Page 46 - 358264 LP231909 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 (Issue 257)

DEFOE IS HOME
You will never hear anyone say life is boring at Sunderland. Swinging from despair to delirium can usually happen in seconds when following the Lads. But even by our stan- dards the final day of the transfer window took some topping.
We had it all, in the wake of sacking another manager. We had rumours of incomings, in the know journalists all but confirming deals miles in advance of announcements. Cryptic Instagram posts, a strip club compère getting the scoop on our hero coming home, emotional montages and after deadline scarf pictures.
When Jermain Defoe left Rangers, I joked with pals that he could come back. The truth is I never wanted him to leave. The bloke is so much more than a good footballer, he’s a grafter, a gentleman, an example setter and also a beautiful person.
Our shining light in some of our desperate times. He scored some massive goals in his first spell here. He did some great community work off the pitch and his genuine love and care for Bradley Lowery cemented his place in Sunderland hearts forever.
The return of Defoe gives us hope, our play has been good in large spells, but goals change games. Clinical finishing when you’re not quite at it is what’s required to claw yourself out of trouble, look no further than Wigan they have scored multiple late winners this season when not really playing very well. That’s how we get out of this league.
It’s easy to forget that we didn’t play fantastic football under Roy Keane. We weren’t always at it, but we had a strong core of determination which ground out some important results to take us to the top. Don’t get me wrong we put
a few teams to the sword, but Keane developed a never say die mentality to get us over the line which rolled into a first season back in the Premier League. We now need to tap back into that, winning when not at your best is what successful teams do and with our returning goal scorer it means there’s always a chance of a goal from nothing.
J.D will raise standards, imagine Dan Neil looking over to see his hero in the same dressing room as him? He will put bums on seats and hopefully lift them onto their feet quite often too. The atmosphere when he makes his first appearance will be electric. Positivity is infectious, belief can overtake doubt when you think it’s possible.
With Defoe around there is always a chance. He won’t be as sharp; he won’t be as fast. He may not be as clinical. But he too won’t be playing anywhere near the level we were. Enjoy him while he’s here. I know I will.
Haway the Lads
46
ALOVESUPREME
ISSUE257
BY JAMES SUMMERSON