Teenage kicks, a good first impression and shouldering the responsibility

Well, the week finally arrives and today is just like any other Monday - we had a match at the weekend and this weekend coming we are at Fulham. The difference is, this weekend we are playing for points and it all starts to get quite serious again.

Now, I could write how Fulham is going to be a tough place to go, but I'm not a Sunderland fan, so I'm not going to write that. Instead, I'm going to write that we should look to win this match and I think we will. I think the manager will get off to the perfect start. He needs to - it is only Fulham.

I don't mean to be disrespectful towards Fulham. We had a horrible season last time out and counting caretakers, we had four managers but still only finished one point behind them. You've also got to match the two sides up and while I suspect many pundits will predict a draw, I'm predicting a win and not just because it is my side, but because we have the players to do it and if those same pundits had to pick a winner, I suspect most would pick us.

Shouldering the responsibility

This is news and it isn't great. Darren Bent has a shoulder concern. According to his Twitter feed, it has been 'bothering' him, so possibly not serious but also not great news. As a result, he has also pulled out of the England friendly coming up, which can only be a good thing - you don't want to aggravate injuries like this.

A good first impression

Okay, it was only a friendly, but Chalres N'Zogbia scored and there will be lots of optimism and I suppose rightly so. The match ended 1-1 and I've not seen it, so can't really comment. Instead, if you're looking for a completely one sided write up, I'd suggest clicking here.

I'm not a huge fan of friendlies and don't go out of my way for them, but that isn't to say the match wasn't competitive and worth it for those that did watch, I just don't get as excited as I should, unless I'm doing nothing and the match happens to be in my back garden.

Teenage kicks

Nobody – arguably not even Barcelona – made Manchester United look quite as daft last season as Villa's kids did for 81 minutes in November. The debutant Jonathan Hogg and Barry "McScholes" Bannan ran the midfield that day, even though experience eventually told.

That quote is from the Guardian. I thought that part deserved to get a quote.

Missing something

I know I'm missing something, so you can remind me below but I will be reactivating the fantasy football from last season, although that is just so there is a game. The one I'm taking serious, is the one on DreamTeam. Don't forget to join up, details here.