Colin Randall

It was half time at Elm Park, in the deeply miserable Sunderland end of the tatty old Reading ground, when Barry Emmerson turned to me.

“Flaming two nil down to this lot,” he said, though flaming was not the adjective he chose. “What do you want to happen next? We come back in the second half and get a lucky draw, but know we’re utter crap? Or we get hammered 4-0 so Reidy and the board know they’ve got to get their fingers out?”

There was no comeback. Barry’s obvious preference was the precise outcome. On the day, the one tiny consolation was that Kevin Phillips, coming back from injury, was sent on as a sub and at least peppered the Reading goal with shots. You could see, even on that bleak day to be a Sunderland fan, that he might have what it takes.

It was also a bleak day to be Peter Reid (pictured courtesy of A Love Supreme) or anyone else travelling on the Sunderland team coach. SuperKev was among the players who who would never forget the hostile send-off they got from fans who had spent good money only to be cheated by the club they adored.

Brian McNally wrote in the Sunday Mirror:

Sunderland, meantime, suffered a stunning 4-0 setback away to struggling Reading. The Elm Park side were not even at full strength – yet they could have won by more, and that sparked angry scenes among Sunderland’s travelling army of loyal fans. Chants of “Reid out” led to the manager fleeing the ground via a side exit. Earlier an angry Reid laid into his players. “They short-changed us,” he said. “Our fans deserve better.”

Read more

Steve Bennett, it is fair to assume, is not a name to be found on Roy Keane’s late Christmas card list. But, says Pete Sixsmith, do not run away with the idea that we actually deserved to win

Can anyone else pass?
Picture: Peadar O’Sullivan

The referee, in the end, cost us two points. But that situation has been well dealt with in Colin’s excellent piece and the subsequent comments.

So, let’s deal with the football because shocking referees should not distract us from the fact that we did well to get a point from a game against a <a href=”http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/F8940649?thread=4890323
“>moderate Premier League side who are going through a sticky patch.

Read more

It’s dipped to the lower 30s in the Emirates but some of us still find the heat ferocious. Pete Sixsmith, made of sterner stuff, braved a cold night on Wearside to watch the young ‘uns

If it’s Tuesday, there’s got to be football on somewhere. All the better if it’s watching potential stars making a name for themselves at the Stadium of Light where our Under 18s took on Norwich City in Round 3 of the FA Youth Cup.

By going to this game rather than the Ashington v West Auckland Northern League clash, I was able to kill a few birds with the same stone.

First I managed to purchase a new phone to replace the antiquated Motorola that has my class of 16-year-olds giggling and shaking their heads every time I get it out.

Then I was able to buy tickets for the panto at the Empire which, for those away from the North East, stars 83-year-old Mickey Rooney as Baron Hardup and 50-odd-year-old Les Dennis as Buttons.

By calling in I was able to avoid the ridiculous admin charge of £3 a ticket and it also enabled me to reach the SoL shop at 5.30pm and admire a lengthy queue of young and old waiting to have their pictures taken with a smiling and laid back Dwight Yorke.

But the game was the main reason for being away from my fireside and my bottle of Laphroagh.

Read more

Picture: Free-ers

Week after week, good news or bad, Pete Sixsmith faithfully texts scores, results and verdicts to Salut! Sunderland. Saturday was Chelsea avoidance day, and he got his updates from Abu Dhabi

Saturday found me absent from Stamford Bridge, so my observations are for once based on Match of the Day and what I have read in the various newspaper reports.

Colin, thousands of miles away in the UAE, saw it on TV and he was in the interesting position of texting the scores to me. I was dreading the sound of the mobile buzzing, so low were my expectations.

For once I was not disappointed. The reporter on Five Live dismissed us in four words – “hard working but limited” – and then spent the rest of his piece discussing whether Mourinho should manage England.

Sunday’s Observer wasn’t much better and suggested that a return to the Championship was in the offing if we did not sign the right players in January, while this morning’s Guardian focuses on Terry’s attitude and Miller’s foolishness at walking straight into a red card.

Read more

Guided by a refined sartorial sense, Pete Sixsmith has been writing his socks off on Salut! Sunderland in recent weeks. But would a trip to Hetton to see the reserves in action punch a hole in those socks? Decision is yours…..

In between visiting my tailor and popping in and out of work, I have been known to take in the odd reserve game.

I really enjoyed the Monday nights at Ferens Park under Reidy and Ricky Sbragia, but a combination of Mick Mac, who in common with Bob Geldorf didn’t like Mondays, the FA, which wouldn’t sanction the use of a plastic surface, and the Premier League, which kicked us out of their Reserve League after relegation, meant that my reserve watching was curtailed for a couple of years.

So, when I saw that we were at home to Middlesbrough on Wednesday and the only other option was watching Bishop Auckland, I made my way to Hetton to see how the second string would fare.

Read more