Tyne and Wear goes pop: Sande and Cole take charge of derby

With the Office for National Statistics discovering in a study that residents in the North East are the ‘most unhappy’, what better way to cheer them up than with a big Premier League derby between Sunderland and Newcastle.

The betting is having difficulty separating the Tyne and Wear rivals as both are priced at 13/8 to triumph at the Stadium Of Light, but would things change if two famous names born in the cities took charge of their respective teams?

Emile Sande and Cheryl Cole have not massively clashed in the charts as yet (although both released new singles in the same June week in 2012), but how would they fare in opposing dugouts?

Let’s take a look at the attributes that each of the pop queens would bring to their respective managerial roles.

Cheryl Cole

Cole has proved her coaching credentials when a judge on the X Factor, securing two victories in her three series on the talent show and another runner-up. Joe McElderry’s triumph also displayed her ability to drum up the local support.

There is no doubt that Cole will get Newcastle playing with style, after all she was named Style Icon of the Decade in 2009 by television channel Style Network. Meanwhile, Glamour Magazine named her Best Dressed Woman in both 2009 and 2010.

Cole has experience of dealing with footballers through her marriage to Chelsea defender Ashley Cole and in the manner of Sir Alex Ferguson, knows when it is time to ‘hold em or fold em’.

Emeli Sande

Sande showed during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games that she can cope on the biggest of stages when the world is watching. The pressure of the Sunderland versus Newcastle derby is unlikely to get to such a big-game player.

She is also liable to be particularly tactically astute, given that she put her musical career on hold to ensure that she was well educated and is obviously a smart lass, having read medicine at the University of Glasgow.

Having been born to a Zambian father and English mother, Sande is no stranger to being around people from different cultural backgrounds. Sunderland currently have a squad made up of players from 13 countries.

Which musician do you think brings the best managerial qualities? We’d back Cole and Newcastle.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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Tyne and Wear goes pop: Sande and Cole take charge of derby

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