Source: Northern_Echo
Bardsley wants to give fans reasons to cheer
PHIL BARDSLEY believes that Sunderland's failure to beat Newcastle last season will provide ample inspiration when the two teams meet again on Saturday.[LNB] Bardsley was involved in both the 5-1 defeat at St James' Park in October and the 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light in January.[LNB] Now the Salford-born fullback is determined to give the Sunderland fans something to cheer about come Saturday afternoon.[LNB] He said: It was a tough one last season. We struggled twice against them but ended up finishing tenth and above them. But people look back and say You didn't beat Newcastle'.[LNB] I agree with that in a way, it was something we should have done but I wouldn't have given away finishing above them. I think we do want to repay the fans a bit for that.[LNB] The anticipation is incredible up here. I was out having some food in Durham mid-way through the pre-season and people weren't even talking about Liverpool, they were saying Good luck on the 20th, I hope you do it'. I had to think and then it was like, oh the Newcastle game.[LNB] It's incredible and fair play to the people they are both right behind their teams on derby day. Hopefully we can make a bit of history.[LNB] Saturday will be Sunderland's first home game, and the renewal of one of the game's most bitter rivalries will be the earliest on the fixture list since August 1999, where Peter Reid's Sunderland beat Ruud Gullit's Newcastle 2-1 in the rain at St James' Park.[LNB] The fixture computer has provided both Sunderland and Newcastle with an early claim to regional bragging rights, and Bardsley is confident that the home advantage could prove pivotal.[LNB] He said: The atmosphere in those games is always incredible.[LNB] The roof just blows off and you think Woah!' I was telling Wes (Brown) and Sheasy (John O'Shea) that it really is unbelievable.[LNB] You can't describe it really, when you're on the pitch you can't really concentrate and sometimes the game gets a bit scrappy and what have you. Everyone is there on the pitch to give 100 per cent but not every pass will go to a red and white shirt.[LNB] There will be times when you give the ball away but what we need is all the fans and everyone round the place to get behind us. We need to have a real good go on Saturday.[LNB] In last season's two games, Kevin Nolan was Sunderland's tormentor in chief.[LNB] With him now plying his trade at West Ham, and Newcastle's influx of young, inexperienced players, Bardsley believes that Saturday is a good a time as any for the derby.[LNB] I think it is, he said.[LNB] Then again, with the players that we've got we're not scared of playing anyone. We showed that in our first game at Anfield.[LNB] But in terms of Newcastle, they've lost some big players over the last nine months Carroll, Nolan. They were seasoned pros, they were going to get them goals and look a threat. It's up to their new lads to go and get them the goals and provide the threat.[LNB] We're not too fussed about them and what they're going to do we just need to go there and give it our best shot.[LNB] Sunderland go into Saturday's game with momentum gained by a battling point against Liverpool, a result which Bardsley a lifelong Manchester United fan couldn't be happier with.[LNB] It was a great start and I thought we fully deserved the point, he said. It's always tough going to Anfield early on, we knew they were going to out of traps raring to go because they've got new players and there's expectations on them.[LNB] While Bardsley's career has seen spells at Aston Villa, Sheffield United and Rangers, the full-back did not contest a derby game until he arrived at Sunderland in 2008.[LNB] He has, however, attended scores of Manchester derbies, and Bardsley believes the north-east fans' fervour for the rivalry sets it apart from any other.[LNB] He said: Derbies are similar but if you go to Manchester and round Manchester you don't necessarily see loads of people with shirts on and what have you. But for me, if I drive from my house to the training ground I can see 10 or 15 people with Sunderland shirts on, it's incredible.[LNB] Up here is just a different kettle of fish, it's just football crazy. To be part of it - and to get the chance to play in these games is a chance you just never forget.[LNB]
