Vindication came sweeping into the Stadium of Light boardroom last night, as Sunderland's Premier League status was finally preserved courtesy of Arsenal's 4-1 defeat of Wigan Athletic, a defeat which ended the Latics' eight-year top division stint.

If one cropped an ear out of a window in Wearside, they would have doubtless heard a mass sigh…

The penultimate weekend of the season saw emotional send-offs for Manchester United coaches present and future, as United and Everton both won. Chelsea secured their place in the top four with a win at Aston Villa while Spurs put Arsenal under pressure by beating Stoke. At the bottom, Newcastle and Norwich secured safety with big…

Paolo Di Canio's honeymoon as Sunderland manager came to an abrupt end with Monday night's 6-1 thumping at Aston Villa, and now his side face another Monday night fixture against bottom-half opposition, taking on Stoke City at home.

Di Canio will be without attacking midfielder Stephane Sessegnon for the remainder of the season after his red card at Villa Park,…

It is probably a safe bet that few Sunderland fans will have experienced a more turbulent month than the past 31 days of following their side.

What began, on March 30, with Martin O'Neill ousted from the Stadium of Light, ended in another stunning development on Monday evening, as the men now managed by Paolo Di…

On Wearside, there seems to be little Paolo Di Canio can't currently do. The man whom arrived amongst a cavalcade of controversy just over three weeks ago, the Premier League managerial novice with seemingly dubious political beliefs.

Less than a month on, few are still discussing whether or not Sunderland's first ever foreign manager is a…

United clinched the title, Spurs gave new life to their bid for fourth place, QPR are as good as down after a home loss to Stoke while Liverpool came back twice, controversially, to draw 2-2 with Chelsea. It was another highly dramatic weekend of Premier League action, but who made it into the PickOurTeam Team…

In the 2008 blockbuster, The Dark Knight, there is a moment where the film's protagonist Bruce Wayne, temporarily shorn of his Batman outfit, receives some words of advice from his loyal butler, Alfred. Remarking on the decision by the underworld of Gotham City to turn to the mysterious 'Joker' for help, Wayne's long-time carer remarks…

Manchester United got back to winning ways, Arsenal got out of jail and QPR lost without a whimper on a weekend where things got very tense at both ends of the table. Chelsea and Spurs are level on points in the race for fourth spot while Stoke's defeat to Manchester United plunges them into the…

In a week that is usually fervent in the north-east, things have been surprisingly tame. Well, as tame as they can be when a man like Paolo Di Canio is present.

The Tyne-Wear derby is usually an all-encompassing occasion. The unfortunate timing of an October international break meant that, last time these two met, it came on the back…

To say that the last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind for Sunderland fans would be an enormous understatement. Martin O'Neill is out, Paolo Di Canio is in, and I am not sure any of us really know what to think about it yet.

You always have a few vocal dissenters amongst the…

In a week where much of Britain has been blanketed in snow, Sunderland have suffered more of a downpour than most in recent weeks. A startling loss of form has seen Martin O'Neill's men plunge headfirst into a relegation battle they thought themselves long clear of, but this week's news has had much of Wearside…

Sunderland have seen a change in recent weeks. Where, for the first five months of the season, Martin O'Neill had only deployed one striker, recent outings against West Brom and Fulham have seen two selected, with new man Danny Graham lining up alongside Steven Fletcher.

The common consensus amongst some on Wearside had been simple: the…

In context, Sunderland's 2-2 draw with Fulham at the weekend could be seen in a relatively positive light. Despite Martin Jol's men boasting a woeful away record, The Cottagers raced into a 2-0 first-half lead: the Wearsiders' spirited fightback was worthy of praise.

And yet, away from the specificities of the game itself, Saturday's encounter with…

This may seem like an odd thing to say, but there are plenty of football fans out there green with envy for Sunderland right now.

The reason I can say that with such certainty is because what the Black Cats have now, Premier League mediocrity, is precisely what I used to envy others for when I…

With the current Premier League season entering what promises to be a thrilling final stretch, we present to you our pick of the best Sunderland blogs out there. These are all part of the inaugural PickOurTeam Blog Awards which recognise blogs that display excellent football content along with the quality insight and simmering passion that…

Since Martin O'Neill added Danny Graham to the Sunderland ranks, the question that many have sought to answer is how he plans to use for former Swansea man in the same side as Steven Fletcher. The assumption for many seems to be that Graham's arrival will herald the return to the 4-4-2 vintage. Personally, I…

Plenty of eyes were raised on Wearside early on Saturday afternoon, as news filtered through that captain Lee Cattermole would return to the starting line-up for the visit of Arsenal. Cattermole, who has a history of seemingly being brought back into action too soon and suffering injury recurrences, had been expected to make the bench…

A disastrous weekend for Manchester City at the top and QPR at the bottom meant it was a good round of matches for Manchester United and Aston Villa. There were also important wins for Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, Southampton and Swansea. But which players made it into this week's POT Team of the Week?

Goalkeeper: Wojciech Szczesny…