An up and down year of hits, misses and maybes

SUNDERLAND

IN the three years I’m contracted, I’m hopeful we can try to be pushing the top ten. If we can get in to the top ten and pushing for seventh or eighth like Fulham have done, that’s progress.” – Steve Bruce, June 3, 2009.

Talk about hitting the nail on the head. For those who feel the first season under Bruce at the Stadium of Light failed to reach the heights expected, cast your mind back to the day he was unveiled.

After signing a three-year contract, he pledged to target a different calibre of players to those he had sought before and vowed to turn Sunderland into a team capable of finishing in the top half of the Premier League.

Eleven months on and it’s fair to say he has succeeded.

True, the Black Cats endured a dreadful spell of form either side of the New Year, when a 14-match winless run threatened to end in relegation.

Either side of that period, however, Sunderland were among the form teams in the top-flight, with Darren Bent’s goals return helping to record results suggesting they have a first-choice XI capable of challenging for a Europa League place.

But a season of injuries and suspensions, after Bruce made the mistake of reducing the size of his squad too quickly, prevented Sunderland from holding down a place in the top ten.

A victory at Wolves tomorrow could still see Sunderland finish there, but Bruce knows that to make further improvement next season more new signings are required.

Bent, Fraizer Campbell, Lorik Cana, Lee Cattermole and Michael Turner have all made favourable impressions since making permanent switches to Wearside, but there need to be further additions.

Deals could do with being struck for Alan Hutton and John Mensah after successful loan spells, but with Bolo Zenden also due to depart, an already small Sunderland squad is looking even smaller.

HIT: Darren Bent – 25 goals in his first season at Sunderland represents money well spent on the £10m man.

MISS: George McCartney – lost his way pretty quickly under Steve Bruce and he is unlikely to be still around next season.

MIDDLESBROUGH

MIDDLESBRO UGH were just a point from sitting top of the Championship when Gareth Southgate was sacked in October.

Seven months on, the curtain has been drawn on their first year outside the Premier League, and Boro have ended up eight points adrift of a play-off place and planning for a second year in the Football League.

A success? Hardly.

But while the timing of replacing Southgate was clearly wrong, seriously denting the chances of promotion in the process, the arrival of Gordon Strachan should prove more beneficial in the long term.

The changes he made in January, in bringing in the likes of Barry Robson, Scott McDonald and Stephen McManus, helped bring a new steel to the way Middlesbrough played.

And while the team was far too inconsistent to close the gap on the promotion places, there were glimpses of the team that Strachan wants to assemble.

Just two defeats from their last 11 matches offered encouraging signs of progress in the latter stages of the campaign, although a lack of creativity and purpose going forward has been evident throughout.

The sale of Adam Johnson, who finished as the club’s leading scorer despite leaving for Manchester City on February 1, also proved a crucial point of the season.

His wing wizardry had regularly unlocked defences in the Championship and he was never replaced, making the chances of climbing back into the top six more unlikely.

Over the course of the next few months Strachan wants to address that.

And he has started by agreeing a compensatory deal with Livingston for their young winger Andy Halliday.

The Middlesbrough manager intends, however, to make many more signings as he looks to make the adjustments he feels are necessary to lead a charge for automatic promotion.

HIT: Barry Robson – showed enough in his first five months on Teesside to suggest he will be an influential part of next season’s campaign.

MISS: Marvin Emnes – his second season somehow turned out to be worse than his first. For £3.5m, Boro should cut their losses now.

NEWCASTLE UNITED

A TRANSFORMATION very few, if any, expected.

From a club in complete turmoil, on and off the pitch, last summer, Newcastle United have somehow regrouped, strengthened and delivered promotion.

From the depths of despair following the 6-1 pre-season humiliation at Leyton Orient, to title-winning at Home Park, Plymouth, Newcastle’s turnaround is complete.

Perhaps there will be those who argue the job will not be done until they have established themselves as a Premier League force again, but for now Chris Hughton and his crop of players deserve the recognition for their achievements.

Yes, it was at Championship level. But winning the league by 11 points, gaining promotion by 23 points, is no mean feat.

Following the departures of the likes of Owen, Viduka, Martins and Bassong following relegation 12 months ago, a threadbare squad looked incapable of bouncing back.

But with dressing room leaders Butt, Smith, Nolan and Harper working wonders on the spirit within the squad members that remained, Hughton has been able to deliver a team worth applauding again.

