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Vito Mannone has revealed that he watched last season's 3-0 derby battering of Newcastle at St James Park and part of him became a Sunderland fan that day.
Three months later, Mannone moved to the north east - a move which he describes as 'fate'. The full interview is worth a read and can be found on the official site HERE.
Of last season's derby triumph, Mannone said:
Sunderland got a great win there last year and I watched the game on TV.
After watching it I think that day I became a Sunderland fan.
I was an interested spectator that day and what I saw was incredible - such a great game and both the players and fans were tremendous - maybe it was fate that I then moved here in the summer after that day!
There is a large degree of PR involved here, of course. I very much doubt that the day after the 3-0 Mannone was in the club shop buying a goalkeeper top with 'Mannone 1' on the back and then off into the city centre to have 'FTM' tattooed on his upper thigh.
Actually, you know what, let's go with that. Yeah, that's definitely what happened. I'm going to embrace willing suspension of disbelief on this one, just because the lie is so much better than the truth.
(Disclaimer: It probably didn't happen this way)
