Colin Randall - SAFC Blog - Page 113 of 572

Encouraging but bruising for Kirchhoff as Manchester United beat Under 23s

March 7, 2017 by Colin Randall

Pete Sixsmith: ‘you know I’m getting quite used to seeing the Lads lose’

What better way to get over the serial disappointment of following Sunderland’s first team than to take a look at the young ‘uns bursting with ambition and talent? That was Pete Sixsmith‘s theory. At least he saw Jan Kirchhoff’s return from injury (not that Man Utd seemed to care too much whether they inflicted another one on him) …

It was hoped that Monday’s Under 23 game with Manchester United might wash away the blues after the miserable weekend that we had just experienced. Our lads had just qualified for the latter stages of two cup competitions, we were in a decent place in the league and they were near the bottom, we had the promise of a return for Jan Kirchhoff and Lynden Gooch and George Honeyman were both scheduled to turn out.

As usual, it was a let-down.

Wrinkly Pete’s Crystal Ball. ‘If my memory serves me well’

March 7, 2017March 7, 2017 by Colin Randall

John McCormick writes: Wrinkly Pete often illuminates his posts with reference to old songs which, given most of our readers can remember us winning a trophy, still resonate. He missed one, though, but I spotted it and stuck it in the title.

Read on and you’ll find it somewhere in his prose. So this week’s quiz is:

What’s the title, and can you identify any singers/groups and the years in which they recorded versions?

No prizes, but there are at least four to find, and all from different years, if my memory serves me well. And if you think I’m looking back to keep my mind from pondering what lies ahead, maybe I am, not that Wrinkly Pete agrees.

Sixer’s Manchester City Soapbox: our time looks up, but never say die

March 6, 2017 by Colin Randall

The exchanges between Pete Sixsmith, up in the East Stand, and Monsieur Salut, watching and listening in his French bunker (thanks Nick Barnes for the kind mention), were not encouraging. At half time, Sixer bemoaned being both the better side and behind. Long before the final whistle, after the killer second goal, he’d given up the ghost and did not update a seven-word instant verdict sent as City fans celebrated Sane’s cool finish. Where do we go from here? Sixer and I both fear the word is ‘down’. Pete does at least offer a smidgeon of hope with his very last words …

Oh for the days of last minute goals by Ji Dong-won and Darren Bent and little scufflers from Phil Bardsley.

Moyes on the boys v Man City: praise where praise is due.

March 5, 2017March 5, 2017 by Colin Randall

John McCormick writes: For a while it looked like we might get something. We shaped up as a football team, with Borini and Januzaj being positive, and even Billy Jones getting close, and we showed fight.

Then they scored, and scored a second, and it became once again close, but no cigars.

And by the end of the game, really, it was not even close. What can you expect when City could bring on a player of the calibre of Kevin de Bruyne with fifteen minutes to go?

Yet, despite the gap, our manager found things to praise (somewhat ungrammatically) in his post-match message, and this time I agree with him.

Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 0-2 Manchester City. Enough fight, no finish or finesse

March 5, 2017 by Colin Randall

Jake: ‘no lack of effort and only two nowt. I almost class that as a moral victory’

Monsieur Salut writes: we knew in our hearts how it would go. If only Fabio Borini’s header had been on target after Defoe hit the post and presented him with an open goal, if only David Silva’s passing wasn’t so precise, City weren’t so devastating on the break. If only. Positives: we put up a fight and, as Pete Sixsmith noted at half time, may well have been the better side until we went behind. In the end, though, we simply weren’t good enough. Sixer will be back to expand on the seven-word verdict you see below …

Dear David: a devastating critique as Swansea, Crystal Palace, Leicester and Bournemouth add to misery

March 4, 2017March 4, 2017 by Colin Randall

Jake: ‘where do we go from here?’

This arrived ‘in the post’ as an entry in Guess the Score for SAFC vs Manchester City and before today’s rather depressing run of scores elsewhere. The author, Tom Lynn, is not just another disgruntled fan – he’s part of the life and soul of the Sunderland fan base, a man you bump into home and away and former editor of The Wearside Roar. He went for SAFC 0-4 City and also described the ‘hype around Pickford’ as ridiculous, calling him a great shotstopper with no real command of his area. Monsieur Salut does not agree with every word but it’s written from the heart and deserves to be seen ..

SAFC vs Manchester City: catch up on the buildup and guess the score

March 3, 2017 by Colin Randall

Jake: ‘ha’;way lads, prove to Citeh we’re not 5-goal rollovers like Monaco, Huddersfield and West Ham. Back to 1-0 to us?’

Jake’s caption sums up the prevailing thought. Why cannot we go back to the time we regarded a visit from Man City as a 1-0 home banker?

I have been downbeat at ESPN about our chances, both for Sunday afternoon’s game and in the relegation battle.

Manchester City ‘Who are You?’: Roker Park veteran says our time’s up

March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 by Colin Randall

Craig McGinty: fond memories of Benno and Marco

Where would Sunderland fit into a spoof list of films that have won or been nominated for Oscars?

Some fun has been had on this very subject by the people at enhancedbets.com: Leicester’s Gone With the Wins (sadly for us, a sequence than came to a halt earlier this week) and poor Bob Bradley remembered as An American in Swansea.

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David Moyes’s Lads might qualify for their own version of this year’s best-film winner – ~~La La Land~~, sorry Moonlighting – since they must have been up to something away from work to explain their wretched under-achievement in the day jobs. And then we see that Suicide Squad won best make-up and hair styling (you honestly couldn’t make up some of our play, or Ndong’s hair for that matter).

Which leads us to Craig McGinty*, a Sunderland-educated Manchester City fan without whose expertise on websites Salut! Sunderland would never have been created. Back in 2008, Craig was the fist City supporter to grace our Who are You? series. It seemed about time to ask him back …

Wrinkly Pete’s crystal ball: we’re bang on course, no need for panic

March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 by Colin Randall

John McCormick writes: Colin has made it known that he felt a sinking feeling on Saturday. And as such a feeling requires an SOS it’s appropriate that Wrinkly Pete’s update dropped into the Salut mailbox yesterday.

So here’s Pete, with a message that all is not yet lost

SAFC v Manchester City prize Guess the Score: winning helps Bradley Lowery’s fight

March 5, 2017March 1, 2017 by Colin Randall

The only thought that came to mind after the defeat at Everton was “that sinking feeling”. And so the phrase appeared in my headline for Sixer’s Sevens, Pete Sixsmith’s traditional seven-word verdict.

Despite – maybe because of – having supported Sunderland since the days of Charlie Hurley and Brian Clough, I cannot now approach any game without the same pessimism.