Monsieur Salut writes: Pete Sixsmith had a great time in Weymouth, enjoying the lovely Dorset coast before the time came to venture with his travelling companion, Pete Horan, to Dean Court. Two down in eight minutes, our play an utter shambles, we seemed to be heading for the sort of result seen just under a year ago when M Salut met up with the two Petes before the Southampton massacre. ‘Outclassed by a sharper, fitter side,’ said Sixer at half time. ‘Finished 2-0 – in serious trouble now,’ came the final verdict; see his customary seven-worder below and begin fretting.
All week, it has been an almighty struggle to persuade anyone to read Salut! Sunderland, this after weeks of sky-high visitor figures and an encouraging if losing performance at home to Spurs. Maybe those disinclined to visit these pages knew something we didn’t, or something we didn’t want to admit. It got a lot better, but only very briefly, once Sunderland realised football can be a game between two sides, not one pitted against statues, and a wretched linesman’s decision robbed Jeremain Lens of a perfectly legitimate headed goal. But the fightback quickly petered out and with yellow cards scattered around by the never very SAFC-friendly Kevin Friend, it came as no surprise when Kaboul collected a second booking and saw red …
September 19 2015: AFC Bournemouth (2) 2 SAFC (0) 0 Couldn’t recover from a truly abysmal start
September 13 2015: SAFC (0) 0 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 Vastly improved performance not reflected by result
August 29 2015: Aston Villa (2) 2 SAFC (1) 2 * M’Vila and Lens snatch a shaky point
August 25 2015: League Cup 2nd round: SAFC (3) 6 Exeter City (3) 3 Young hearts run free in second half
August 22 2015: SAFC (0) 1 Swansea City (1) 1 Gloom lifting after a more determined performance
August 15 2015: SAFC (0) 1 Norwich City (2) 3 I’ve seen some shockers in my time …
August 8 2015: Leicester City (3) 4 SAFC (0) 2 No encouragement to take from this shocker
Join the Salut! Sunderland Facebook group – click anywhere along this line
And follow us on Twitter: @salutsunderland … click along this line
Abysmal showing.
I’d just like to comment on the officials and their effect on the game.
No excuse, but the first couple of yellow cards were a joke. In fact the number of cards given suggest we got stuck in and kicked lumps out of the opposition—– I wish!!
Two goals down in 8 minutes and an early raft of cards limits our ability to compete. The players are uncertain and that manifests itself in their decision making (not their strongest point at the best of times). You could see a lot of players were miffed about poor refereeing decisions rather than concentrating on the game. Stop/start; card after card disrupts the pattern of the game and must affect players. Is it deliberate?
Maybe our resident statistician can determine if this is a regular feature of this referees performance in matches involving SAFC. There must something to back up Sixer’s point that Mr Friend doesn’t live up to his moniker.
Wasn’t there and can’t be bothered with MOTD. Why can’t professional footballers do the simple things , like concentrate , keep the ball and pass it accurately.
On a day when Arsenal say they have twice our turnover in the bank , then maybe we need to set our expectations accordingly
Won’t stop me going though, cos that’s the way it has to be.
Why wasn’t Yedlin give some time on the pitch? If we have him, why don’t we use him? God knows, we needed him today!
As the readers of these pages will know, I am not a regular at the SoL, but try to keep a regular appointment with Nick and Benno. I have to admit that my heart sank when I heard that O’Shea was not available (a selection of dodgy welks?) as I feel that he is the only one who can actually marshall the defence.
Of course I could be way out but everytime he plays we seem to be that bit more comfortable at the back.
Well anyway, thanks for spoiling my afternoon lads, saved only by the last second try by the Japanese against the Saffas.
Maybe those red and whites could teach our red and whites a little about passion?
Newly promoted team ,Kevin Enemy as referee, crap performance , crap offside decision, defeat ,fantastically loyal away fans . It’s the Sunderland way , do the actual games even need to be played anymore so predictable are the scripts ?
That id probably the worst back 4 in the history of the premier league. Wright, Breen and Caldwell couldn’t do any worse.
Absolutely right. The mystery, to me, is that our DOF and coaching staff, who see these players daily, concluded that they are good enough for the Premier League.
It was obvious at the end of last season that our minimal requirement was a quality CB, two PL quality fullbacks, and a proper centre forward.
None of this IMO was adequately addressed.
That is why I only gave 5 out of 10 in the transfer window survey [ and I think that I was over generous! ]
Shucks! Why bother?