An ill-conceived Queen medley was unspeakably naff, but frankly who cares?
Pressure is mounting on the police as inquest raises fresh questions over the shooting of a top Chelsea barrister
More...
Quinn: Stars will come to Sunderland - if we stay up
Last updated at 17:25pm on 27.03.08Sunderland can attract the talent to sustain a challenge in the Premier League if they can just stay in the top tier of English football this season. Last summer, and during the January transfer window, it was no secret that Roy Keane struggled to sell Wearside as the place for a footballer to ply his trade.
• More Premier League news club by club
Money has not been a problem for the Drumaville consortium of Irish businessmen who own the club and they have forked out over £40million on players since the start of the season.
But a number of high-profile names, including Mido, have shunned the Black Cats and that is something Niall Quinn believes will change if Keane and his charges can do the business over the last seven games of the term.
Scroll down for more
Build the brand: Quinn knows that Premiership status will attract top names
"Roy is well aware of what two or three years in the Premier League would do for us and what he needs, also," explained the Sunderland chairman. "We are unanimous in where we are going - Roy, myself, the owners - and where we need to be. Our problem this year was attracting players. The money wasn't necessarily the problem - it was attracting the players.
"Hopefully, if we do stay up, that solid year behind us will have us ready to attract the next few signings who would be a tier up again. But that's the perfect scenario and life isn't always like that."
Five points separate five clubs who hover above the relegation zone, with Keane's side three points off the drop, but Quinn thinks they can stay up.
"What I would say is I am happy that the whole collectiveness of the attempt is strong," said Quinn. "We have not broken off in groups.
"In other clubs you have chairmen not too happy with their manager or fans not too happy with their chairmen.
"Ours has been solid. Everybody has been unanimous in the quest to stay there. "So it's pointless talking about 'are you confident or not?'. There are no shrinking violets at the club."
12°c
24°c
