Newcastle will be hoping to fair better when they face Brighton this afternoon, with the Magpies looking to take another step towards securing Champions League football.
Albion have welcomed a special guest into their training ground this week ahead of the Newcastle game, which features in this week’s North East Notes.
Also featuring is some Premier League advice for Regis Le Bris if the play-offs go to plan, but we’ll start with Middlesbrough and a winger who has had a season to forget.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR MIDDLESBROUGH LOANEE
It’s been a nightmare season for Middlesbrough winger Sammy Silvera, who has made just eight league starts across two disappointing loan spells this term.
The Aussie flanker showed some promising signs in his first season on Teesside but the decision was made last summer for him to head out on loan and benefit from regular football elsewhere. But it hasn’t gone to plan.
After a struggle at Portsmouth in the first half of the season, with Silvera making just five Championship starts and coming under fire from fans, Boro cut that spell short and instead sent him to Blackpool in League One. But he hasn’t fared much better there, making just three starts for Steve Bruce’s side and missing the last two games of the campaign with a back injury.
“It’s been disappointing for Sammy. After a really bright start, he’s not been able to have a run in the team,” said Bruce.
“Basically, it’s not just injury, it’s been the way the team has played. He’s a very good player, and we wish him well. We will have a conversation to see what he’s up to.”
Silvera is now moving into the last year of his contract at the Riverside but it’s hard to see him playing his way into Boro’s plans for next season after his struggle this term.
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PREMIER LEAGUE BOSS’ OFFER TO SUNDERLAND
After weeks of dead rubbers, Sunderland can now start preparing for games that matter again.
They need to now immediately rediscover top form if they’re to succeed in the play-offs and win promotion.
But if it does to plan in the next few weeks and Regis Le Bris leads the Black Cats to the Premier League, Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna is happy to pick up the phone and offer some advice after Ipswich’s top flight struggle this season.
Ipswich’s immediate return to the second tier was confirmed with last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Newcastle, making it a second successive season in which all three promoted sides suffered immediate relegation as Leicester and Southampton were already heading down.
Leeds and Burnley have secured promotion from the Championship, with the play-offs to determine who else joins them, but they are already the favourites to suffer the drop next term given the growing difference in quality and resources between the two divisions.
Asked if he could offer any advice to those coming up, McKenna said: “My phone is reachable if anyone wants to pick it up. I certainly picked up my phone last year to teams who were in this position, as I’m sure teams did in the year before that.
“That’s pretty common practice. Again, they will be private discussions. As I’ve said before, the gap is certainly big and getting bigger.
“It’s clear for everyone to see what was pitched as maybe the highest-level top end of the Championship ever last season, three teams with 90-plus points for the first time, two of whom were really established Premier League clubs over the last decade – and Leeds, who didn’t manage to make it, also in the mix.
“Those three teams have all fallen short for different reasons this year. It’s clear that the gap is big. Of course, when that happens for two seasons in a row, that’s 17 teams then who have two full seasons of Premier League money and everything that comes with that.
“It makes it harder for everyone to catch up.”
BRIGHTON’S SPECIAL VISITOR AHEAD OF NEWCASTLE GAME
Fabian Hurzeler enjoyed picking the brains of a special visitor to Brighton this week as they prepare for today’s Premier League clash with Newcastle.
Former Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure spent time at Albion’s training ground this week talking to Hurzeler and his players.
“In general we are a very open club and we always want to learn from other departments and other personalities,” said the Brighton boss.
“He’s an unbelievable personality. He was a great player so therefore we have two aspects when he was here.
“The first one is he has a good relationship to the African players and I think it’s very important we have someone there who can talk with the players, who has an understanding of where they come from, how is the culture there and what are their needs. I think that’s something where I also can learn from.
“And on the other side he was a great player so he can give me and the players some small advice on what it needs to be at the highest level.
“We had a really interesting exchange. Although I didn’t have that much time, I took away a lot of things and for sure we’ll stay in touch and let’s see how this relationship continues.”
