Chopra left with a score to settle

Jan 30 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

As body blows go, leaving Michael Chopra out of last season’s Tyne-Wear derby was one of the cruellest imaginable. Stuart Rayner speaks to a man out to fill some gaps in his CV.

ROY Keane did not go into football management to make friends. In that respect at least, the Irishman was a complete success at Sunderland.

Keane revelled in rubbing his players up the wrong way, then stepping back to watch the reaction.

But he surely cannot have hurt many (mentally at least) more than he did Michael Chopra on April 20 last year.

The date will have been imprinted on the Gosforth-born striker’s brain from the moment it was decided Sunderland would play Newcastle United then.

As one of the few North East natives in either squad, 25-year-old Chopra is desperate to play a part for Sunderland against the home town club where he started out. Settling for a place on the bench will be difficult, but at least he is braced for it this time.

When the Black Cats last pitched up on enemy territory, he seemed a near certainty to start, even given Keane’s perverse personality and fondness for tinkering.

Having scored crucial goals in the previous two away games, the stage was set for the man who scored his first league goal for the Magpies at the Stadium of Light to redress the balance.

Instead, Chopra was confined to the bench, watching Kenwyne Jones toil up front and Carlos Edwards – ineffective all season – fill the wide right position he normally is not overly fond of, but which that day he would have killed for.

As he looks back, professionalism and respect for Keane causes Chopra to bite his tongue, but even he cannot avoid conveying the feeling that at times he was hard done by.

“It was disappointing, but the manager picked the team and you’ve got to stand by his decisions,” is his ultra-diplomatic response.

“There’s no point arguing. You just wait for the next game and hope you can do yourself justice in it.

“Last year towards the end of the season when we played Fulham, Middlesbrough and Villa away, I scored some important goals, so to not be playing every week was disappointing.

“It happened this season when I scored two against Middlesbrough. The next (league) game I was on the bench. We played Villa, we were losing 2-1 and the manager still didn’t bring me on. But you’ve just got to get your head down and keep working hard.”

Sunderland paid Cardiff City £5m for a goalscorer in 2007. But only 13 of 34 appearances last term came at centre-forward, the rest split between right midfield and the bench.

“It was difficult when I was asked to play out wide,” Chopra admits. “Being a striker, you want to play through the middle. But any player would say the same: if you’re in the starting XI week-in, week-out in any position, you’ve got to do it for the team.”

Keane has gone and his successor, Ricky Sbragia, this month recalled a reluctant Chopra from his loan at Cardiff. The change of manager, though, has brought no change of fortune.

“It’s probably just the same,” Chopra says of his prospects. “We still have Kenwyne and Djibril (Cissé), two good players. It’s going to be hard to get them out of the team, but I’ll do my best.”

Chopra has a couple of important things which could be ticked off his “to do” list this weekend. Some sort of misfortune will have to befall Jones or Cissé for him to start a St James’s Park derby for the first time, but the striker is still awaiting his maiden senior goal at United’s home.

“I’ve come on there in the last few minutes twice (in a derby) – once when I was a Newcastle player and Newcastle won 3-2 (in 2005), and last season for Sunderland. It would be nice to actually start a derby there. It would be a different experience. My first derby (and so far only Tyne-Wear start) for Sunderland was pretty much as I expected. Growing up in the North East, you know what it’s about. You know how passionate things are and what the fans want. It doesn’t matter which club it is.”

While a Chopra goal will be extra special to the supporters, he insists it will be nothing out of the ordinary for him.

“Whatever goal I score always feels the same, whether it’s for Sunderland or Newcastle,” he says. “People go on about my celebration when I scored for Newcastle at Sunderland (in 2006) but if you look at my celebration when I scored for Sunderland against Tottenham (on his debut), the same feelings went through my body.

“People talk about it because I crossed over the river, but I just want to play football. It would be nice to get a goal at St James’s Park, not just because it’s for Sunderland but also just to score there.

“I’ve played there quite a few times and I’m disappointed not to have.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a regret, I don’t really have any regrets in football. It would have been pleasing to have scored there but it wasn’t to be.

“It was disappointing when we played Blackburn (in December 2003) and I scored, but it was offside.”