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‘And then the draws began’. Not Liverpool and Spurs but the final Sunderland end-of-season review

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Pete Sixsmith’s peerless analysis of only Sunderland’s second season in the third tier is deliberately timed to coincide with the moment Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur kick off in the Champions’ League final in Madrid (OK a bit early to make sure). Just felt right …

Colin Randall, aka Monsieur Salut, writes: week after week, men and (less often) women report for newspapers, radio and television on football. Some are extremely gifted, other are less so but perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Bosses, as ever, will get away with not paying people if they can but by and large these writers and broadcasters receive salaries or fees for their efforts.

On sites like ours, usually with very limited income and sometimes with none, the work is willingly done for free. We are fortunate to be blessed with excellent contributors; just take a look at the articles from Malcolm Dawson, John McCormick, Bob Chapman, Ken Gambles, Wrinkly Pete, Lars Knutsen, Bill Taylor, John Marshall and others too numerous to mention. Jake, alias John Clark, chips in with neat illustrations.

Pete Sixsmith towers above all but the very finest of the professionals with his outstanding combination of footballing and general knowledge, natural eloquence and wit. As a journalist, I have been edited as frequently as I have edited others, among them some important others. Pete’s prose never needs more than the lightest of touches.

His material reward is next to nothing, save for the rather rare share of modest advertising revenue and the odd – and also rare – freebie.

Salut! Sunderland‘s audience can number a few thousand on exceptional days but more typically hovers somewhere in the high three figures. Sixer richly deserves to be read by many more. Here is his review of the 2018-19 season, another piece of splendid writing to close the series …

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End of season reviews (6): ‘Sunderland ’til I dry’ and other magical moments

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Beer, barbecue & pre-Wembley banter at Ruislip

 

For Wrinkly Pete, otherwise known as Peter Lynn, in this penultimate instalment of Salut! Sunderland‘s annual series of end-of-season reviews, promotion would have been premature, exposing Sunderland to a challenging time in the Championship. He may be right, though most of us probably wanted to go up all the same.

But Pete refuses to see another League One season as too much of a hardship. He has enjoyed himself in the one just ended and most of all at away games.

Pete Sixsmith concludes the series tomorrow with a magnificent appraisal of our season. It is timed to appear just as Liverpool kick off against Spurs in Madrid so you’ll know where to turn should that event fall below expectations …

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Sunderland end of season review (5): a final whimper but ´I’d have settled for this in August’

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Rob: a much-travelled Mackem

Rob Hutchison sees Sunderland away games a lot, a fact of life for many exiled down south. This is how he rated the season, ending lamely but exceeding his expectations after successive relegations. Check out best away days of the season as nominated by Rob’s son Louis and daughter Olivia at this link …

Four fifty five pm on Sunday and it was done.

The season faded away in a whimper that was oh so Sunderland, snatching a defeat from the jaws of hope and optimism. I shut down social media and left the moment the whistle sounded, could not get out of there quick enough. Cut to an hour later on a train back to Ruislip filled with mixed supporters.

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End of season review (4): mock not, Sunderland’s proper exam lies ahead

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In our latest end-of-season review, Paul Summerside pinpoints negatives but dwells on the progress made in a disappointing season just ended – positives that he feels should stand Sunderland in good stead for next season provided we learn how to manage our strengths and weaknesses …..

In the build up to Sunday’s playoff final vs Charlton, I was chatting with my daughter, who is currently revising for her GCSE mocks.

We discussed the possibility of defeat and its consequences.

“It’s like your mocks, they are an exam to find out your strengths and weaknesses,” I said. You’ll get another chance next year. That’s when it REALLY matters.”

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End of Season Reviews (3): where Sunderland went wrong.

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Do we need to keep a sense of perspective? A year ago we were down and out. Now we’re just down, after failing at the final hurdle. But that was with a hastily assembled squad and a relatively inexperienced manager.  We know there will be changes over the summer and we know when the fixtures come out we won’t be looking at other clubs and thinking “I’ll support them this season”. We are Sunderland, and we are Sunderland ’til we die.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have an opinion on what did go wrong, because things did go wrong. In particular, in my own opinion, the transfer windows were not managed well. There had to be some latitude at the start of the season, given the changes we’d experienced, but what about January? By then problems were obvious but there were too many mistakes in addressing them and it cost us.

I’m going to try to show this below by the judicious use of stats, and have chosen some that back me up. It’s possible you won’t agree and you’re welcome to leave a comment, with or without stats of your own. In fact, I’d love to know what you think of my efforts and my conclusion.

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Harry Hood: in appreciation of a star for Sunderland, Celtic and Clyde

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Another former Sunderland player has passed away. Harry Hood was not one of ours for very long but played well and achieved a decent goals-per-games ratio. Pete Sixsmith tells his story …

The sad news of the death of Harry Hood filtered through as I was making my way home after Sunday’s latest disappointment. He wasn’t a great Sunderland legend, but he did have that title at Parkhead, where he was a revered figure amongst the many fine players who have worn the hoops of Celtic.

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End of Season reviews (2): Ken Gambles reports from the third world

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John McCormick writes:

It’s over. It’s done. All that is left are the broken dreams, blowing in the wind like old chip wrappers on Wembley Way.

And the inquests, recriminations, praisings, optimism, the hope we can’t stand.  We’ll have a few of these in our end of season reviews, which began with Deputy Editor Malcolm Dawson’s contribution prior to the play off final and continue until everyone who wants to has had their say, when Pete Sixsmith will wrap up the series and the season in fine style.

Ken Gambles is next up

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Wembley Soapbox: another Sunderland-Charlton letdown. ‘Why do I do all this?’

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    Pete Sixsmith with his (and my) great pal Pete Horan’s elder daughter Clare

Monsieur Salut writes: it wasn’t in truth so different from what many of us expected. If you’re not sufficiently older than 46 to have seen our last win at Wembley, as opposed to being a babe in someone’s arms, losing comes naturally.

This was awful. We didn’t even huff and puff very much. Gifted a goal, we retreated as if to defend for 85+ minutes what would have been the most bizarre winner in playoff history. And soon surrendered that marginal early dominance.

Did we proceed to create a chance, beyond the tame Grigg header? No. Did the supersub work? Yes, Charlton’s ex-Sunderland man Jonny Williams, who was instantly a threat; not the probably semi-fit Aiden McGeady, remembered mostly for dangerously losing possession. Did our neat little passing triangles by the touchline ever lead to anything better than a passback to McLaughlin? No. Did our centre backs distribute well or make defensive headers go anywhere near fellow-Sunderland players? You already know.

It could all go right as it did when we last lost to Charlton in a playoff final. Equally, it could be a turbulent summer in and around the club. We’ll see. Hats off to our marvellous support (long-suffering is now a given, an adjective that doesn’t need to be inserted each time) and apologies to my granddaughter, Maya, aged 10, for making this her first outing as a Sunderland supporter.

Pete Sixsmith tells the sorry tale …

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