Colin Randall - SAFC Blog - Page 33 of 572

A Luton view on ‘best League One team by far’: not them, Sunderland or Portsmouth

January 12, 2019January 10, 2019 by Colin Randall

NB: Richard has now, at Monsieur Salut’s request, expanded on his acclaim for Barnsley. See below for the longer response to the relevant question

Monsieur Salut writes: back when played Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in the second game of the season, our Hatters’ Who are You? interviewee Richard Armstrong correctly predicted a 1-1 draw. He thought then that after the glory of promotion the previous season, Luton would be mid-table while we would reach the playoffs.

Given all that has happened since, with Luton second top one place ahead of us, it seemed a good idea to go back to him ahead of Saturday’s crucial return. What does Richard think now, how will Nathan Jones’s departure for the manager’s job at Stoke affect the Hatters and do Sunderland now look capable of winning automatic promotion? Read on and, if you’ve seen all the League One frontrunners, let us know whether you agree on who is best of the bunch ..

Salut!’s Seasonal Summary. Part Two: from Bristol to Blackpool

January 9, 2019January 9, 2019 by Colin Randall

By now you should have read part one of this series, the preview of the Christmas period which I wrote for the SAFC programme. You might even remember some of the words I wrote, especially the conclusion:

“Christmas and early January remain crucial, which for us means holding our own away and completing doubles over Bradford and Shrewsbury at home. I’m not one for predicting results or tempting fate, and am all too aware there are no easy games in this league but I think we can do that, and I can see us still being in contention when the decorations come down.”

Sixer’s Checkatrade Sevens: cruise to victory puts SAFC-Newcastle U21 out of way

January 8, 2019 by Colin Randall

Pete Sixsmith is recovering after his recent op but felt it wiser to give a miss to SAFC vs whoever might be representing the Mags. In his place, possibly in his actual place at the SoL, Salut! Sunderland‘s Malcolm Dawson took the armband for the seven word verdict.

SAFC vs Luton Town Guess the Score: we won’t get many better chances to go second

January 12, 2019January 8, 2019 by Colin Randall

We know it. They know it. The Charlton game was important but Saturday’s battle of third-top, Sunderland, versus second-top, Luton Town, is immense.

The stakes are perfectly simple. Win and Sunderland go second in Luton’s place, still enjoying a game in hand. Lose and we lose that game-in-hand advantage as the Hatters will have stretched the gap between us to four points.

A draw, disappointing as it would be to fail to improve on the 1-1 outcome at their place, would at least leave things as they are, though a glance at the fixtures shows top-of-the-table Portsmouth have an eminently winnable home tie against Blackpool. Sunderland and Jack Ross have to show they can rise to what will be a high-pressure occasion.

Your task is the guess the score at the Stadium of Light.

Rating the Ref: Watford don’t appreciate a SAFC bête noire either

January 8, 2019January 8, 2019 by Colin Randall

Better late than never: what did you make of Steve Martin at the Valley?

A message from Ken Gambles, whose idea led to our mini-series Rate the Ref, presents an opportunity for Monsieur Salut to offer a final encouragement to supporters to mark Steve Martin’s performance in charge of the 1-1 draw at Charlton.

In his 1-10 list of ratings for each edition of the series, Ken chose a special ignominous mention for one hapless man with the whistle, David Coote. Alongside the (lowest) 1/10 option appears this explanatory note: “Coote-like (the ref for the Peterborough game). Enough said. Abysmal.”

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The Lars Word: how depression may strike even the most talented of footballers

January 8, 2019January 8, 2019 by Colin Randall

Lars Knutsen makes a welcome return to these pages with his view of the season so far, a quick take on the Charlton game that adds a new dimension to Colin’s report and a perspective that I suspect very very of us will have taken as we watch the “will he, won’t he stay” saga unfold in the context of some very real team and fan bonding. It’s well worth a read …

Read more

Salut!’s Seasonal Summary. Part One: Bristol Rovers and the pre-Christmas outlook

January 7, 2019January 7, 2019 by Colin Randall

Regular readers will know that the Salut team make occasional appearances in the official matchday programme. Recent visitors will know that my last contribution came at the end of 2018, when I wrote about my take on the year before the Shrewsbury game.

However, that piece only came about after Sunderland had to fit in an extra cup game following our draw at Walsall.

I was originally asked to do something for the Bristol Rovers programme, with a focus on League One’s promotion challengers over the Christmas/New Year period. The extra game forced a change to the timetable and then other events took over, with the result that the piece I duly sent off never made it into print.

Sixer’s Soapbox substitute from Charlton: a fair draw but unfairly dry January

January 6, 2019January 6, 2019 by Colin Randall

Monsieur Salut writes: my thanks to Dave Suddick, from our Facebook group, for the shot of SAFC’s marvellous travelling support as seen from his seat with a Charlton friend. I felt for an unexpectedly absent Pete Sixsmith, recuperating after surgery but in remarkably good spirits before and after, as I joined my pal and former colleague Kevin Maguire, and his pals from the Jarrow branch of the SAFCSA, at the Valley. Dave’s photo reminds me of Kevin’s own memories of Roker Park; he was a Fulwell Ender but once went into the Roker End just to see what the Fulwell looked like.

We were in for decent value for our £24 tickets though the entertaining nature of the game could not overcome Sunderland supporters’ disappointment that having weathered a Charlton storm after their fortunate equaliser, we could not take chances that would have lifted us to second place ….

Josh Maja cannot be blamed, but doesn’t someone in this tale owe an explanation?

January 4, 2019 by Colin Randall

Josh Maja seems more or less blameless in the series of events that led to today’s astonishing development.

If Sunderland AFC is telling the truth, Maja told Jack Ross yesterday he wanted to stay and would today sign a generous new contract (did someone say at seven times his current salary, precisely as demanded by his agent?). Instead his agent told not SAFC, but Sky, he would not be signing.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Ground – Charlton Athletic and The Valley

January 4, 2019January 4, 2019 by Colin Randall

John McCormick writes. Like Blackpool, this one was on the itinerary I compiled early in the summer. Like Blackpool, it didn’t survive my first scrutiny of the fixture list, which is a pity as I’ve never been to the Valley and I was looking forward to it.

Pete Sixsmith has, of course, so here he is setting the scene for our second away trip of 2019 and, as he says, it’s a cracker