Drawn away from home: Mexico bound

Salut! Sunderland has a stand-in editor for the next 9-10 days.

Monsieur Salut will post what needs to be posted from tonight’s game at Wigan – if the wind is anything like where I am in west London, the ball will end up in the Irish Sea – but is then away on a cheapie package holiday in Mexico until Jan 13.

Step forward, not for the first time, Joan Dawson, a lifelong Sunderland fan I first met when she was something like co-ordinator of, and indispensable to, 5573, newsletter (more a magazine really, and later renamed Wear Down South) of the London and SE branch of the SAFC Supporters’ Association.

Joan will do her best to post whatever comes her way during my absence, from Pete Sixsmith’s essential Sixer’s Sevens and Soapbox to guest articles. Rest assured it will all appear but she does not spend all day in front of a screen and readers are asked to be understanding if delays occur.

There is always plenty to explore at Salut! Sunderland. The best place to start is the home page – https://safc.blog – which you’d do well to bookmark as it readily displays the six most recent items, with more lined up below. You also find the links to other parts of this site, the archives and the other places on the internet we like to visit. And there is a search facility.

Some patience may also be needed by anyone who tries to comment here for the first time or from a new internet location. Such comments are held for moderation, which usually means until I have a chance to see them. Joan will look when she can at the pending box and approve publication in most cases (we draw the line at abuse and generally try to keep the site out of trouble). I may get the chance to take an occasional sneaky look while on holiday.

Who are You? features with supporters of our next two opponents, Peterborough United and Chelsea, are already lined up and the questionnaires ready to publish at the appropriate time (Friday in the case of the FA Cup game against Posh, next Thursday for Chelsea).

You are also invited to browse the small range of goods at the Salut! Sunderland shop. Not enough thought has yet gone into merchandise and this is something I hope to address in the new year, but the feedback I have had from those who have bought mugs or t-shirts has been positive …

Click here: £9.50, post-free for UK buyers, from the Salut! Sunderland Shop

As mentioned in today’s posting about Asamoah Gyan, Salut! Sunderland had a mammoth – for us – 6,000+ hits yesterday.

The clip of South Korean commentary on Ji Dong-won’s sensational winner vs Man City had a lot to do with it. Even so, it is the sort of level we usually experience only when there has been a Wear-Tyne derby or something affecting both clubs (eg their relegation a couple of seasons ago, or when Mags came in droves to gloat after the 5-1 mauling) and it has taken us, however briefly, to a towering – again, for us – 11th slot in the Soccerlinks hit list, behind sites covering Arsenal, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Spanish football and, believe it or not, non-league and Macedonian football. I inserted a link in the last sentence to the Non League Matters site, which is marginally ahead of us at 10th as I write, but another, NonLeague UK is even higher, at third.

But 11th top out of 192 listed sites is something we feel a little proud of. Mighty thanks for your support. Goes without saying the site would be pointless without it. And Ha’way the Lads, tonight and every match day or night.

And by way of a bonus, click here to see what a Korean website made of the Ji goal. It is in cartoon form, portraying everything from goal to kiss, and if you have not see it, you must.

/view/20120102n15614?mid=s1004″>S Korean website