John O'Shea News

HE has labelled members of his squad ignorant and arrogant this week, but Paolo Di Canio insists there are players at Sunderland with the right attitude and has urged everyone to follow the example set by stand-in captain John O'Shea. After almost two months in charge on Wearside , Di Canio has identified a number of reasons why the club was ... (more)

FORMER Swindon Town chief executive Nick Watkins once described Paolo Di Canio's preferred style of governance as "management by hand grenade". Less than two months into the Italian's reign at Sunderland, and the pin has well and truly been removed.

Experienced Sunderland defender Titus Bramble could be set to follow in the footsteps of David Beckham by switching to the MLS Titus Bramble is considering a trans-Atlantic switch to Major League Soccer when his Sunderland contract runs out this summer.

Late Bale screamer not enough to secure top-four finish for Spurs Tottenham Hotspur missed out on Champions League qualification for the second year running despite beating Sunderland 1-0 at White Hart Lane.

FOUL? OR A DIVE? Seb Larsson bundles Gareth Bale over in the area, with the Spurs' man booked for simulation IT started with the optimism of a goalless draw at Arsenal, but ended with Sunderland back in North London simply grateful to have avoided the drop.

JOHN O'SHEA will be glad to see the back of a difficult season - but admits it could have been a lot worse if he had not put in a huge amount of hard work.

Tottenham suffered yet more Champions League heartache as they missed out on a top-four berth to Arsenal despite yet another wonder goal from Gareth Bale.

Tottenham V Sunderland - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.

Sunderland's players have had an easy ride under previous managers, according to the Italian, and now Barclays Premier League safety is secure he will introduce a harsher regime.

Paolo Di Canio will give Sunderland players the minimum of four weeks' holiday if they underperform against Tottenham.

PAOLO DI CANIO has plans for a summer of change at the Stadium of Light, but one of Sunderland's newest recruits hopes Simon Mignolet does not form part of the club's close-season transfer business.

"We have recently produced two strong performances and the players have proven they are working very well together," said the manager.

Emmanuel Adebayor scored a late winner as Tottenham came from behind to beat 10-man Stoke 2-1 in the Premier League on Sunday, provisionally lifting the team above Arsenal into fourth place in the race for Champions League qualification.

Jason Puncheon came off the bench to grab a point for Southampton and all but secure their safety, just as it looked as though Sunderland had saved themselves in their Barclays Premier League clash at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland 1 Saints 0 : Out of nowhere, Sunderland take the lead. Phil Bardsley rifles a shot across goal from the angle of the area and the ball brushes off Jos Hooiveld's leg and flies into the top corner.

Skipper John O'Shea has challenged Sunderland to carry on where they left off against Stoke when they host Southampton on Sunday.

SIMON MIGNOLET is ready to ignore the man in the street wanting to talk relegation run-ins believing that Sunderland will stay in the Premier League this season if they focus purely on themselves.

Zimbabwe look for rare series win in ODI decider BULAWAYO: The decider will possibly buck the trend of the tour.

Well it may not have been the most exciting of weekends in the Premier League but it certainly could be the most significant.

The Times: Ronnie O'Sullivan said last week that he only came back to snooker to pay for the school fees, but the 250,000 he pocketed for winning a fifth world title in imperious style should keep the bursars happy for a couple of months.