Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is offering his non-playing staff a share of a £1million bonus if they beat Arsenal in this afternoon's match. Ashley is reported to be a Spurs fan, and a Newcastle win would secure Champions League football for Andre Villas Boas' side providing they are able to beat Sunderland in today's other [.
5 Reasons Why Arsenal Might Expect Help From Sunderland by FD
So now it's down to the final match and all Arsenal have to do is beat Newcastle United on Sunday to secure a place in the Champions League for the 16th consecutive season. It's not a task that should be beyond an in-form and confident Arsenal team who brushed aside the challenge of Wigan at the Emirates last night.
Arsenal must beat Wigan but a win would help our rivals by FD
It does your head in. You've got twenty clubs each playing 38 matches over the course of a long Premier League season, and yet we always seem to arrive at the final stages of the campaign with the remaining fixtures contriving to throw up a set of possible permutations only an evil and twisted mastermind could have devised.
With just days to go before a match on Sunday, Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley went out on the town this week to disastrous consequences — only days before their final match of the season against Tottenham Hotspur where Arsenal will be hoping that Bardsley and his colleagues will put up a good fight.
Paolo Di Canio says he is tempted to slap Sunderland youngster Connor Wickham to ensure he fulfils his potential. The Black Cats boss is keen to see the 20-year-old live up to the expectations that came when he arrived on Wearside from Ipswich for £8.1 million two years ago. He said: "Maybe, with this guy, [.
Solo un pareggio per il Sunderland di Paolo Di Canio Di Renato Cignoni Solo un pareggio per i "gatti neri" del Sunderland che anche di fronte al Southampton confermano la loro "pochezza" tecnica. Non basta il goal di Bardsley per portare a casa i tre punti, i Saints (che nelle precedenti quattro gare avevano segnato una sola rete) trovano, ad un quarto d'ora dalla fine, il pareggio con
Sprofondo (bianco) rosso Di Renato Cignoni Naufraga in quel di Birmingham, il Sunderland di Paolo Di Canio: al Villa Park, che nel corso della sua storia ha visto ben altri momenti rispetto alla triste attualit, i gatti neri "toppano" in modo clamoroso uno scontro diretto che poteva regalare un finale di campionato sereno e tranquillo.
With just two games left to run in the Premier League calendar and Manchester United already decided as champions, attention now turns to two specific races— those being the race for a top four finish and the race against relegation.
Unfortunately for the north-east, this season hasn't been a particularly good one for Sunderland and Newcastle United, both of whom find themselves ferociously fighting against the drop, with neither club's future yet secure.
Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio said he would not be watching tonight's Premier League match between relegation rivals Wigan and Swansea but then admitted he was telling porkies. After his side's 1-1 draw with Stoke last night, Di Canio was asked in his interview with Sky Sports whether he would be settling down in [.
Ten-man Sunderland took a small step towards Premier League survival after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at home to Stoke on Monday.
Former Manchester United defender John O'Shea rescued a point for Paolo di Canio's side, already a man down after Craig Gardner was sent off, when he scored from close range in the 63rd minute following a corner.
For the second week in a row, Monday features a battle to avoid relegation. Last Monday, it was the 6-1 thrashing by Aston Villa against Sunderland. Today, it's Sunderland at home against Stoke City.
A win for Stoke and they'll be safe in knowing that they'll be in the Premier League next season.
Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool (Image via LFC Official Facebook)
In my weekly column on SWOL, I take a look back at the weekend's English Premier League and domestic cup action and the talking points that it throws up, as well as any significant news related to English football at large.
I am not one of the Arsenal fans that think Bacary Sagna is all washed up and should never play for the Gunners again, but he did have a bit of a shocker against Manchester United last weekend and it ended up costing two valuable points. Alex Ferguson may have thought, or at least said, that his team deserved to win, but the truth is that Sagna's double mistake let them off the hook and changed the outlook of the Arsenal players.
Since the Sunderland defeat, there are two different transfer seasons that Newcastle may have to go through thissummer- and one of them is almost unthinkable. Derek LLambias - two scenarios possible for Chief Executive One is business as usual, and in that case Newcastle will bring in some top players (or at least try to), [.
To paraphrase Blackadder, the end of the season is twisting and turning like a twisty, turny thing. Another unexpected result last night shook things up at the bottom of the Premier League table, but it could also have a significant effect on the top four places as well.
Sunderland were the form team at the bottom and seemed to be destined for safety, so Aston Villa's 6-1 victory lasy night was pretty unexpected.
The battle near the bottom of the Premier League got even more interesting after tonight's surprising result between Aston Villa and Sunderland.
If you missed the match, or want to see the highlights again, here are the highlights from Aston Villa against Sunderland, which was played on April 29, 2013 in gameweek 35 of the Premier League:
Video: Aston Villa 6 Sunderland 1
Aston Villa vs Sunderland, Premier League Gameweek 35 Match Highlights [VIDEO] is a post from EPL Talk - Independent voice of EPL soccer fans since 2005.
Christian Benteke scored a hat-trick as Aston Villa thrashed Sunderland 6-1 on Monday to give themselves real hope of avoiding relegation from the English Premier League. Victory saw Villa pull five points clear of the relegation zone with three games left to play.
FA Cup finalists Wigan, who have a game in hand over Villa, now look the most likely club to join the already relegated Queens Park Rangers and Reading in the Championship next season.
The last two home games for Newcastle have ended in two of the worst results in Newcastle's long and glorious history the 3-0 defeat by Sunderland two weeks ago was the worst defeat by Sunderland since 1979, and the 6-0 thrashing by Liverpool today was the worst home defeat at St. James' Park since [.
