Bravo, Jermain
Among the things it seemed impossible to believe, Jermain Defoe’s England recall was up there with “of course the pound will recover from Brexit” and “Sunderland won’t go down”.
Monsieur Salut can live, just, with the former being a somewhat improbable development – while allowing himself a mischievous chuckle at what’s it’s done to Magaluf spending dosh – and meekly accepts the latter is a forlorn hope.
Duncan Sutcliffe (on the right, with his dad Colin): ‘sorry, Sunderland, you’re the worst we’ve seen at the Turf’
Colin Randall wites: What a fabulous set of answers, from a proper supporter of a proper football club, brought to us by Pete Sixsmith, who met him on holiday in Italy and tried to lead him astray (ie by persuading him along to some some Under 23s reserve game Sixer had spotted in the local paper). As I read the first, long answer from Duncan Sutcliffe* I wondered whether the interview ought to be cut in two. I decided against, because a) it’s the sort of read I’d personally want to see in one go and b) because Salut! Sunderland readers generally warm to exchanges of this kind and this quality with people who essentially, share their outlook on football. Great stuff, if ultimately grim reading for us, Duncan – what a pleasure to have you back again ….
This article by our deputy editor Malcolm Dawson appeared two years ago next Monday. Change the names and other details and it is as relevant now as it was then. Pete Sixsmith always threatens to jump ship, without – except in the 1997-1998 playoff season – actually getting wet; in fact, he will probably see a season or two, provided it is no more than that, in the Championship as a pleasant change from enduring life at the bottom of the Premier League. Malcolm suggested re-running the article so presumably feels the same as he did in March 2015, just after he’d watched Aston Villa thrash us 4-0 at the SoL; maybe a few tweaks would bring us up to date, but the article and its sentiments stand the test of two years rather well, so there has been almost no editing …
Jake: ‘is there any point in urging a special performance?’
Monsieur Salut writes: I had an itch to get this week’s Guess the Score out there, but an e-mail from a Hull City supporter exiled in Sri Lanka removed any doubt. You may recall that last week, despite Sunderland’s inactivity, we offered a mini-edition of Nick Barnes’s splendid Matchbook for the first to post correct scorelines in two games of interest to but not involving SAFC, partly because some unexpected advertising enabled us to do so and partly because the publishers, Tales from Red and Whites are paying £5 into the Bradley Lowery fund for each copy bought. So there were two winners – a Hull supporter and Bradley. Read on …
But it was still a weekend of pleasure rather than the usual Sunderland-induced pain, according to Pete Sixsmith. He saw some decent non-league football, albeit watching Shildon lose, and some rugby league. He’s already worried about Saturday but put aside such cares to compose another piece of classy writing combining sport, social observation, politics and travel …
Thanks to Middlesbrough for making the quarter finals of the FA Cup. Not only were they brushed aside by Manchester City, their presence in what used to be called the Sixth Round, spared us from having to go there on a Saturday and thereby probably spoiling our weekend.
John McCormick writes: Pete Lynn, aka Wrinkly Pete, is no stranger to this website. Nor is he a stranger to the Stadium of Light, despite having to make a considerable effort to get there.
But make the effort he does, and sometimes the journey, if not the result, makes him wax lyrical. Here he is explaining in his usual inimitable manner why he enjoys the trip up north:
John McCormick: We’re bottom and there’s now a gap
When I last reported in with the Salut Sunderland relegation watch we had had some recent wins but were still in the relegation zone, along with Swansea and Hull. (Swansea weren’t one of the clubs chosen in our start-of season poll but I included them in December on the grounds that some people did vote for “another club” and they had begun to fit that bill after a decline).
That was only a month ago, just after the transfer window closed, since when new signings have had time to settle and new managers to generate – but maybe not sustain – a bounce. With a cup weekend giving most of them a breather we have another chance to review the situation.
But before I do, I have to congratulate West Bromwich Albion, who passed through our metaphorical barrier with ease. Would that we could reach such heights.
Monsieur Salut writes: please see John McCormick’s fine piece on Barca 6-1 PSG. My view from France? The PSG collapse was lead item on the French lunchtime news, which I found shocking given there is also a presidential election campaign and a gruesome family murder in Brittany. I am quite pleased about PSG’s heavy defeat but only because I regard them as a fairly loathsome club and don’t (yet? really?) feel the same way about Barcelona. And now for some Salut! Sunderland housekeeping …
It boils down to an invitation to Guess the Score – in the absence of a Sunderland game – in either of the two matches affecting us, Bournemouth vs West Ham and Hull vs Swansea. Be first to be right in either case and you can either have the mini-version of Nick Barnes’s Matchbook, knowing a fiver will go to the Bradley Lowery fund, or – if, say, you support one of the teams involved – a mug reflecting your allegiance … in the latter case, Salut! Sunderland would pay the fiver into Bradley’s fund
Goes without saying that two first-to-be-correct scorelines = two prizes. You must have a UK delivery address.
John McCormick with something to get your teeth into
Down here in Liverpool the red half of the city reveres Louis Suarez. They see it as no surprise that Liverpool FC achieved their highest ever PL position, not to mention winning the League cup and making the FA cup final, when he was there. They don’t forget he was their highest scorer for three consecutive seasons. But what they seem to remember more than this, or his undoubted skill, is his will to win. During his time at Liverpool Louis Suarez fought for everything, never gave up and lifted the team around him. He deserves massive respect for that and he still gets it.
Jake: ‘sometimes we just like to intrude on other people’s grief’
Monsieur Salut writes: our friends at the Arsenal fan site Gunners Town (is the Steve Wellman in that linked item the Arsenal-supporting Steve Wellman I once worked with?) react with detached amusement when we dare to mention their club’s problems and wish they were ours.
Last month, a piece in Arsène Wenger’s defence appeared on these pages. It was written by my daughter Nathalie, who once turned out as a sub in an Arsenal ladies’ pre-season friendly (they beat Swindon something like 13-1, Nathalie later had a trials evening at Highbury – she’s a good player, still – but lacked the exceptional fitness levels required and went off to QPR instead).
Gunners Town indulgently retweeted a link to her piece, which criticised the “bleating from Arsenal fans and the media about how Wenger needs to go” and included the immortal words: “My dad says he would love to have the kind of failure Arsenal have had.”
A few hours after Nathalie’s article appeared, Arsenal were soundly beaten 5-1 at Bayern Munich. She saw no reason to change her mind. I am now awaiting her response to last night’s debacle, 5-1 all over again and this time at the Emirates (was it even quieter than usual there?). Don’t worry Gooners, losing at home by four clear goals feels a bit less painful once it’s happened a few times.
Anyway, and this time with only the most tenuous of Sunderland links (Brian Clough’s decline as manager; we never saw decline as player, just a career-ending injury and regretted that he never managed us), is a dignified and well-argued post-Bayern II lament from Gary Lawrence, an Arsenal season ticket holder for more than 40 years. If you come here only to read about Sunderland, feel free to leave now. But what constitutes success and sackable-offence failure is a good football talking point … and yes, M Salut would still accept the sort of failure Arsenal fans have to endure: fifth top, League Cup quarter finalists, FA Cup semis, Champions League last 16.
Maybe what north London needs is a few seasons of nailbiting escape acts from relegation, always fearing – as we do now – that time may have run out. Could be character-building …
Colin Randall 
