BRYAN ROBSON carried the can as he failed again to rid himself of his North-East Premiership derby jinx.

This was the 14th time in his six-and-a-half years with Boro that he had been denied victory on such an occasion.

Robbo just can't win - literally.

Even the presence of former England boss Terry Venables in the Boro dug-out couldn't inspire Robson's side to their first success in ten games in League and Cup.

Rock-bottom Boro have now lost nine in that sequence and one pitiful point from the last 27 spells relegation. Venables, who only started work with Boro on Friday after completing commitments to ITV, today dons his hard hat for a desperate rescue mission.

The roof has already fallen in on Robson and the rubble is mounting around the shell-shocked Boro boss.

With Venables having had only a day on the training ground, Robson prepared his side and picked the team for the visit to the Stadium of Light.

But now the manager will take more of a back seat as the venerable Mr Venables begins his bid to rebuild crumbling Boro.

El Tel, said to be being paid up to £1m on a six-month deal, kept well out of the way while Robson put on a brave, but increasingly weary face, as he conducted the pressroom post-mortem on another damaging setback.

Robson accepted full responsibility for the defeat at the hands of his close friend and rival Peter Reid.

The Sunderland boss has offered support and words of encouragement to a besieged Robson during the dark days of the past few months.

But there was, as ever, no room for sentiment as Reid's resurgent side claimed their fifth successive win, and fourth on the trot in the top flight, to climb to fourth place in the Premiership.

Talk of Europe - and even a Champions' League spot - is already being whispered on Wearside.

It's early days, of course, but Reid has restored confidence and belief after what must now be regarded as nothing more than an early-season blip.

However, he knows his side had the better of the luck on Saturday.

Robson, on the other hand, must have crossed the path of a 'Black Cat' long before this encounter.

If a hefty catalogue of injuries hasn't been enough to contend with, Boro have been bereft of any good fortune on the field.

They say you make your own luck, and Boro's much-improved performance merited some in this game.

But they still had nothing to show for it. Striker Hamilton Ricard had what looked a perfectly legitimate headed goal ruled out in the 37th minute for an infringement that no-one seemed to see except eccentric referee Graham Poll, who had a poor game.

But Ricard would have surely won a penalty in the 61st minute had he not gone to ground so theatrically, and been cautioned for his sins, after being caught by Darren Williams.

Boro's defensive frailties, however, ultimately let them down again.

This time it was a half-clearance by record £8m signing Ugo Ehiogu and sloppy keeping from Mark Schwarzer which proved their undoing.

By the time left-back Michael Gray fired Sunderland in front with a rare goal in the 53rd minute, the home side were on top.

But the Sunderland skipper's shot should never have got past Schwarzer, who not only let the ball go through his legs but was also beaten at his near post.

So, while Sunderland fans begin to dream of a possible return to Europe, the Boro faithful can only pray that artful dodger Venables helps their side avoid a catastrophe in the making.

As Des Lynam might say: Over to you, Terry