Colin Randall - SAFC Blog - Page 508 of 572

Niall Quinn: who else could make us like Chelsea?

November 16, 2009 by Colin Randall

Niall Quinn famously wrote: “I learned my trade at Arsenal, became a footballer at Manchester City, but Sunderland got under my skin. I love Sunderland.” From Colin Randall‘s mini-profile, we see that the Sunderland chairman’s powers appear to know no bounds. For as long as it may last, he’s even got us thinking well of Chelsea ….

One ofthe best things you can say about Niall Quinn has nothing strictly to do with the outstanding football he played for Sunderland, the way he has conducted himself as chairman or even the magnanimous donation of the entire £1m proceeds of his SAFC testimonial to hospitals in Sunderland and Dublin and an orphanage run by a pal in Calcutta.

It is that you know instantly he’s the sort of bloke you’d enjoy having as a friend, or even as an occasional acquaintance with whom to share a drink or two.

Soapbox: no Sunderland, but a perfect weekend

November 16, 2009 by Colin Randall

What were we doing in Huddersfield? Or, for that matter, Fitzwilliam, Leeds and Durham? Not to mention Istanbul. Easy. Put on a weekend of internationals and you can bet on certain things: Salut! Sunderland readers deserting in droves in the knowledge of how little we care, the editor enjoying a rare stress-free Saturday/Sunday and a foray into obscure corners of football and culture by Pete Sixsmith …

You may well have noticed that the Salut! Sunderland pages have been very quiet over the weekend. No new articles, no debate about whether Bent dived or articles going back over old grievances like McAllister’s triple jump and salko or whether Tadger Norris slipped or was pushed in Durham Challenge Cup match in 1881.

Reasons? International break, so b***** all to write about from the SAFC point of view. The editor slipped off on a scouting trip to Istanbul with his wife, while the work experience boy (yours truly) had a treble up. So, in the absence of anything else to write about, let me tell you about it.

Andy Reid and the Giovanni grudge factor

November 12, 2009 by Colin Randall

As it is internationals weekend, a large chunk of Salut! Sunderland is off to Istanbul to celebrate his wedding anniversary. Whether much new appears here over the weekend is up to another large chunk, and the IT and editing skills of a smaller chunk, left behind. But before I tuck into the kebabs, let me give a quick kicking to Giovanni Trapattoni for his continued exclusion of Andy Reid from the Irish squad …

Q: “What do you call a banjo at the bottom of the sea?”

A: “A start?”

Liverpool’s great escape – eight years before the Ngog takeoff

November 11, 2009 by Colin Randall

Forget Ngog (pictured courtesy of Christoper_tng) who tells me he’s a Liverpool fan), forget the beach ball that saved us from having to score one of the four sitters that followed. When it comes to Liverpool and luck – good or bad, depending on your allegiance – we’ve seen crazier things …

Poor Peter Walton seems to have paid a swift, harsh price for his calamitous award of a penalty for Liverpool when David Ngog launched into the sort of takeoff that has one football site asking this morning which Olympic sport France might consider entering him for.

According to the Daily Mirror, he will be relegated to the Football League or at best fourth official duties (if, indeed, that is seen as a punishment) when real football resumes after the international break.

It’s the sort of rough justice that comes after the most serious of refereeing blunders these days. But Peter should take heart (and feel aggrieved): Salut! Sunderland can assure him that it’s happened before (and that the culprit on that occasion escaped any sort of sanction that we know of).

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Eduardo, Ngog and an everyday saga of Bent penalties

November 10, 2009 by Colin Randall

The issue of cheating in football won’t go away. Is it a price worth paying for the cut and thrust of post-match debate? Colin Randall gets stuck in traffic long enough to hear a range of views …

If we are honest, most of us love the controversy that football provokes.

Making a meal of in north London – and catching Fabio’s eye (2)

November 9, 2009 by Colin Randall

In which the Spurs keeper is invited to thank his lucky stars and pipe down … There’s an awful lot …

Making a meal of it in north London – and catching Fabio’s eye (1)

November 9, 2009 by Colin Randall

Salut! Sunderland, while not caring enormously about international football, congratulates Darren Bent on his England call-up. Good for him, brings a little reflected glory to the club and may yet prove more meaningful than SuperKev’s inclusion in unSuperKev’s Euro 2000 squad. But there is unfinished Bent-related business. What was that about eating our words? Colin Randall prepares the dish, chooses the wine and sets the table …

Salut! is now officially split on the issue. In his excellent review of Saturday’s events at White Hart Lane, Pete Sixsmith said the penalty was right and so was the yellow, since red would have been harsh.

I finally saw the footage late last night. I still believe Gomes made a rash dive at Bent’s feet and that it was therefore a penalty waiting to happen. Except that Darren didn’t wait, and it – the foul – didn’t happen.

Soapbox: no luck at the Lane (for Sunderland)

November 8, 2009 by Colin Randall

Fair’s fair. With the hindsight not available to most fans – or any referees – when controversial incidents actually occur, Salut! Sunderland accepts that Kevin Friend got the penalty about right. A slightly reckless challenge, but not one that merited a red card. Some SAFC fans go further and echo Spurs supporters (not all) by calling it a dive, even if they also feel it was a penalty “about to happen”. Friends again, Kevin? More on all this later but first Pete Sixsmith delivers his own considered post-match verdict …

A six hour coach journey after a scarcely deserved defeat does an awful lot to concentrate the mind. Somewhere in the middle of the old Great North Road, probably between Newark and Retford, I suffered a terrible attack of fairness, not something usually associated with disappointed Sunderland fans.

You’ve got a Friend, Mr Gomes

November 7, 2009 by Colin Randall

It is unlikely that the excellent Carole King had a refereeing performance decades into the future in mind when she wrote the song. But Colin Randall wonders whether Heurelho Gomes enjoyed a huge slice of luck today, courtesy of the man in black, Kevin Friend, as Sunderland slumped to a barely deserved defeat …

IN the objective, sportsmanlike opinion of those in the south stand corner of White Hart Lane, it was clear that the turning point of today’s game came immediately after Heurelho Gomes charged out of goal to challenge Darren Bent, who was clean through.

He’d got away with it in the first half but Kevin Friend had no choice this time but to award a penalty. And a red card surely? No, Mr Friend deemed a yellow to be sufficient and a man who arguably should not even have been in a position to watch the kick being taken made a good save. Followed by two or three other crucial saves as Sunderland pressed for an equaliser to the first half goal.

Get a grip, Sunderland

November 6, 2009 by Colin Randall

There are exceptions to the rule, central to the British approach to law, that everyone is innocent until proved guilty.

Countless generations of children would tell you parents and teachers have not always observed the principle. Even in courts of law, there is one glaring anomaly: newspapers, magazines, TV etc have to prove their innocence if sued for libel.

Now there is another category of exceptions: supporters of Sunderland football club suspected of being involved in violence in Newcastle while returning from the pre-season friendly at Hearts. Season tickets have been suspended, individuals removed from the crowd having gained admission to a match.