelling Sunderland fans should create a brilliant atmosphere on the opening day. Let’s hope we can sure up our defence in time for the game at Bolton.

Bent has signed for Sunderland for an initial fee of £10m. It’s a transfer that has appeared to haved dragged on for a few weeks (or years…we seem to have been linked to the lad since his 9th Birthday) and there were times when most supporters questioned if we would actually sign him at all. Well, he’s finally here! View his 2008/2009 goal compilation to wet your appetite:

All the best Darren, we hope you recapture your goalscoring form that made you one of the Premiership’s most sough after marksmen.

Two goals in 3 minutes won the game for us at London Road. With debutant Frazier Campbell winning and scoring a penalty.

The game was pretty much non-eventful, a typical pre-season friendly up until Bruce made a few changes and injected some extra quality into the Sunderland side. Reid and Kenwyne Jones were brought on to replace Murphy and Stokes.

Sunderland’s first goal was diverted from a low Healy cross by Blanchett who sent the ball past his own keeper to make it one nil. Three minutes later Campbell was tripped by a Peterborough defender after showing some good footwork. It was a clear penalty and Campbell stepped up to dispatch his first goal for the lads.