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NORTHERN EXPOSURE: Paolo Di Canio and Alan Pardew on North-East rollercoaster following Sunderland win over Newcastle in Tyne-Wear derby

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Next season the Premier League should host the 150th Tyne-Wear derby.

The rest is up to the managers and players of Newcastle United and Sunderland.

Paolo Di Canio is sorted for life, Alan Pardew is feeling the force of Geordie unhappiness. And that can be quite a beast to tame as his predecessors will testify.

Enlarge   Welcome to the madhouse: Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio is introduced to the hurly burly of the Tyne-Wear derby by his Newcastle counterpart Alan Pardew

'A Mackem legend already': The howls of protest over Di Canio's appointment were silenced by Sunday's stunning 3-0 win at St James' Park

Contrast: It was an agonising afternoon for Pardew, whose high hopes for the season have been obliterated inside the space of a week

To see Di Canio’s impact, you only had to watch the Sunderland players after Sunday’s game. They had done their bit in front of the fans, so turned as a group from 3,000-strong wild sea of red and white high in the stands and headed to the dressing room.

There was a fair amount of backslapping going on, a couple walked arms draped over their weary shoulders, a few were in conversation. They couldn’t get the smiles off their faces, even as they headed towards a small group of unhappy Newcastle fans prepared to spoil their moment.

Then a massive cheer went up behind them. And there, still on the pitch, both arms raised towards the skies was their manager Paolo di Canio. There’s milking it. And there’s Di Canio-ing it.

Every player turned round. Shake your head, laugh, or both. That’s what most of them did.

The performance and result had already proved it – and Di Canio was at pains in the build-up to reiterate the positives from the Chelsea defeat in his first game. But that moment showed Sunderland’s players get it. And they get Di Canio. And they either do so, or they will be relegated.

Taunts: Di Canio was mocked by Newcastle fans after the final whistle

 

Di Canio explained the moment later.

He told Match of the Day 2: 'It is obviously a special moment because I can understand exactly why they were exalted on the field because they gave everything and they took everything from this game so it was special moment and that is why I wanted to give them credit and go celebrate with them and then to do this in front of our fans is even more special.

'It is obvious that has to be our relationship. They know I cannot be their friend but I can be their older brother and can help them give their best every time with the right quality and right strategy but also kick their bottoms if they deserve. But there has to be the right mixture in my opinion.'

Di Canio was at his compelling best on Sunday night. But the passion, the glint in his eye, the in-depth, long answers we saw and heard would be there for a 0-0 draw at Norwich for the Friendly Cup. He’s box office.

Sunderland have had nothing like him since Roy Keane. His politics, and the reaction to his appointment, thrust Sunderland into the spotlight for reasons they hadn’t anticipated. It caught the club and owner Ellis Short by surprise.

The issue may never really go away but Di Canio asked to be judged on results. He’s just pulled off the biggest one of any Sunderland manager. One that evaded them all in the Premier League apart from Peter Reid. And it was 3-0. And they thoroughly deserved it.

No nonsense: Di Canio has introduced a strict training regime since arriving at Sunderland, having continually suggested that the players weren't fit enough

 

In training in the build-up to the derby, Di Canio had a week to get his hands on his squad. I have watched quite a few training sessions over the year, but few which were so hands-on. And you just know Di Canio will be like it every day, never letting up, expecting the same from every player.

Buy into it or you’ll be out of the team and then sold. That will be the message.

There will be unrest and mayhem and he will have to be kept under control. The club really needs their controversial choice to finish the job before he can talk in those terms, and not to Championship players. They all need Barclays Premier League football and its financial rewards.

Of course you can’t rule out the possibility that the 3-0 win over Newcastle could send him into megalomaniacal stratosphere that Sunderland and his players can’t cope with.

But the Premier League is at stake here, Sunderland and their players’ futures and office staff’s livelihood. He needs to stay calm (did I just write that?) and ensure his players stayed focused on Everton this Saturday too.

Di Canio is a Mackem legend already. The t-shirts, the songs are on their way. All is forgotten. Some say there’s nothing to forgive.

But that will be a hollow title if he can’t keep them up.

