John McCormick writes:
There’s a busy few days ahead, so the plan is to have a match report up tomorrow morning, though I’ve no idea who will be doing it as Colin, Pete and Malcolm are all at the game. A “Guess the score” will follow the match report some time tomorrow afternoon and then on Monday we have a brief “Who are you?” before Bristol Rovers entertain us once more.
There’s no Bristol “first time ever” from Pete Sixsmith as he did it a few days ago but there is the traditional seven word text he sent on the final whistle today
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The First Time Ever I Saw Your Team: Plymouth Argyle
There are some famous names on display today as Pete Sixsmith takes us on another of his legendary rambles. If I had to choose one of these players it would be Micky Horswill. I loved the way he lurked outside the box to pick up and ping in loose balls, not to mention his no-nonsense, take no prisoners style of play.
Is he a legend at Plymouth? I don’t know, but I do know he deserves high praise on Wearside.
Sunderland-Plymouth Who are You? Argyle’s folk-singing fan on what Tommy Tynan did next
Monsieur Salut writes: time for another Salut! Sunderland first. The Plymouth Argyle Who are You? interviewee and I will be sitting next to each other at the match we discussed. That hasn’t happened before, though I did once accompany Melanie Hill (Mrs Coco the Scab in Brassed Off) to a Charlton away game some while after her interview – Flirting on the Fulwell – appeared.
It is a necessarily short exchange. Geoff Lakeman and I have known each other since the year Sunderland last won the FA Cup, so he is also a little long-in-the-tooth. But he is still a busy man. We met through folk music; he played regularly at the Herga folk club in Wealdstone and I, newly down south, went there most weeks. After a long and distinguished career in journalism, Geoff has returned to music. Not content with producing three sons – Seth, Sean and Sam – who are all fine musicians (and Sam and Sean are married to superb singers, Cara Dillon and Kathryn Roberts respectively), he is on the road again – this time as a troubadour, not a roving reporter
The Plymouth match coincides with a tour by Geoff of northern folk venues and a day off allows him to attend the SoL. I have sorted his ticket and he promises to be on his best behaviour …
Sunderland vs Plymouth Argyle prize Guess the Score. Send them back to Devon pointless
Another home game and another chance to put pressure on Luton and Barnsley, says Monsieur Salut. Two Sunderland wins in a row have eased the fears that naturally arose after we squandered four points against Blackpool and Gillingham.
I am back from a holiday in the UAE. My flight from Abu Dhabi promised internet but did not deliver. I couldn’t even find out how much it would cost for access long enough to hear Barnes and Benno from Bristol Rovers. I could watch Newcastle-Huddersfield live which might have been fun had the appalling away side put up a better fight and I don’t mean more of the stuff that saw them reduced to 10 men in the first half.
Sixer’s Bristol Rovers Soapbox: Sunderland grab all three points in the West Country
Malcolm Dawson writes……..I knew there was an FM radio app on this newish smartphone I’ve got but it was hidden …
Sixer’s Sevens: Bristol Rovers can’t stop momentum building
John McCormick writes: Another clean sheet, another game with more than one goal. Only Charlton’s last minute winner did anything to mar what was a good day all round. Pete Sixsmith texted at half time that to say that this game was a bit scrappy but his post-game seven worder suggests his full match report will be a bit more optimistic:
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Ground: Bristol Rovers and the Memorial Stadium
John McCormick writes: this one was pencilled in when the fixtures came out but by Christmas I knew it would be a non-starter. A pity, as a weekend in Somerset with a quick trip across the border would have made for a brilliant weekend at this time of year. I reckon I’ll just have to make do with reminiscences by Pete Sixsmith instead.
There are worse things in life:
The Bristol Rovers Who are You?: ´the day Sunderland trashed our dressing room’
Monsieur Salut writes: when this is published, I shall be thousands of miles away in the UAE, somewhere between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I may be celebrating from afar two great home wins to make up for the stumble versus Blackpool. The resident thorn in our sides, Brian, may be eating some of his anti-Jack Ross words. I may not be celebrating; he may not feel hungry (and the quick update, written from afar, is that one win and two draws was not a great return on such an open goal of a home run).
Jim Chappell*, our Bristol Rovers ‘Who are You?’ volunteer, is the ultimate fan. Chairman of his team’s supporters’ club for nearly 30 years, he hasn’t missed a home game since 1972.
Jim answered our questions before I went on holiday. His replies will cover both of Sunderland’s forthcoming games at the Memorial Stadium, Saturday’s League One tie and the Checkatrade Trophy semi-final on March 5.
I may go back to him for a between-games update on his thoughts. Jim niftily shortened the usual questions and did so in such an effective fashion that there is no need to reinstate them in full …
Bristol Rovers vs Sunderland Guess the Score. Aim for a prize-winning double
Welcome once again to Salut! Sunderland‘s prize Guess the Score competition as Jack Ross takes the lads to the first of two games in quick succession at Bristol Rovers. Read on and you’ll see it is a special edition of the competition covering both matches.
This is being written before either the Accrington Stanley or Gillingham home ties – Monsieur Salut is away from Feb 16 to 23 inclusive – so you, the readers, are in a better position to judge how we are likely to fare at the Memorial Stadium.
Sixer’s Soapbox: Sunderland return to winning ways against Gillingham
There are a lot more games in the lower divisions than in the Premier League, and even more with our …