May 6, 2007: – Sixer – Luton 0 Sunderland 5 What a way to leave the Championship!!!!
May 6, 2007: – Salut! Sunderland – Luton 0 Sunderland 5 HOW TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN STYLE!
April 27, 2007: SAFC 3 Burnley 2 Carlos fantastic as our frayed nerves hold
April 27, 2007: SAFC 3 Burnley 2 YES! Sixer awaited, but a golden moment
April 21, 2007: Colchester 3 SAFC 1 Really worrying. Shocking defending and little created
April 14, 2007: SAFC 2 QPR 1 Easy win made hard, but nearly there*
April 9, 2007: Southampton 1 SAFC 2 Hardest game for ages but class tells
April 7, 2007: SAFC 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Deserved win, other results great, perfect day
March 31, 2007: Cardiff 0 SAFC 1 Great win against tenacious but limited opposition
March 17, 2007: SAFC 2 Hull City 0 Thanks Evans for Jonny; three priceless points
March 13, 2007: SAFC 2 v Stoke City 2 Good point against tough, disciplined opponents
March 10, 2007: Barnsley 0 v SAFC 2 Comfortable win that shows strength in depth
March 3, 2007: West Bromwich Albion 1 SAFC 2 No bounce in the Baggies after this
Feb 24, 2007: SAFC 2 Derby County 1 Pulsating game, great result. Promotion now on
Feb 20, 2007: Birmingham City 1 SAFC 1 Many positives; disappointing to drop two points
Feb 17, 2007: SAFC 4 Southend 0 Silky Sunderland swamp second-best Shrimpers
Feb 10, 2007: Plymouth 0 SAFC 2 Massive result with great Irish one two
Feb 3, 2007: SAFC 2 Coventry City 0 Yorke outstanding in deserved, hard fought win
Jan 30, 2007: SAFC 0 Crystal Palace 0 Stifled by strong defence but lacked imagination
Jan 20, 2007: Sheff Wed 2 SAFC 4 Easy win; looked hard for 10 mins
Jan 13 2007: SAFC 1 Ipswich 0 Spoiled by wind. New boys all impressed
* WELL WELL WELL……Salut! Sunderland, on a flying visit to England, managed to fit in the QPR game on its way back to France.
Oddly enough, this meant there was a short delay in posting the Sixer’s Sevens verdict on the match. But it’s not Mr Sixsmith’s verdict, it’s mine…
All the reports and ‘sixers sevens ‘ suggest yesterday was not a good day at the office.Now is the time to see how strong mentally this team is.The reality is quite simple, win our last 2 games and we are promoted so all is still very much in our hands.Colchester was always going to be a dodgy game due to their decent home record but we are more than capable of seeing off Burnley and Luton.We can only hope that the nerves hold out.
Sadly yesterdays defeat means we can’t confirm either promotion or a title on Friday night.It would have been good to celebrate in front of the fans when now the vast majority will have to watch on tv in a fortnight.
Pessimism is genetic for us. There’s nothing we can do about it. I have tried therapy but have simply come to terms with it. My usual thought when we score first is statistical (I am a scientist). There is a 71.9% chance that the team scoring first will not lose. This fact overcomes my deep pessimism.
Simple really.
One other thing. I knew Saturday would be tough. My previous “lucky” routine was severely disrupted by this blog’s owner….
I now have a new “lucky” routine that involves having a 12 o’clock drink at the Grange in Fulwell. All welcome.
Pete is being extravagant with the truth.
Before his misquote enters the history books, what I actually said – at a time in the match when we were not playing well and frankly didn’t look like winning – was: “Is this as bad as it’s been?”.
Colin’s comments on the QPR game are similar to what mine would have been, but without the pessimism that CJR has about all things red and white. In the second half he turned to me and said”Do we always play this badly?” His absence from the country and my upbeat comments have surely turned him into another Eeyore. Keep the faith Colin – look forward to the texts from Colchester.