You sense the players believe it. Suddenly the visit to Aston Villa, home games against Everton, Southampton and Stoke City don’t look so daunting. I still believe Martin O’Neill would have kept Sunderland up but that might have gone to the final day at Tottenham. Di Canio has restored belief to Wearside. And that was waning.

A new hope: The fact Sunderland's players celebrated with their new manager indicated the immediate rapport they have with him

The defeat will have hit Alan Pardew hard.

The realisation that Newcastle’s season has again come down to the cups and the two derby games will not sit comfortably with the Newcastle manager who had high hopes for this campaign.

He believed he could win the Europa League. He expected to be competing for Europe again. In the week Newcastle went out of Europe, Pardew lost his first derby on home soil, badly, and, even if he isn’t, supporters are looking over their shoulders towards the bottom three, and Sunderland.

Injuries may have overwhelmed them in their excellent European adventure in the end, but not as much as a very good Benfica side over the two legs of the quarter-final. They do that to every team. Newcastle had their chances in Lisbon, hit the woodwork twice, and paid for the misses with two self-inflicted goals in a 3-1 defeat.

They gave it a go but let’s not talk about the ramifications of Hatem Ben Arfa’ s late miss on his return at St James’s Park, which would have taken the tie to extra-time.

Blow: Pardew had measured Newcastle's season on their European progress, so defeat to Benfica was cruel

Like it or not, Thursday took its toll. The choice of Jonas Gutierrez at left-back may have been a surprise, and/or a gamble which backfired but only the Newcastle manager knows the full fitness of all his players at his disposal by midday on Sunday.

They did look jaded. The simple passes evaded them, the instinctive thought processes, deserted them. It happens. But when your opponents are Sunderland, fired up by a full week with the new man, you might just pay for the consequences. Newcastle’s players did. Yes they had their chances but Sunderland should’ve had a penalty, Newcastle a men sent off. . .

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. It was 3-0.

And this will have been a difficult week at the Newcastle training ground. This manager and this squad haven’t been through a period like this before. But the fans have. A few times. Although it’s been 13 years since Niall Quinn’s winner and the bitterness, and reality check, that comes with a derby defeat.

The players all know what the Sunderland game means now.

Walking wounded: Newcastle's players, including the injured goalkeeper Tim Krul, need maximum focus between now and the end of the season

The licking of the wounds ends at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday and Pardew and his players will feel better for a win which will keep them ahead of Sunderland and out of the clutches of relegation.

Newcastle have not become a bad team overnight, or a season. At their best, they are a real threat and strong defensive unit but that has not happened enough this season.

They were margins from a win over Benfica and Pardew did bemoan the fact he was not at total full strength for those two legs. Perhaps, but they didn’t and the squad was reinforced in January to cope with two campaigns.

Two steps forwards last season, one step back this season. Pardew is looking to make a step up again next season if he can pull on his maximum resources.

Now is as close as he will get to a fully fit squad. Fabricio Coloccini may be available, and bar no setbacks Hatem Ben Arfa should be ready to start while Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sissoko, among others, will have benefited from a full week under masseur Micky Holland’s expert hands.

Return: Hatem Ben Arfa is among the players back in the fold following injury

With defeat comes scrutiny. Selections, formations, substitutions are derided when the team’s winning, that’s the nature of the beast. As Pardew knows, this is a club where everyone can do a better job than the manager, yet few have.

The qualification for Europe, considering Newcastle’s squad and spending last season, was remarkable compared to the extravagant spending of his predecessors on their travels.

And it is harder to build on the Europa League with its Thursday night matches and endless qualifying games. Newcastle have suffered and ironically should benefit from a season without those demands.

It’s all context. It’s not been a great season, despite the highlights from Europe, but the derby defeat should not diminish the progress Newcastle have made, under Pardew, over the last two years.

Be honest. Which rollercoaster ride would you be on? Paolo or Pardew?

Interesting question . . .

  More... Taylor out for NEXT season as Newcastle defender suffers cruciate knee injury Newcastle lout who punched horse apologises and says he loves animals Newcastle 0 Sunderland 3: Watch video highlights from St James' Park









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