Monsieur Salut adds some belated lines in homage to Jimmy Armfield – footballer, manager, sports reporter, NUJ member, broadcaster, church organ player, absolute gent …
The two news items seemed unseemly if read one after the other. Sanchez moved from Arsenal to Man Utd on a new weekly pay rate of hundreds of thousands. And word reached us of the death of Jimmy Armfield, whose biggest pay packet was £70 a week, as he told Salut! Sunderland back in 2011 (see the interview here).
Since the victory against Hull City, Chris Coleman has said his players – from young prospects such as Jake Clarke-Salter and Joel Asoro to the old pros John O’Shea and Lee Cattermole – deserve pats on the back. ‘I have stood here after a poor performance or a defeat [but] we look at it now – it is another win, five clean sheets in 11 games. It’s not all bad’. Sunderland supporters know all about false dawns but could this be the start of the way back and can Coleman succeed where so many predecessors have failed? Simon McFall, a freelance sportswriter, traces the pain of SAFC’s post-‘Bank of England club’ years but recognises the enduring passion and desire of the fans …
Monsieur Salut looks at the case study in eccentric football management that is Watford FC – a rarity among clubs in making Sunderland look stable and serene – and wonders whether sacking Marco Silva and installing yet another new boss will make the slightest difference to their prospects …
Let us be cruelly blunt. It is not how football should be but no one outside Watford bothers too much which of the main English divisions – Premier, Championship or Leagues One/Two – they play in. Remember how little the rest of football truly savours a Wear-Tyne derby and multiply the couldn’t-care-less-factor by a dozen.
Monsieur Salut writes:Martin Crow* is a welcome addition to our ranks of contributors. He is an aspiring freelance writer and hardly unknown among Sunderland fans (check his work for ALS). In his first offering to Salut! Sunderland, he provides an astute appraisal of Saturday’s performance that properly complements Pete Sixsmith’s brilliant Soapbox, and concentrates on the generational aspects of Chris Coleman’s (OK, patchy so far but think what went before) revival.
And on a day when any proper football supporter will be mourning the death of Jimmy Armfield, a quite magnificent voice of radio, Martin starts and ends with reminders of the folly of another player-turned-broadcaster ..
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Meet our new contributor, Martin Crow
When Alan Hansen delivered his infamous and dismissive verdict on Manchester United’s class of ’95 following an opening-day defeat to Aston Villa, I doubt Sunderland could have been further from his mind.
Image by Steindy, Nov 10 2016 (UTC) (own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsMonsieur Salut writes: Chris Coleman has been effusive in his praise of the young stars of his third victory in charge of Sunderland, the 1-0 win against Hull City on Saturday. But this writer suggests there are other prospects possibly available for loan deals – as well as the targets who have necessary experience – who might help Coleman lead the club away from the relegation zone and complete the groundwork for a brighter future …
The uplifting victory against Hull City does not disguise the painful fact that this has been another disastrous season so far for Sunderland since the drop from the Premier League.
The new era that was set to begin under Simon Grayson faltered, the team has consistently looked disjointed and out of sorts while Chris Coleman’s arrival in Grayson’s place has yet to produce a convincing turnaround in performances – and above all consistency.
John McCormick asks: Did you go to bed, or perhaps wake up, singing “The young ones”? Or maybe Bob and Marcia sprang to mind with “Young, gifted and black”. The old rockers among you might have thought of the Who and “The kids are alright” but not, I venture, “Happy Jack”.
I don’t know if Pete Sixsmith was singing at any point but here he is waxing lyrical, and isn’t it good to read:
Pete Sixsmith’s seven word text, fresh from the Stadium of Light, makes it clear that this was not just a team effort but also that our manager’s choice of young players, indeed his whole ethos, is the way to go.
The fans probably won’t be singing a Cliff Richard song as they stream out of the Stadium of Light. However, as Sixer pays tribute to an oldie as well as the young ones why shouldn’t I do the same, and I bet I have some of you singing it later tonight:
John McCormick writes: I’ve never been to the KC stadium but I have been to Boothferry Park, more than once. I’ve seen us play Hull City there, I’ve even seen Hull City play other clubs there. However, I have no memory of ever seeing us play Hull at home. Not so Pete Sixsmith. He’s been there and here, old grounds and new, serious and not so serious games; and Hull City, home and away, are yet another team in his long list of memories:
Monsieur Salut writes: Kathryn Townsley, our Hull City ‘Who are You?’ interviewee, talked here yesterday about all sorts of matters affecting her club and ours. Hers was such an interesting and detailed interview that I decided to divide it into two parts. Today, Kathryn – who chairs the Hull City Official Supporters’ Club (I still cannot bring myself to call someone a chair), – reminisces movingly on four trips to Wembley. …
Monsieur Salut writes: although we sometimes – OK, often – go back to familiar faces for the Who are You? series, we also search constantly for new blood. Kathryn Townsley, who chairs the Hull City Official Supporters’ Club, is a breath of fresh air with a terrific set of answers that work best if divided into two parts. Today, she reflects on the prospects for our clubs – prepare for some more gloomy thoughts on ours and who can blame her even though she offered her views before our humiliation at Cardiff? – and tomorrow, she’ll be back with some brilliant memories from four visits by her team to Wembley …
Colin Randall 
