After the recent blitz of posting, Salut! Sunderland – or part of its crew – is abandoning ship, or at least indulging in a little shore leave.
I am taking my first holiday since, well, the several I took while living in the UAE. Off to China tomorrow and due back on the eve of Portsmouth away. If I come across a useful full back or two, a creative midfielder or a surefire striker, I’ll let Steve Bruce know.
But I am leaving Salut! Sunderland in the capable hands of Joan Dawson, who was an indispensable figure at Wear Down South (formerly 5573), the newsletter of the London and SE branch of the SAFC Supporters’ Association.
Joan will edit and post the elegant prose of Pete Sixsmith and, with any luck, her own brother Malcolm, who made such a striking debut on these pages after enduring his own version of Pompey away.
A few items have already been prepared for use during my absence. These include previews by Stoke City and Wigan fans of our forthcoming home games against their clubs (with a Pompey offering also in stock).
I pray that we will have a minimum of six more league points by the time I return.
So off I go, with this last-minute memo to Steve from Confucius:
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.
Colin Randall
* The photo is from the Flickr pages of “Maurice”.
Take me with you; anything to get away from this nightmare. The slump has now become a collapse. I thought this kind of thing was all in the past; what a sad, deluded fool I am!!!!