The Tyne-Wear derby is typically one of the most close fought rivalries in English football.

Sunderland won their fifth derby in a row in this weekend’s clash thanks to a wonder strike from Jermain Defoe on the stroke of the half time whistle. As the players went into the tunnel at half-time Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul appeared congratulate Defoe on his goal. Fans and former players showed their anger and annoyance about the situation and have criticised the Magpies stopper for not taking the derby seriously enough.

Former footballers-turned-pundits Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher both criticised Krul’s actions, saying it was unprofessional and he shouldn’t have done it. Speaking at the time, Carragher said: “I wouldn’t do it or want to see one of my own team doing it. Someone who doesn’t care about football might say it is good sportsmanship, but when I played in Everton v Liverpool games, I would certainly not be shaking an Everton’s player hand if he scored a goal.”

In March, Barcelona ace Lionel Messi was seen clapping Joe Hart’s string of superb saves in their Champions League match whilst he was still on the pitch. Nothing was said about Messi then, apart from discussing what a good sportsman he was. Granted, Barcelona were beating Manchester City but it was still possible for Man City to come back into the game, and they almost did. If Barcelona had lost, maybe the opinions on Messi acknowledging good goalkeeping would have been seen differently.

Football has developed very quickly over the last decade. Sportsmanship used to be a very important ingrediaent of the game, but now it is often seen as a sign of weakness. It’s almost as if players have to ‘stay in character’ throughout a match and not show any emotion, which could change the game against them.

Tim Krul was just acknowledging a great goal and he wanted to congratulate Defoe. Maybe he should have waited until the full time whistle, or even away from the cameras, but it was something he did in the heat of the moment – the goal was practically the last kick of the half, so naturally it was what all the players were thinking about as they headed for the tunnel.

Whilst he was showing good sportsmanship, he forgot the importance of the Derby. Derbies are a club’s biggest game of the season and not one any player, member of staff or fan wants to lose. Krul had a moment where he forgot how important the game was. Newcastle were only one down and still had 45 minutes to play.

In hindsight he should probably have left it until the match had finished to say something to Defoe. At that time Krul needed to show his strength and instead he let his guard down.

Newcastle fans – don’t be too hard on Krul, he is a fantastic goalkeeper and all he did was show he is human.

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