When the Vikings began raiding the North-East of England, the monks of Lindisfarne fled their island home with Cuthbert's bones and wandered until they found sanctuary in Durham.

Now he laughs at the sheer scale of competition at United, where Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernández, Dimitar Berbatov and increasingly Danny Welbeck block his path.

Providing he can recruit the extra defender he is pursuing - Sylvain Distin or Richard Dunne - Sunderland should end up in the top half of the table.