Ten Years After: recalling McAllister’s dive, Danson’s reds and other refereeing horrors

Jake: ‘no mind-expanding drugs were taken in the making of this design’

Monsieur Salut writes: on quiet days, two thoughts cross the mind: one of relief that Sunderland are not playing, therefore cannot lose, and a second on what to put on the site to stop interest flagging. The slack times would be unimportant if our readers generally had the habit of dipping into a substantial archive of material  accumulated since Salut! Sunderland breathed its first in early 2007. They do not.

Perhaps we need to give more thought on how to make historical items attractive and easy enough to look up. We were better at this in the past, but much of the ‘furniture’, the links that appear in the sidebar column to the right as you look at this page, vanished either when the site crashed under cyber-attack a while ago or when our much-missed web guru Sam later sorted out lingering problems.

Let me introduce Ten Years After, not the ancient rock band but a new category to accommodate articles from 10 years ago that may still have merit, whether because they have historical interest or because they may stir memories or simply entertain. Our associate editor John McCormick, has other ideas for doing more to alert today’s readers to what Salut! Sunderland has got up to and these will be implemented where possible.

Ten Years After starts with a piece that first appeared about but not exactly 10 years ago, ie on Feb 22 2007, and looked at some rotten refereeing decisions of what was, already in 2007, the past. I will make minor tweaks to take account of the passage of time. You may have better examples from before or since …

 

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Sixer’s stand-in’s Soapbox: Everton do enough to guarantee the points

John McCormick writes:

Pete has asked me if I can do a match report for him as he’s taking in Bradford v Toulouse and won’t get in until late.

I can, but you mustn’t expect his level of wit, nor his keen observation and erudition. This was only my third live game of the season and I have enough trouble recognising September’s signings, never mind any from January, and have yet to work out what system we use and where different players slot in, assuming we have one.

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Moyes on the boys post Everton – and I beg to differ

Moyes on the boys

I got back from Goodison about half an hour ago. Pete Sixsmith and I were in agreement with most things during the game and in the post-game discussion on the way to the station, where we went in different directions. I won’t spoil Pete’s report by saying what we discussed but I will give you a clue:

David, I don’t agree with all of what you’re saying below and I don’t think Pete will either.

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Sixer’s Sevens: Everton 2-0 Sunderland. That sinking feeling

Jake: catch Sixer’s instant seven-word verdicts throughout the season

Monsieur Salut writes:  At half time, Sunderland having defended reasonably well without offering a threat to the Everton goal, went behind when Fabio Borini failed to track back and a swift move down the right ended up with the ball in the back of the net. Pete Sixsmith, suffering at Goodison, felt there was ‘no way back’. There were signs of better in the second. SAFC won a corner after Defoe hit the bar and – you guessed – the ball went straight down the field and Lukaku made it two from a one-to-one on Jordan Pickford. Prepare for a push for promotion …

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Sutton United’s roly-poly (former) goalkeeper, that pie and a betting fracas

Image: Daily Mail

A whimsical look back at the antics of Wayne Shaw, 46 years old and weighing in at 23 stones, who has paid dearly for scoffing a liue during the Sutton United 5th round FA Cup tie against Arsenal on Feb 20 …

As the world now knows, Sutton United’s goalie Wayne Shaw’s well-fed form will no longer be a feature of the club’s games, since he officially resigned over a betting scandal that involved eating a pie at half-time during the FA Cup match against Arsenal.

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Everton Who are You?: ‘SAFC have all our injury-prone old players!’

Graeme Holmes at Athletic Bilbao, the Basque club with strong Sunderland links**

Graeme Holmes* is an Everton season ticket holder whose globetrotting, groundhopping activities make our own Pete Sixsmith seem like an armchair supporter. He’s at a match as a neutral most nights to add to those huge number of Everton games he’s seen over the past 38 years. He has obviously come across Sixer on his travels and it is that connection that introduces him to Salut! Sunderland. Welcome, Graeme …

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Hutch’s Patch: Crystal Palace – big in Saigon

Hutch is speechless: help him with a caption

*******       CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE FOR A CLEARER VIEW       *******

Rob Hutchison, as most of us know, is a man of relatively few words. His one-word, one-mark ratings after each Sunderland game he attends (mostly the aways) can be caustic and cruel,  or more rarely ecstatic and encouraging. They are always succinct.

He’s struggling for the right words, any words this time, to sum up the poster you see above.

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Safe bets: a guide to sensible flutters on sport

 

Jake: ‘what constitutes a safe bet on Sunderland?’

 

Salut! Sunderland readers have become accustomed to occasional links to betting sites. It is naturally up to each individual to decide whether these are useful, because some people do like the odd flutter (even Monsieur Salut has been known to place bets on first scorer), or of no interest at all. For those in the former category, here are some thoughts from Katie Johnson, who represents one such betting outlet, on how to improve your chances of making responsible betting pay …

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Everton vs Sunderland Guess the Score: can Moyes’s Goodison old boys shine?

Everton away: will Jake’s snap verdict be a happy one?

Monsieur Salut interrupts the usual business of trying to get heating, hot water, internet and the rest working again in France to announce the return of Guess the Score after the recent, perhaps merciful break from premier League action. No Anichebe, sadly, but if Oviedo, Gibson, Pienaar and Rodwell are available, David Moyes’s faith in former Everton players may be about to be put to a stiff test …

The recent double-prize edition of Guess the Score attracted no correct entries, which is not surprising since few of us seriously hoped for a 4-0 win at Crystal Palace and even fewer feared we’d then surrender by the same margin at home to Southampton.

So as we launch the competition for the game at Everton, we can be excused for wondering which Sunderland to expect to turn up this time.

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