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Sunderland
Unusually for the Premiership, where the trend is to try and juggle four more or less equally potent strikers in semi-content rotation, Sunderland's recent success is largely due to a settled first choice pair up front - the classic 'big man little man' partnership of veteran beanpole Niall Quinn and mighty atom Kevin Phillips. Last season Quinn bagged 14 goals, while his partner secured a golden boot for himself, notching no fewer than 30 times. This time round, however, Sunderland are flourishing despite a falling off in form for their main strike pair. Phillips has struggled to match the impact he made last season, seemingly disheartened by his treatment while on international duty during and since Euro 2000, and he was the highest profile casualty in Sven Goran Eriksson's latest selection. Niall Quinn, too, has not been the force he was last term. He has struggled with a back problem, which he recently aggravated by trying to return to action too quickly, and he was thought to be out for the rest of the campaign until he announced recently that he'd cured the problem all by himself with yoga. So he's probably out for the rest of the campaign, then. Reid has been linked with a natural replacement, the giant Czech Jan Koller, but his interest waned when it appeared a giant cheque would be required to dislodge the 6'5" hitman from Anderlecht. The Gateshead-born Scotland star Don Hutchison has been filling in as an emergency partner for Phillips, and he is starting to run him close in the scoring charts. Phillips has 11 in the league, while Hutchison, widely described as the bargain of the season following his £2.5 million capture from Everton, has 8. Hutchison has a narrow lead, 11 to 9, in yellow cards, though. Reid's
team, who have acquired the nickname "The Black
Cats" recently
for no readily apparent reason, are looking stronger in
every other
department as the season goes on. Midfielder Gavin McCann has impressed the new national boss, and made his international debut as a second half substitute in the recent friendly against Spain. Alongside him is Swedish playmaker Stefan Schwarz, who played for his country in the World Cup finals of 1990 and 1994, but a ruptured Achilles tendon a year ago kept him out of action until just before Christmas, and robbed him of the chance of participating in Euro 2000. Schwarz joined Sunderland for £4 million from Valencia, and formerly played for Arsenal. Midfielder Alex Rae, a Glaswegian, has a notoriously short fuse that has contributed to his colourful disciplinary record, and should be ready to return to contention after a knee problem. Argentinian youngster Julio Arca has also settled in well since his goal scoring debut against West Ham in September, while Irishman Kevin Kilbane is the club's most improved player this season, in the manager's opinion, and he scored for his country against Andorra last month. The last line of defence, Danish stopper Thomas Sorensen, broke the club record for the most clean sheets in his first season with Sunderland, and seems likely to be the long term replacement for Peter Schmeichel in the Denmark goal. Back in November over 52,000 fans packed St James' Park to see Gary Speed give the Toon a fourth minute lead. Second half goals from Don Hutchison and Niall Quinn, though, saw the visitors take all three points with a 2-1 win This local derby is an eagerly anticipated fixture, and with Sunderland needing points to stay in the hunt for a Champions' League spot, and the Magpies hoping to take the shine off the Black Cats' current North East supremacy, it should be a cracking encounter.
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