And enjoy this for as long as it lasts at YouTube …
We all see (or hear) games slightly differently, says Monsieur Salut. I repeated what seemed the fairly general despair at Sunderland’s first half performance – OK, maybe it was the first 30-35 minutes – only to be taken to task by a reader who thought otherwise.
Alone among the four-man Salut! Sunderland editorial team, I saw nothing of the match, being back in the UK but not for long enough to get back to the North East.
The amiable Irishman who is the gaffer at Duffy’s, a pub/wine bar at the end of my street in west London, had sworn it would be on his screens. His good intentions – after all, his brother “supported” us during the Keane era, only to revert to Man City when Keano left – were defeated by a glitch that saw each attempt to bring the channel to life bounce back to Sky Sports News. The nearby Plough wouldn’t even show it and I no longer had time to make a tour of Ealing to find somewhere it could be seen.
So it was Barnes and Benno for me – once I’d paid my £45 renewal fee, listening to TalkSport as I did so. I longed to see the goals but enjoyed the commentary.
But others did see the game. Let’s hear what they had to say …
* James Hunter, Sunderland writer for the Chronicle:
Man of the Match:
Lynden Gooch 8 out of 10: a livewire all game and his injury-time winner was the perfect reward for his efforts
* The Sunderland Echo ratings gallery wouldn’t go beyond the first few players on my Mac, or open at all on my phone. I got the impression that Phil Smith also made Gooch his MOTM, since his was the photo showing. The caption read: “threatened on a number of occasions before heading home superbly in the 96th”
* Jack Ross was quoted by Phil:
‘Lynden has been outstanding through pre-season and in training, he will be a top player for us this season. We asked him to play wing back second half and his energy levels and willingness to get at people is brilliant, Josh is a really good finisher. His ability to hit on either foot and hit the target is really good, it is just encouraging him to do it. If he hits one over the bar, fine, just keep doing it. “They are two young men to come through the club, they will enjoy tonight.
… the supporters were incredibly positive, it would have been easy for them to not back us at 1-0 down but they stayed with us. They helped drive us on. “The noise, that is a new experience for me. The players should want more of that, it is a terrifc feeling’
Roker Report, a little out on a limb, made 16-year-old Bali Mumba man of the match. A joint report from Gav1879 and Tom Atkinson described him as “outstanding .. cannot believe that he is 16”. RR also gave 8/10 to Gooch, Maguire and Oviedo so it was obviously a close-run thing.
But all of those judgments are provisional. Pete Sixsmith was up in the East Stand and his words will be those that all discerning supporters are anxious to see …
Yip agree Gooch MOM.
Oviedo had a good effect coming on,but that was an enforced change due to an early injury, so our manager fell lucky on that.
For me he should be played above Love.
Mumba utterly amazing for a 16 year old.
Also was not taking anyone “to task “for the original report,just giving an honest opinion.We all have them ; )
This is Still the best blog on SAFC anywhere.
Just watched the 10 minute highlights.
https://www.safc.com/news/team-news/2018/august/charlton-athletic/match-highlights-v-charlton
Confirmed what I thought yesterday that Gooch’s winner actually came from a training ground corner that didn’t go as planned. Watch Gooch run out of the box to pick up the ball in space made by Honeyman’s run, then fail to collect but then have the nous to run into the box unmarked to get on the end of Aviedo’s cross.
Worked even better than they could have planned.
For me, the new management and ownership. Well, I wish them all the best as we have not had a lot in times gone by, They are trying to turn a new leaf. Good on ’em.
I’d be tempted to give MOTM to Oviedo. As from our position in the North stand our central defenders were as bad as anything last season. All over the place, not match fit, slow, out of position. But once Oviedo came on they started to settle down and from about 35 mins + Charlton’s attacking threat waned. He was a calming influence in defence and always a threat going forward, culminating with the superb winning pass to Gooch.
I too will see how Pete’s view compares to mine but when I spoke to him briefly afterwards we both agreed it was Roy of the Rovers stuff and that Sinclair made a difference.
The first half hour was disappointing in that Charlton looked threatening and we looked disjointed but I thought there were plenty of positives in the way we were playing. Ozturk looked a bit dodgy to start with but improved as the game went on. The penalty and subsequent goal perhaps contributed to an impression that actually nothing had changed and it was a case of here we go again, but objectively we were holding our own with so many players who hadn’t played a competitive game together.
I thought Oviedo made a difference as well as Sinclair. It would be nice if we could hang on to him. The crowd was good, I heard no grumbling even when we went behind and hardly anyone left early and serve those who did right.
This was a decent enough performance considering where we have come from and how many changes have taken place. It was hard on Charlton but I thought we shaded it and deserved the 3 points.
A last ditch winner after going behind with new owners and director in the stand and a new manager on the touchline. These Roy of the Rovers writers don’t half stretch the boundaries of believability!