Alan Pardew keeps defending the performance against Sunderland simply because he keeps getting asked about it by the reporters -but he should just give up this nonsense about his players being tired it justdoesn;t wash, and makes Newcastle fans angry. Alan Pardew during the Sunderland loss And Alan is refusing to [.
In my weekly column on SWOL, I take a look back at the weekend's English Premier League and domestic cup action and the talking points that it throws up, as well as any significant news related to English football at large. Follow me@theredarmchairfor regular updates throughout the week.
Charlie Adam was in the wars yesterday evening. Having just about come through a leg-breaker of a lunge from Sunderland's Craig Gardner, the Stoke midfielder also got into a bit of a dust-up with an advertising hoarding at The Britannia...
Sunderland vs Stoke City 2013 Highlights 1-1 O'Shea Walters Goals Craig Gardner Red Card Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter
Sunderland vs Stoke City 2013 Highlights 1-1 O'Shea Walters Goals Craig Gardner Red Card Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Sunderland vs Stoke 2013 ( SAFC SCFC VIDEO BELOW) Final score and result:- Sunderland vs Stoke 1-1 ( O'Shea/ Walters) Stadium of Light, Sunderland- 6 May, 2013- 20.
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Sunderland played absolutely dreadfully in the first half, went down a goal, got a player sent off and failed to spark any real emotion from the crowd. Then the tide turned in the second half where Stoke City showed why they still haven't escaped the battle to avoid relegation.
Sunderland 1-1 Stoke City Premier League 6th May 2013
Paulo Di Canio's Black Cats fought backfrom both a goal and a man down to secure a well-earned point against Stoke on Monday night.
Sunderland were hoping for a win to take them five points of the drop-zone, however, an early Jonathan Walters goal put the Potters a goal up after just nine minutes.
Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam could have been forgiven for thinking the world was out to get him during last night's draw with Sunderland. Not only did he survive a potentially leg-breaking tackle, which saw the Black Cats' Craig Gardner sent-off, he also tangled with the advertising hoardings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gardner is the man giving the [.
Sunderland got a valuable point tonight after going one goal down to Stoke after only nine minutes and then having Craig Gardner sent off after 34 minutes. Jonathan Walters opens the scoring after 9 minutes But Sunderland came back in the second half against the odds, and looked a much better side, even with only [.
With Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa winning over the weekend, there are now an incredible eight teams who are still in danger of being relegated as the 18th place team in the league this season. And there are only 2-3 matches remaining this season.
Forty points this season may not be enough to guarantee safety.
Aston Villa might just have saved themselves from relegation to the Championship.
In a lower end of the table clash, Paul Lambert's charges ran riot on Monday, defeating Paolo Di Canio's Sunderland, 6-1, at Villa Park. Christian Benteke scored a hat-trick in 17 second-half minutes, his first such achievement in English soccer to give him 18 goals on the season, by far leading all Villa scorers.
Aston Villa fans might have known that last night's match against Sunderland was going to be a good night from the moment defender Ron Vlaar stepped into midfield and drove the ball into the net from 30-yards. And the skipper's stunning strike ultimately set Paul Lambert's side on the way to a 6-1 thrashing of [.
Most people will see this as an unfortunate bit of pronunciation from Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio; Liverpool fans will probably see it as an accurate description. The Black Cats boss' post-match interview following last night's 6-1 spanking at Aston Villa was overshadowed by the Italian bending his use of his second language to breaking [.
Aston Villa vs Sunderland 6-1 Highlights 2013 Benteke Hat trick Vlaar Weimann Agbonlahor Rose Goals Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter
Aston Villa vs Sunderland 6-1 Highlights 2013 Benteke Hat trick Vlaar Weimann Agbonlahor Rose Goals Video is a post from Soccer Blogger.
Aston Villa 6-1 Sunderland Premier League 29th April 2013
Christian Benteke may not have won any prizes at the PFA awards last night, but the Belgian bruiser has unquestionably been one of the players of the seasons, with his goals central to Aston Villa's push to stay in the top division.
Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio has dubbed today's game against Aston Villa "their Champions League Final." Both clubs are incredibly desperate for a win to push them away from the dangers of the relegation zone in an important season for the league where next year's TV money kicks in to bring many more millions to Premier League sides.
Despair – it has a reputation as a rather pejorative term, but as the definition is apparently simply ‘the absence of hope' it fits in the whiskey cabinet quite snugly, what? For sure our lot will put Sunderland to the sword – or complicate things somewhat before stretching ahead in the final 10-20 – but even with a mooted million pound bonus being dangled in front of them, the chances of Newcastle doing the necessaries seem more Stuart Nethercott than Ledley King.
Sunderland 1-1 Southampton Premier League 12th May 2013
A hard-fought draw at the Stadium of Light on Sunday saw Southampton all but rubber-stamp their place in next season's Premier League while Sunderland should survive should Wigan fail to win at Arsenal on Tuesday evening.
When you are the billionaire owner of a football club that has been struggling all season, it is likely that a consecutive victory will be rather warmly celebrated. When that win comes for your new manager, whose appointment was at best controversial, to move your side closer to safety at a crucial stage of the [.
Everton manager David Moyes appeared to hint that he's ready to become increasingly intimate with Sunderland counterpart Paolo Di Canio. Moyes was caught off-guard by some surprise physical contact from the Italian ahead of Saturday's match at the Stadium of Light. The Toffees boss appeared to hint that he was impressed by Di Canio's hugging [.
