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Stern:I'll take my chances as they come - 04/19/07 |
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Stern vs England But the ex-Birmingham City man is no Johnny come lately and he is not counting out the chance to sign a new contract at the club. As of now John has another two years left on contract but he will like to stay at Sunderland even longer once he’s enjoying the time and making a contribution to the club. “Of course I want to stay here for as long as possible. I think I have it in me. The manager has said he thinks I have Premiership qualities still and I want to prove him right. I’m not getting any younger and I know it’s not going to be easy because most likely the club will spend some money for next season and the competition will stiffen. But right now the main thing for me is to keep on taking care of my body, staying in the right frame of mind and taking my chances when they come. I have been in the game so long that nothing surprises me anymore” John said on Thursday. “It’s obvious that we have a large squad and the manager will be rotating things and I haven’t been starting last couple of games. But it’s nothing to be upset over. The manager has spoken to me and like I said, he has explained that he knows what I can bring to the team and he will work with that.
John mentioned that with three games remaining and an away clash with Colchester coming up this weekend, the team wants to pick up maximum points. “It’s in our hands but we want to leave nothing hanging. We want to win all three games and that we know will guarantee us a place in the Premiership. The fans are behind us and so far everything has gone our way. It has definitely been a remarkable turn around for us and we intend to finish the season in the best possible way,” John stated. “It’s going to be a good day for them and hopefully we will have some young talent coming out of it. I have thought a lot about this because obviously in my days as a kid, it was a bit harder and we didn’t have these kind of opportunities but I felt it was the kind of way I wanted to give something back. I have some good people taking care of the programme for me and hopefully everything can come off well and we can keep this programme going with the right support and results at the end of the day,” he commented.
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Trinidad
and Tobago striker Stern John is not at all at qualms over having to start
the last couple games for Sunderland on the bench. After all, the only thing
on his mind these days is returning to the Premiership and if it means
having to fit into Roy Keane’s plans that way for the benefit of the cause,
then why not?
“We
continue to train hard each day on the morning sessions and that’s obviously
helping me. One of the pluses we have at the club is that we have a manager
who is well respected and he knows how to handle this team. Being a player
under him has helped all of us this season and he has a big impact on the
club. He’s the right type of manager to have in charge of you at this time
of the season especially when you are in the position that we are in at the
moment.”
He
is also aware that his Skills Award Programme will enter another phase at
the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva with hundreds of youngsters set to benefit
from coaching.