bring on the arse… Mavrias/Borini & Celustka craic a-love-supreme/roundup.htm Well the countdown to the Arsenal game is on as we send ALS 223 off to print today. Meanwhile, Charis Mavrias has been chatting about how his move to Sunderland came about and where he expects us to finish this season. “I met Roberto (De Fanti) in July. He told me the philosophy of the team, that they would try to play football, European football, with the ball on the ground. I liked the sound of that, so I wanted to come. It took some time to happen but I was calm, I waited. I wanted to come and finally it happened. That’s what I wanted so I was patient. I think it was the right time for me to take my next step. I have played a lot of games in the Greek championship and in Europe, so this is the right time for me to come here and my target is to help the team in all of the games. Right and left-wing are the two positions I can play, and like to play. Full-back, yeah. In some games I think that I could play there but my (best) position is right and left-wing. I don’t know what Paolo Di Canio has in mind, but I follow instructions. If he wants me to play centre-forward, or anywhere, I will play. I feel good about my what I’ve done so far. All the players have helped me, and the gaffer’s the same. It’s a very kind environment here, I like it. The gaffer likes to work a lot, and to play football. He knows a lot about the game, and for me, I’m young, and he helps me a lot to improve my movements, my football brain. I know I can get even better. I have always followed the Premier League, so I know Sunderland have had a lot of changes. Panathinaikos are very big in Athens but here you have a big stadium, the training centre. It’s the same here; I think Sunderland are a very good team. This year, finally, I think it will be one of the top 10 or 12 teams in the Premier League. We have not started the season as well as we would have liked, but I’m still confident we can climb the table.” In other news, Fabio Borini is determined to overcome the injury nightmare that plagued his time at Liverpool: “My first thought is to have a clear season with nothing major happening. I’ve always proved myself in the short-term – Swansea was a three-month loan (where he scored six in eight Championship starts) and then it was three months at Roma before injuries. I would like at least six or seven months without getting injured, which would mean all season. Last season was tough, mostly because of the injuries, not the move. Big-money moves happen in football. So do injuries, but they take you down, especially when all you want is to do well for a new team. Basically, your body pulls you out. I wanted to prove myself at Liverpool last season and I couldn’t really do it. I’ve come here to do that now. I always seem to have had injuries which are not the usual ones. Last season was basically the bone in your foot that you never use, but it’s very painful when you break it. You can’t really do much either because it’s in the middle of your foot. When you walk, it’s the only one that makes the other bones move. I didn’t know I would be able to go on loan, but obviously I was thinking about it. Obviously with the players at Liverpool – (Luis) Suarez and (Daniel) Sturridge – I felt I needed games. You never know what is going to happen in the transfer window so at the end, I had a chat with Brendan and it seemed I wasn’t going to be in his plans this year. I’m fully fit now... kind of! I had a bit of a problem this week with a hamstring, but it’s nothing serious. It’s just adapting to a different kind of work in training. My body needs to adapt that’s all. At Liverpool, we managed to play games during the week behind closed doors too, so the players who didn’t play as much were helped in their fitness.” It seems that all our players have come through the international break unscathed, except John O’Shea, who picked up an ankle knock during Ireland’s defeat against Austria last night. However, he’s suspended after his red at Selhust Park but should recover in time for West Brom. Elsewhere, if Ondrej Celustka’s loan spell at Sunderland is a success and we want to sign the full back permanently, we’ll have to cough up £2.5m. Fair enough, that’s not too much. Celustka said: “I would like to do well here at Sunderland, and make this a permanent move. That is my hope. I want so much to stay here, but, of course, I know it depends upon me, and how I perform.” Di Canio had this to say about Celustka: “To be honest, every one of the new players has done a good job, but he’s one of the most positive, because we couldn’t expect this level straight away. It’s not easy playing in England. He only had four days training with us before the start of the season. But he’s a fantastic professional, with determination, desire and, as I said when he came, he had the hunger to play in England. He has been fully committed in the training sessions.”
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 10:15:04 +0000
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