Crisis, what crisis, as Bent beats the Blues
THE crisis, it seems, is officially over. After Saturday's 3-1 win over Birmingham City, it appears the pundits and sports reporters are no longer concerned with the possibility that we will be dragged into the relegation mire.
So, now they have switched their focus and the big talking point is whether or not Darren Bent's World Cup dream will be fulfilled or shattered.
Personally, I hope Bent is on the plane to South Africa, but barring injury I can't see it.
I've never met the man, but to me Fabio Capello doesn't seem to be the type who is given to changing his mind too easily.
And I think he's already made up his mind who he will be taking to the World Cup. Sadly I don't think Bent's name is on the list (I hope I'm wrong).
According to the national sports writers, question marks still remain over our striker – one of which is whether he is up to it at international level?
And apparently there is a concern that he is just a goalscorer and nothing else.
Yes, that exactly what concerns me every time he pulls on a red and white shirt, whether he will just score the one goal, or two or three.
Now before anyone starts writing in, I'm not saying that Bent is as good as a certain former Everton striker, but then wasn't Gary Lineker just a goalscorer? And he did all right.
Capello has his own formation and his own squad in mind, and it's probably fair to say he knows a damn sight more about managing at that level than I do.
But whatever the formation, be it Fabio's preferred big man, small man, or something completely different, I think Bent has got to be worth a place in the squad.
He's the second highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League this season (a certain Wayne Rooney being top of the pile), which surely has to count for something.
And yet, the names of Carlton Cole and Bobby Zamora are being mentioned as possibles for the plane with far more regularity than Bent.
I know I'll be accused of being biased, but surely the facts speak for themselves, and Bent is far more of a goal threat than either of those players, even though I admit Zamora is in a rich vein of form.
I just hope that with the southern-biased sports Press championing the likes of Cole and Zamora, that geography doesn't count against the Sunderland striker.
Getting back to the game. Well, it was a little hairy at times, but overall I think we deserved the victory.
Craig Gordon was in imperious form to deny City, but then Joe Hart wasn't bad at the other end either.
Hopefully, he can keep that going until the end of the campaign.
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Weather for South Shields
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
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Temperature: 8 C to 19 C
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