It was the week before Christmas and Alan Pardew had embraced the festive spirit. Readily agreeing to a request from an overseas broadcaster to record a video message for Newcastle United fans in China, the club’s then manager immediately began to make baa-ing noises into the camera.
Aware 2015 is the Chinese year of the sheep Pardew decided to have a bit of fun and was assured his gesture would be well received in Beijing, Shanghai and assorted points in between.
Within a couple of days, though, that little piece of film was well on the way to becoming irrelevant and outdated. On Sunday 21 December Newcastle lost 1-0 at home to Sunderland, courtesy of Adam Johnson’s 90th-minute goal and the sun vanished from Pardew’s eyes.
It was the fourth straight defeat he had suffered against Sunderland and there is a sense at St James’ Park that the backlash played a significant part in prompting his defection to Crystal Palace in the new year.
Back then Gus Poyet’s already uneasy relationship with Sunderland looked set to limp on until the summer but a deterioration in already disappointing results led to the Uruguayan being replaced by Dick Advocaat last month.
By peculiar coincidence, Advocaat’s second match in charge – and first at the Stadium of Light – features Newcastle’s visit. In April 2013 Paolo Di Canio marked his second game at Sunderland’s helm with a 3-0 win on Tyneside while that October, Poyet presided over a 2-1 home win against the local enemy in his second match. Should Advocaat complete an unlikely hat-trick of such victories, John Carver can almost certainly say goodbye to his already slender hopes of remaining in charge on Tyneside after his short-term head coach contract expires this summer.
Carver is well aware Graham Carr, Newcastle’s powerful chief scout, admires Derby County’s Steve McClaren and knows that other coaches, most notably the former Lyon manager Rémi Garde, continue to covet the post. Yet although there are those at St James’ who believe the job is McClaren’s to turn down, the hierarchy are said to be impressed with the way Carver, a Newcastle fan since boyhood, has conducted himself in the midst of an injury crisis and accept he has been under-resourced.
Seventeen years his counterpart’s senior, the much-travelled Advocaat is as worldly as they come. Even as a veteran of Old Firm clashes, the former Holland and Rangers manager may be slightly taken aback by the intense wall of noise which will greet the teams on Sunday. He also labours under the disadvantage that, while Carver’s team remain effectively safe in mid-table, Sunderland’s high risk of relegation means points are imperative.
A crowd of almost 50,000 will pack the Stadium of Light to capacity with the majority willing a home side who have won only one of their last 13 Premier League games to victory. Along the way Sunderland have scored just once in six matches, but Newcastle also bring unwanted baggage to the party.
Carver’s side have collected only nine points in 2015 – only three more than their neighbours – and arrive without two key players in the suspended Fabricio Coloccini and Papiss Cissé. Throw in the injuries sidelining Steven Taylor, Siem de Jong, Massadio Haïdara, Paul Dummett and Cheick Tioté and, on paper at least, Sunderland appear slight favourites.
If Advocaat could have done without a knee injury ruling out Wes Brown for the next five weeks, he has Lee Cattermole available after suspension against a somewhat ersatz-looking visiting side expected to feature Daryl Janmaat, a right-back, at centre-half and Jack Colback, a former Sunderland midfielder, at left-back.
“Cattermole’s our controller,” Advocaat says. “He moves the ball quickly.” While much may hinge on whether Cattermole can counter Carver’s own midfield star, Moussa Sissoko, Sunderland’s outstanding individual is one player capable of influencing Advocaat’s hopes of retaining the post beyond his nine-game remit.
Three further questions promise to prove similarly pivotal: can Jermain Defoe finally justify Sunderland’s hefty January investment by relocating his shooting boots?; will Johnson (on police bail while allegations of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl, which he denies, are pursued) cope with some inevitably ferocious baiting from travelling fans?; is Advocaat’s often rather static defence capable of withstanding Newcastle’s formidable counterattacking pace?
The answers could help determine which division Sunderland play in next season – not to mention shape the futures of Carver and Advocaat.