There have been more of the problems that seem to follow the club around, including Carroll and Taylor’s training ground bust-up and the unsuccessful attempts of owner Ashley to sell up.

But the success stories have far outweighed the problems.

Whether it has been Harper breaking the club record for clean sheets, the solidity of a Coloccini-inspired defence or the exciting group of forwards.

Newcastle have looked a team again, as their proud unbeaten record at St James’ Park shows.

Hughton made the right decisions at the right time, bringing in new faces when they were needed who never threatened the team spirit within the camp.

That will also be the key to surviving in the Premier League.

For now, though, Newcastle fans should just pay tribute to this season’s heroes.

HIT: Chris Hughton – has worked wonders in bringing harmony and team spirit back to the dressing room during a season of title success.

MISS: Leon Best– the only January signing, who arrived on a four-year deal, that has failed to have the impact he would have preferred.

Hartlepool UNITED

IT’S about progress from last year, but whatever people want to call it – no progress or a lack of progress, for our club to compete in League One and establish ourselves there, it’s so important for us.’’ – Chris Turner.

So what constitutes progress for Hartlepool United?

Staying in League One by the skin of their teeth on the final day? Mid-table in League One? Top ten?

Progress, with Turner granted permission to revamp the squad with 13 new players, would mean an improvement on last season’s tally and being comfortable without a typical end-ofseason sweat, points deduction or no points deduction.

Pools, under Danny Wilson and Turner last season, collected 50 points and finished 19th. They scored 66 and conceded 79, but won only five times away from home, losing 14.

This campaign, with one game to go, they have gathered 52 points but have 49 and sit in 19th spot. They have scored 59, conceded 67, but won only four times away from home, losing 14.

Not much progress really.

But as long as Pools continue to suffer defeat after defeat away from home, they won’t have any sort of progress.

In their last four seasons in League One they have won a paltry 18 times from 91, losing 62 of them.

And this season’s problems have surfaced with a largely new squad of players. As soon as the team bus reaches the A19, it’s curtains.

With such a record can they find the win they need to stay up this afternoon?

No manager has enjoyed such support and backing from the owners IOR Ltd as Turner, both in his first and second spells in control.

But Turner doesn’t enjoy equal support from the terraces this time around.

He’s been unable to recreate the buzz that has carried Pools forward in recent years, crowds are well down on what they were and apathy is at the fore.

If they go down today on the back of Liddlegate, the summer won’t be much fun.

HIT: Roy O’Donovan – only 14 appearances after arriving on loan from Sunderland, but nine goals have so far kept Pools out of the bottom four.

MISS: Gary Liddle – not the defender himself, he’s been one of the successes, but the shenanigans over his appearance against Brighton. Pathetic stuff.

Darlington

AFTER enduring the worst season in the their history, Darlington are delighted that it is finally over.

Only the formalities of today’s 90 minutes against Dagenham & Redbridge remain and then season 2009- 10 will end.

Then they can begin looking forward to a brighter future, though many have been doing just that for some time.

Thoughts have been on the Blue Square Premier for many weeks – some would say months – given that relegation was a near certainty well before it became official on April 13.

Not due to a lack of hope or faith, simply an acceptance from an early stage that Darlington’s plight was such that avoiding relegation was a near impossibility.

Quakers were bottom of the table for the entire season and the ominous signs were present back in August.

On consecutive Saturdays they missed penalties late on in matches – versus Bury and Port Vale – that would have seen Darlington avoid defeat, and manager Colin Todd was sacked after taking only two points from the first nine games.

His successor, Steve Staunton, did little to inspire confidence.

Eight defeats came in his first ten matches, the low point being a 5-0 thrashing at then relegation rivals Torquay.

Staunton brought in 23 players but most proved not fit for purpose and, since three points for a win was introduced, they contributed towards the club recording their lowest points total.

Other ignominious landmarks include the highest number of home defeats and the Football League’s highest ever total of players used, 54.

But right now Darlington would prefer not to focus on what has been.

Instead they want to look ahead to what might be under Simon Davey.

He is charged with picking up the pieces and helping the club bounce back from the lowest point in their history.

HIT: Ian Miller – the towering defender could have left last summer but stuck around, became captain and led by example.

MISS: Patrick Deane – it’s almost impossible to pick only one from a pool of 54 players, but ‘striker’ Patrick Deane will be remembered as one of the club’s worst ever.