Becoming a supporter of Sunderland AFC is very much like being blindfolded and thrown onto one of the most nerve-wracking rollercoasters in the world. Trust me, if I had known that 16:45 would become one of the most anticipated times throughout my life; I really would not have chosen to be a football fan, let alone support Sunderland.

To the present day, Sunderland fans go to matches in their thousands and I’ve got to be honest with you, I feel we’re still very lucky to be around. Dinosaurs had to deal with meteorites and starvation, pfft, easy! Unicorns become extinct every time somebody puts down a story book and Thomas Helmer’s career when he came to Wearside, well, enough said.

In saying that, it makes me feel pretty invincible. It really should make all fans of the red and white army feel pretty invincible. We’ve gone through a lot. Recently, an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Luton. Further back, Nyron Nosworthy and that pass back to Kelvin Davis. Further back than that, the game against Charlton in which we scored 4 goals and lost 3-1, taxi for Michael Proctor? Let’s jump back a further few more years than that, shall we? The Play Off Final against Charlton. Enough. Enough. Enough! Trust me, there’s a lot more that I can list and there’s a lot more that I will write about in my lifetime.

AC Milan vs Sunderland – 2010 Champions League Final.

Some people can aim high and some people can aim ridiculously high, yet, I’m not one of those people. AC Milan? Well, that’d be a walk in the park in 2010 when we have a Premiership winning squad. A walk in the park though? No thank you, I really can’t be arsed.

Realistically, we should be at least be winning the Premiership in 2009 right? Erm, yeah, I think there is more chance of Gareth Southgate being a half decent manager. So then, where should we be in 2009? Back in the Championship, somehow boycotting the praises of Chris “stuck in the 70s” Kamara or will we be a well established Premier League football team who have been well rid of their yo-yo club status, leaving that to the sole responsibility of West Bromwich Albion? It’s up to us. The fans. The heart of a football team and with the amount of loyal, passionate and damn gorgeous fans we have, there should sure be a hell of a lot of heart. That lanky Irish bloke Niall Quinn is right when he says that a full stadium almost guarantees three points because in past seasons, we’ve been the best players in the stadium and fortunately, the team are starting to follow suit.

I was at Ninian Park last year for the Cardiff game, unfortunately I couldn’t get tickets for the away end so I spent the day with the disillusioned Welsh die-hards. Among conversation between them was talk of how we were only going to do well because of the amount of money we have to invest in players and because of Roy Keane and Niall Quinn. There was also the mention of if they saw a Sunderland fan in the crowd, they’d be sure to do away with them… better hide that watch of mine. After hearing them babble on, it made think that they really didn’t have much argument. Money brings success; look at Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham (let’s not look at Newcastle!), they’re all successful clubs because of the money that they have been able to invest in top players, facilities etc. So we should be looking forward to what this money could bring to our club, especially as teams without such funds are looking at us in envy.

With the best supporters in the land, as much money as David Beckham earns in 15 minutes, that nicely brings us on to the team. With Craig Gordon looking to be our most valuable coup in recent years, Dwight Yorke using all of his best moves (on the football pitch that is) to unlock opposition defences and with Kenwyne spear-heading our attack, the future is looking bright for us. Admirable performances against Tottenham, Manchester United and Reading so far this season have certainly opened the eyes of many a pessimistic Mackem and with Keano in charge, forcing upon his never quit or die attitude, the lads are quite possibly as scared as I was exiting the cinema after watching The Grudge – I’d much prefer that scary ghost girl as the manager than being in the dressing room with Roy Keane at half time. Luckily I’m overweight and have as much footballing skill as Stern John.

Newcastle are going down. Sunderland are going to break into the top four. Jose Mourinho will become our new assistant manager. Steven Gerrard will express his desire to join Sunderland and refuse to play for Liverpool until the £50 million transfer takes place and Nyron Nosworthy will captain Jamaica to their first ever World Cup win.

Sigh, I don’t know, maybe I’m being too negative.