There was Don Goodman, of course, among others but the two players most of us think of when looking at links between Sunderland and West Bromwich are the two Kevins. One became and will, for most, for ever be a favourite; the other won’t.
Poor Kevin Kilbane never really had a chance. Loved at the Hawthorns, or so we were told, he struggled – to put it mildly – to win a place in the affections of SAFC supporters. Kevin Phillips was a different story.
Ours from 1997 to 2003, he scored 113 goals in 208 games. He did not go directly to WBA after the SoL but had spells at Southampton and Villa, too.
This is what Matthew Evans, our young “Who are You?” interviewee from the ranks of Baggies supporters, had to say in answer to my question:
Q (from Salut! Sunderland): The two Kevins – Phillips and Kilbane – are among the players common to our clubs. Who sticks out for you and why?
A: The first man you mentioned, Kevin Phillips. I think yourselves and Albion were the two clubs who got the best out of him. He is the best finisher I have seen in my time supporting West Brom, some of the goals he scored were unreal.
He will not be playing for either of us on Saturday. Will Steven Fletcher keep up his good scoring record, one that if maintained – and improved upon with the odd brace and hat trick – get him on the road to SuperKev-style adulation? Do we need to fear Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie?
Your chance to say. Guess the score. If you are the first the post a correct prediction, naturally before kickoff on Saturday, you win a lot of moral satfisfaction plus, if you choose to buy a Martin O’Neill mug, a second one free.
Don’t mock: there are lottery and Euromillions winners who would find that sort of offer quite touching. OK, maybe they wouldn’t but two recent winners have already chosen the buy one/win one option. It also means Monsieur Salut has to dig slightly less deeply into his own pocket.
Usual rules. My decision final. A WBA winner would also be eligible for the Nearly Prize and I’d tweak the mug design to take account of his or her allegiance.
Get predicting … even if you do it only for fun.
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Would you believe it? No one thought of 2-4
According to Wikipedia “He is known by the Irish supporters as “Zinedine Kilbane”, a reference to French playmaker Zinedine Zidane.”
This is known as irony for those unaware.
2-1 to Sunderland
As the reverse logic of last week (predicted 2-0 win for Fulham) resulted in 3 points and three SAFC goals, and in the interest of establishing this nonsense as a tried and tested scientific technique, I will go for a 2-0 win prediction for the opposition , therefore Sunderland 0 West Brom 2.
Additionally I am quite happy to sponser this weeks Mug on behalf of the Jeddah Sunderland Supporters Branch (fledgiling) to the winner of the competition.
No-one’s gone for 5-0 yet. Get down the bookies quick and you’ll be able to afford a mug.
Put down Bardsley to get the 1st and you’ll be on for a tasty double.
Lottery numbers 9 11 31 32 38 40
1-0 to the lads. Toit.
1-1 for me. Reckon it’ll be a tight game and i can’t see us keeping a clean sheet unfortunately.
I don’t know if someone has already mentioned it already but best wishes to young John Egan who broke his leg in 2 places on tuesday while on loan with Bradford. There’s a nice bit on their website about him here-
http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk//news/article/egan-thankful-502387.aspx?pageView=full
Sunderland 3 West Brom 2, with goals from AJ, Fletch and Gardner……..
My team:
Bardsley, O Shea, Cuellar, Colback
Johnson, Gardner, Cattermole, Rose
Sess, Fletch
3-1
2-2 I can see.. Boing Boing
SAFC 2 WBA 1 – I hope!!