Page 29 - 358264 LP231909 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 (Issue 257)

Ruud Gullit was watching from). This is always going to guarantee legend status. Mannone has penalty hero status too but there’s something about seeing Shearer upset that just tips the balance in favour of Sorensen. One of the greatest keepers to ever wear a Sunderland goalkeeper’s shirt and a lovely bloke too.
Now, my next pick is a little controversial.
I have to say he’s probably the best goalkeeper I’ve seen play for Sunderland and, because of what happened next in his career, many will disagree, but I actually think that without him, we wouldn’t have been promoted in 1996. Alec Chamberlain was clearly a nice man. He always looked a bit like Rodney from Only Fools and Horses but sadly, his keeping skills were lacking at the top level. When Reid brought in a 19-year-old keeper on loan half way through the season, it was clear he felt the same way about poor Alec. So, what was this young Irishman like? Well, 17 games later (of which 12 were clean sheets) and we’d won the league, he’d been spotted by the Ireland manager and he’d fallen in love
with the North East of England. He seemed
to catch balls that others would push away. He pushed away shots which other keepers wouldn’t have got near. His distribution was second to none. A truly incredible keeper who, had a couple of things gone differently, could have been at Sunderland for years. A year later, his contract ran out at Blackburn and his career went downhill, but he did get a great view of that Sorensen save a couple of years later.
SIDDALL
BY GILES MOONEY
In many ways Shay Given’s arrival reminds me of the arrival of Hoffmann’s this season. Signed on loan from a team who’d recently won the title, he stands out as being more than capable of playing at a much higher level. Given helped us win the league that year by adding 15 or so points to the total. I suspect Hoffmann will do the same this year. The key difference needs to be what happens next. When the rest of the world sees how incredibly talented he is, let’s hope they’re watching
him in a Sunderland kit and no one else’s. I feel Ron-Thorben might just get into future versions of this article as one of my favourite Sunderland keepers. Time will tell...
GIVEN
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