Dan Burn knows he’s in the minority as a Newcastle United fan who wants Sunderland back in the Premier League but he’s unapologetic.
“It’s the happiest I’ve ever been being booed,” he said after the Magpies rolled their neighbours over 3-0, the pre-game cacophony having been quelled by a dominant Newcastle performance.
The noise, the fury, the explosion of colour and madness that sweeps over these two cities in the run-up to the Tyne-Wear derby – it has all been missed, especially by the players.
“The atmosphere was class and it makes me want to play them even more,” he added. This was the first meeting for eight years, Newcastle’s first win in the game for 13 years.
“I will probably get pelters for saying it but I’d like them to come up. It would be nice because those are the games, as a kid, I wanted to see. It would be great for them to come up and we could do it more often. It’s been such a long time and it was a special day.”
Possibly significant, too, for a Newcastle side who desperately needed this victory and the breathing space it grants them after a desperate run in the Premier League.
They take on Manchester City at St James’ Park next but before then there is the fourth round draw in a competition that Burn says is now “huge” for the Magpies.
It was little surprise that with training pitch time and something approaching their best XI they were improved.
For all the hype this turned into a simple case of haves and have nots – Newcastle’s two-goal hero Alexander Isak‘s £63m transfer fee was more than Sunderland’s squad cost collectively.
While the Magpies are a good team, the Black Cats – despite sitting in the Championship play-offs – are one in transition, trying something new by relying on young players.
Burn says the season can still be “special” and they will welcome the Premier League champions with a newly-discovered spring in their step.
“It’s a massive win. It was one of those days where it could have gone either way, if we didn’t win it would have been a bit doom and gloom but it’s important we kick on now,” he said.
“It can still be a special season for us. You’ve got to have perspective – I understand people are thinking about the way we played last season but it was always going to be a tough season.
“It’s fine margins, the way we went out of the League Cup, the way we want out of the Champions League. We haven’t performed to the best of our ability in the last month but we’re still bang up for it and we still want to kick on the second half of the season.”
The occasion ended up being better than the game. For while their supporters constructed a wall of hostility, Sunderland were surprisingly passive.
They had no answers for Newcastle’s physicality and were architects of their own downfall, inexplicably trying to play out from the back against opponents who love to press. Daniel Ballard put the ball through his own net as well as conceded a penalty but was still probably one of Sunderland’s best players.
All three goals were self-inflicted and how Newcastle revelled in it at the end. The Magpies’ assistant manager and incorrigible irritant-in-chief Jason Tindall summoned the players for a provocative picture on the pitch at full-time, which drew ire from the few Sunderland fans who remained along with the tiresome celebration police on social media.
“When they said they were doing that I was like ‘Oh no!’ but the fans will love it,” Burn said.
“It was a day for them more than anything, they’ve backed us so well and hopefully we’ve been able to give a bit back.”
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