Sunderland, thoughts

• We still haven't scored a real goal for ages. By that I mean one from open play, that was fully within the laws of the game and entirely intentional. Our last one to meet those criteria was Vassell's at OT on February 10th - and even that was thanks to van der Sar giving him a second chance. If we disallow that, it's Gelson's on February 2nd. This metric may seem harsh, but almost all of our early season goals get past it: all but Geovanni's goal in the derby up until Elano's free-kicks.

• Is Hamann's exclusion a taste of things to come? Ireland, Gelson and Johnson will presumably form a key part of our midfield for years to come - but is it really worth playing them all in unison ahead of many fans' choice for Player of the Season? Unless he's genuinely tired at this stage of the season - quite possible - I can only see preparation for the 2008/09, where he will play even fewer games, as a reason for not starting him.

• Joe Hart's claim for Young Player of the Year is increasingly secure, and maybe even a good bet for Player of the Year. Hamann's recent exclusion has weakened his claim, and none of the other contenders has quite done enough.

• Now level with our highest ever points total in a 38 game top flight season. We got 52 in 2004/05 (8th place), then 51 points in 02/03 (9th). The rest is very poor: 43 in 05/06 (15th), 42 in 06/07 (14th), 41 in 03/04 (16th) and then the relegation seasons: 38 in 95/96 (18th) and only 34 in 00/01 (18th). In amongst all the talk of fizzling out on the one hand and Ronaldinho on the other, it's important to keep this achievement at the front of our minds. Our remaining four matches aren't too hard: how close can we get to 60?