Keano’s first silverware

Which ever way Keane’s tenure on Wearside is judged so far, there is no doubting that he’s managed to make this Sunderland side one of the most frustrating to watch in a long time. Not bad, not brilliant, but a Jekyl and Hyde hybrid of the two.

Again this home performance had glimpses of the sublime – in Daryl Murphy’s 73rd minute winner – mixed with periods of frightful inactivity and hopeless long balls.

Just as at home to Colchester the first half was anything but memorable, with only Ross Wallace offering any attacking threat, and he was the closest to putting Sunderland ahead as he tried to lob Norwich ‘keeper Lee Camp, but the ball dropped just shy of the post.

Despite having 5 in midfield Sunderland opted to hoof the ball over the packed midfield in favour of finding Darly Murphy. On the odd occasion the lumbering striker did win the ball, the support his midfield offered him was frustratingly minimal. Nyatanga and Collins were the worst offenders for the Mickey Gray-esque long hoofs, while Leadbitter topped the list for the midfielder-who-couldn’t-be-arsed-to-help-big-daz role, mistakingly thinking that the free role he seems to have been given means that he just has to stroll about doing sod all.

Again just as against Colchester, the second half was a better fare, though Murphy wasted Sunderland’s best chance when opting to shoot into the sidenetting from a tight angle instead of squaring to a wealth of midfielders in the box waiting to shoot. Greedy from Murphy undoubtedly, but after his lack of support in the first half, it’s no surprise he’d stopped looking to lay it off.

And in the 63rd minute Sunderland fans laughed at another player’s misfortune as he lay prostate on the ground. Worry not, Sunderland fans don’t have a sick morbid and cruel penchant for laughing at opposition injuries, we just knew the player would be fine, as it was only Carl Robinson. There are three things you can be sure of in life. Death, taxes, and Carl Robinson bashing his nose in a football match.

So we knew he’d recover, and sure enough, after 5 minutes and his 678th stitch in that war-weary conk, Robbo was back to put in a decent performance.

But back to Keane’s art of frustration. Which he perfects with the use of the 4-5-1 formation. At times we played so deep and gave Norwich so much respect I considered that the yellow kits of our opposition were being mistaken for Brazil. Murphy isolated, and Stephen Elliot ‘wasted’ on the wing, we all cried.

And yet, with half an hour to go, Elliot touched the ball for the first time, and put in a man of the match performance. Beating his man time after time, his wing play was sublime, as, unlike Wallace, he was not afraid to cut inside as well as out, and tormented the Norwich full back for the remainder of the match.

And it was his great ball into the feet of big Murph, whose first touch was so bad it teed him up perfectly to hit the ball on the turn and power a cracking strike past Lee Camp for 1-0.

Hysen and Yorke entered the fray and despite having only a one goal lead Sunderland didn’t, for once, make the fans sweat too much, as they attacked and looked for a second till the very end, with Yorke in particular guilty of wasting a glorious chance.

But 1-0 it finished, and Roy Keane probably won’t even know that in beating Norwich he’s gained his first tropy as Sunderland manager, the Friendly Trophy. Or Friendship Cup, or whatever it’s called.

As you can see I’m not even sure if it exists or ever did, but as Quinny says, we need to take it step by step and progress slowly. Beating a team we lost to only a few months ago shows some progress, and while Keano will not be hoisting any trophy aloft just yet, it’s a quaint step in the right direction.

Sunderland: Ward, Whitehead, Caldwell, Collins, Nyatanga, Stephen Elliott, Miller, Kavanagh, Leadbitter (Yorke 74), Wallace (Hysen 85), Murphy.
Subs Not Used: Fulop, Robbie Elliott, Connolly.