Chopra hits back at shot-shy claims

Feb 10 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

MICHAEL Chopra has angrily denied the conspiracy theory that he didn’t want to score against boyhood club Newcastle United.

But the striker has admitted that the door is shut on a return to Sunderland after his shocking miss in the Tyne-Wear derby earlier this month.

Chopra, currently on loan with a view to a permanent switch to Cardiff, had a chance to rewrite derby history when presented with a gilt-edged chance at St James’s Park but opted to pass and woefully over-hit the ball to Kenwyne Jones.

It led to some incorrigible supporters accusing him of deliberately not opting to shoot because of his former association with Newcastle, while former Sunderland hero Gary Rowell said that the forward “blew it”.

But Chopra has hit back, saying that his goals helped Sunderland to stay up in their first season back in the Premier League and accusing Rowell of “not knowing what he’s talking about”.

“I haven’t got a point to prove to anybody,” he said. “I have read a lot about the Newcastle game and comments by a certain Gary Rowell. He knocked me for not shooting, and at the end of the day, I took a wrong option. But in a previous game, the same thing happened and we scored, so the guy should shut his month because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Last season, my six goals earned Sunderland 13 points, so his point really doesn’t hold any water. It’s absolutely nonsense to suggest that I didn’t want to shoot against Newcastle. I made my mind up early and that was it. On another day, I might have hit the ball first time and scored; I might have missed and people would have said I should have squared the ball. You can’t win.”

It has been an acrimonious end to a Sunderland career that never quite took off after he made an instant impact in his home debut against Tottenham.

Chopra appeared to have shaken off his Newcastle association after a first season in which he made some vital interventions, even though he didn’t manage to command a regular place under Roy Keane.

There was sympathy in some quarters when he was shipped off to Cardiff shortly before Keane resigned, with many feeling that he was not given a chance to prove his worth.

But his lack of impact after being recalled by Ricky Sbragia – and his horrendous final touch against Newcastle – means that he is destined to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Chopra, for his part, is happy to be back at a club where he is guaranteed more first team chances. Cardiff, the Championship’s form team, may yet join Sunderland in the top flight next season.

“I thought I might have had a chance when I went back to Sunderland, but it was not to be and that is a chapter which is now closed for me,” he said.

“I would say that I didn’t have a fair crack of the whip, but the managers who picked the team might think differently,” he said.