That was much closer than it should have been but I kept telling myself (and Pete ) to be patient and a chance will come.It did and Leadbetter finished superbly again to put us within touching distance of promotion.What impressed me most was the teams refusal to panic or show any nerves when the going got tough but hold on to their belief that patience and hard work would be rewarded.
I reckon our run in on paper is the more straighforward.Colchester are almost out of the play-offs and have nothing to play for , Burnley are safe now and Luton by the time we play them will be down so in an ideal world all those sides will be thinking of their summer hols and forget about competing when they play us.Sadly that probably (certainly) won’t be the case and there will be many nail biting moments over the next 270 minutes of football.Being a Sunderland fan you couldn’t have it any other way.
Birmingham Vs Wolves could be *the* really important game, next week. Wolves need to win to stay in the running for a play off place. Is it too much to ask Mick to help Roy by taking even 2 pts off Birmingham? Come on Mick, I might even learn to forgive you for Saipan 🙂
Still not taking nothing for granted and Colchester next week will again be the most important game of the season.
In unrelated football news, Reuter is reporting that the Macedonian interior minister’s new official car, a BMW 4×4, may have been stolen from David Beckham in Spain in 2005.
Wars have been started over less.
An excellent day all things considered with the Birmingham loss the icing on the cake.I thought that was one of our best performances of the season,the way we controlled the game along with some of the football was a delight to watch.It is crucial at this time to be a team in form and that is what we are at the moment.
If you listen carefully you can hear the smashing of glass around the Derby and Birmingham areas …. that will be the sounds of bottles going !!!!
We should have a whipround for John Spicer. Lovely piece of opportunism.
No, Bill, it’s not. And Mrs Doubtfire’s team dropped 3. Looking better all the time.
Is it mean-spirited of me to begrudge Derby their point?
It was all looking good for West Brom – and us – until 10 minutes before the end. Still, we can’t complain about late goals and it’s 2 points dropped for Birmingham…
So we all need to be cheering for West Brom tomorrow.
I saw the Stoke game highlights this morning. You couldn’t argue with the result. And, all things considered, the position could be a lot worse. You have to love the way they just keep coming forward.
I’d decided it was time to be pessimistic again and told my window cleaners – both Gateshead born Sunderland supporters – that I thought we’d lose today. Shows how much I know – 7 points out of 9 – better than I’d dared to hope. Ha’way!
A great win. Derby were the best team I’ve seen at the SoL this season. Very physical and, cleverly, not malicious enough to get too many bookings, though at one stage they were giving Yorke such a battering that I felt like morphing into his mother, running onto the pitch brandishing my handbag and shouting ‘you get away from my lad’.
After the distracting number of fans leaving ten minutes before the end of the Southend game it was gratifying that those who left this one early missed what has been for me the highlight of the season so far.
If only…
If only they hadn’t thrown away those two points against Palace…..
all this cycling keano’s got the boys doing seems to be paying big dividends. and you never know, even if sundireland miss the play-offs, they could always steal the london stages of the tour de france this year.
If only they hadn’t thrown away those two points against Palace.
Kevin Kyle broke his hand in the 50th minute but came back on after treatment to finish the match. It reminded me of the time he’d landed almost vertically on his neck, causing us to worry that he’d broken it. His comment was that it had hurt so much, for the first time in his life he thought about crying
These pithy comments are so impressive. This man is a genius.He should retire from teaching immediately and become Sports Editor of the Daily Telegraph
We’ll get a playoff spot, yet. Keane certainly isn’t messing around; to wit axing Steve Caldwell in favour of Dean Whitehead. I loved Keane’s quote: “My idea of a captain is somebody who trains regularly, plays regularly and isn’t on the treatment table constantly.”
But now let’s see what Darren Ward can do with the new Daz Challenge quiz. A bit unfortunate that it sounds like a ’60s detergent commercial.
Problem is we struggle to kill games off, even when apparently coasting. Keane was, by all accounts, furious with them for nearly throwing away two points in the closing minutes.
Is it tempting fate to speculate on the Cats’ promotion chances? They’re looking better.