Jermain Defoe Sunderland Legend
Happy Easter Sunday..
Strange times at present, I’m not in the mould for making New Years Resolutions….. but….. it’s been quite a year to date. I spent the 1st day of the new decade at Fleetwood, the idea that 4 months later we’d be where we are now, is fucking bonkers. Within 1 mile of my home there’s a temporary 500 bed Emergency Hospital been put together, this facility includes a Temporary Morgue, although there’s a worry that body bags are not in sufficient supply and all funerals are off limits….. just think about that for a minute. STAY HOME! Easter Sunday 5 years ago saw us play The Mags. The previous season Borini had scored a sensational winner to kick start 6 in a row, the very same day the legend Lou Reed passed away….. but Easter Sunday 2015, was Just a Perfect Day…. Over to you Jermain……Jermain Defoe Sunderland Legend
Prior to looking at the time Defoe spent on Wearside after his arrival in January 2015………. It’s July 2013, Sunderland have spent £6.5 million on Jozy Altidore, Spurs are sent packing 3-1 in the Asia Cup in Hong Kong, before we narrowly lose to Man City in the final by a single goal. We’ve got Paulo Di Canio at the helm – things are looking up?? If you’re able to do so, just erase that previous paragraph from your memory. Sadly Jozy only scored once in his 42 games on Wearside, it wasn’t that he was a can’t be arsed to move Will Grigg type, more so a run about a lot but never going to score Danny Graham type. To be fair to Altidore, his performance in the second 0-3 at Sid James Park was fantastic, he was pretty much unplayable that day? He also won the penalty at Chelsea that kickstarted the Miracle Escape under Poyet. He’s done OK since leaving us, for whatever reason sometimes a player just doesn’t work at a club; plaudits for effort and the odd good game aside, you can’t have your main striker scoring 1 goal a season.Swapping Jozy Altidore for Jermain Defoe!!!
Then in January 2015 something remarkable happened. We swopped, (yes swopped), Jozy for Jermain Defoe….. Hello Jermain, Farewell Jozy, (that’s not a hat trick ball) I’ll be honest, I was a little sceptical about the arrival of Defoe, (big wages, twilight of his career, would he have the appetite to succeed?). I couldn’t have been more wrong, he fired 34 goals in 87 games, a great return under any circumstances, but it’s not like we were creating a great deal? His work rate was awesome, I can only imagine how positive an influence and role model he must have been for some of the younger lads, especially the strikers. Defoe proved to be a natural finisher, the likes we’d not seen since Super Kev, Bent for a season and Fletcher for 4 weeks. His short stay on Wearside is testament to the fact that longevity isn’t necessarily required to be legendary.That Defoe Goal against Newcastle
His wonder goal vs Newcastle will go down as one of the finest moments at the SOL….. Jermain Defoe Sunderland Legend The faces behind the goal make this a great picture Not the only one to shed a few tears that day? He’d played in numerous North London & South Coast Derbies….. it’s different up here! Most reading this will remember the wonderful week when we beat Chelsea and Everton to stay up and send Newcastle down? Defoe’s performance in the Chelsea game was absolutely breathtaking.Defoe puts Chelsea to the sword…….anyone know how The Mags are getting on at Villa?