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1982 and a clogger called Gentile: World Cup memories (5)

June 4, 2010 by Colin Randall

Pete Sixsmith gets to within three decades of the 2010 starting post, with thoughts on takeaway chickens, Bryan Robson getting England off to a great start they couldn’t quite sustain, a Kevin Keegan missed sitter, armies of bluebottles – and the dirtiest player he’s ever seeen …

Held in Sunny Spain with 24 participants which included England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the latter for the first time since 1958. And we almost had a Sunderland player to cheer on as Jimmy Nichol was in the Northern Ireland squad and he had just left Roker Park after a loan spell. Come on ‘yer man!!

Club versus country: time to choose?

June 4, 2010 by Colin Randall

Club versus country. Who wins for you and why? That’s the question – the other question, if Mr Eduardo and his sensitive supporters will permit one last mention – that Salut! Sunderland poses each week during the season to the opposing fan or fans doing the Who Are They? feature.

I have not analysed the replies in any detail – though it might be a good idea to do so – but can say that the responses overwhelmingly put club first.

* With thanks to Elliott Brown (St George flag, above the old Windsor railway station) and “Mrs Logic” (Stadium of Light gates) for the photos

World Cup: Paraguay daft

June 3, 2010 by Colin Randall

Paraguay grabbed morale-boosting 2-0 win against Greece in Switzerland last night, giving them heart for World Cup rigours awaiting them in South Africa. The result will have pleased quite a number of Sunderland fans, too …

To some, it’s just a spot of World Cup fun. Others are taking it a bit more seriously. And a few see it as an outrageous act of treason. But Salut! Sunderland makes no apology for declaring itself the unofficial site for Paraguay in the forthcoming World Cup.

1978, corned beef and dirty wars: World Cup memories (4)

June 3, 2010 by Colin Randall

Where to next? Don’t cry, it’s Argentina that Pete Sixsmith recalls for the fourth chapter of his World Cup book of memories. Another England-free tournament, more crushed Scottish hopes and a final that tore up the romantic script …

No England yet again as Don Revie’s flops failed to make it to Argentina. But Scotland did go and were, in the eyes of many of their fans, and their manager, Ally McCleod, outside bets to bring the trophy back to Glasgow.

England, Heskey and Bent: measuring failure and success

June 2, 2010 by Colin Randall

Imagine the scenario: Emile Heskey has a blinder of a tournament, setting up Defoe and Rooney for winners in two games, feeding Crouch for a couple in another and even scoring himself as England storm to World Cup triumph. Sunderland fans who moaned about Darren Bent’s exclusions begin to look small-minded and absurd. But none of this has happened yet and we are entitled to question not only the nature and basis of decisions made on our behalf, but also whether Bent was ever more than a token member of the provisional squad. Let Jeremy Robson do battle …

Once, I worked with someone who described his boss as being “more content at the centre of failure, than at the edge of success”.

Psychologists often speak of a personality trait which defends against failure. Kids at school will often say that they “didn’t try” in an exam, thus providing an excuse to protect against the embarrassment associated with failure.

1974, Cruyff and Tito: World Cup memories (3)

June 2, 2010 by Colin Randall

Pete Sixsmith‘s World Cup reminiscences reach 1974. It was a year the Scots made it to the finals and England didn’t, Johan Cruyff should have ended up in the winning side and didn’t and Marshal Tito would have made Pete’s day by turning out on the left wing for Yugoslavia, but also didn’t …

This was the first tournament where they played for the “new” World Cup, Brazil having won the right to keep the old one in in perpetuity (which translated as 13 years, the time it took for someone to steal it).

It was staged in the Federal Republic of Germany (West) and it came at the end of my teaching career at Broom Cottages Secondary Modern School as it was subsumed into Ferryhill Comprehensive School.

England didn’t make it to the finals, having been knocked out by a splendid Polish team. How these names roll of the tongue: Gregor Lato, Jerzy Gorgon, Kazimiersk Deyna, Robert Gadocha, Zbigniew Gut and Jan Tomaszewski.
They really were a good side and had had little trouble dumping a poor England team out of the qualifiers, sending Sir H’Alf to spend more time with his family.

Darren Bent: no more than we expected

June 1, 2010 by Colin Randall

The FA, in traditionally clueless fashion, mucked up the announcement of Fabio Capello’s final squad, allowing names of players supposedly omitted or included to be leaked all over the shop while, for whatever reason, dithering over an official statement. At 3pm BST, they finally got round to saying there’d be an announcement in an hour. Why couldn’t they have made this clear earlier, or explained why they couldn’t make it clear? Are they really as hard of thinking as they seem determined to appear? And so it was in the end confirmed, and to no great surprise among Sunderland fans, that Capello had found no room for Darren Bent in the 23-strong squad heading for South Africa. Darren – the great image is from Addick-TedKevin‘s Flickr pages – has learnt a sharp lesson from the Book of Certainties: to be both a Sunderland player, and chosen for England, is one of football’s tallest orders …

When Kevin Keegan picked Kevin Phillips, then the best striker in the Premier League and not even playing in a top six team, to go to Holland and Belgium for Euro 2000, some of us looked forward to seeing how our star would fare at international level.

He was never given the chance.

1970 and Pele: World Cup memories (2)

June 1, 2010 by Colin Randall

For his second look back on the past 11 World Cups, Pete Sixsmith recalls the one that gave him most pleasure, offers a one-word explanation of his withdrawal of support from England and reflects on the greatness of Pele …

The 1970 tournament is seen by many, including me, as the finest of all. It was the first one where colour TV was the rule rather than the exception, it had some brilliant football, capped by the greatest ever goal in a World Cup Final by a Brazilian full back after a pass by Pele – and it marked the end of my support for England.

1966 and all that: World Cup memories (1)

May 31, 2010 by Colin Randall

Pete Sixsmith packs his authoritative knowledge of football with a great recall of detail of the sort that used to earn old Leslie Welch a decent living as the Memory Man. Let’s start Pete’s series of recollections from the past 11 World Cups in the obvious place …

This is the first tournament that I can really remember. 1958 in Sweden didn’t have much impact on a seven-year-old wrapped up in the world of Lewis Jones and Jeff Stephenson at Leeds RLFC, while 1962 in Chile was a long way away and the TV pictures had to be flown over to appear a day late.

I have vague memories of the Battle of Santiago ( Italy and Chile kicked lumps out of each other, while the English referee Ken Aston looked on in amazement) and I do remember the stanchions on the goalposts in Santiago being curved rather than straight. And I wanted Czechoslovakia to win as I was a fledgling Communist.

France, Tunisia and a word in Fifa’s ear

May 31, 2010 by Colin Randall

There will be a lot of random jottings here during the World Cup, given our declared support for Paraguay – not to the exclusion of a probably Bentless England, but in honour of Cristian Riveros, Paulo da Silva and those red and white stripes – and the haphazard nature of the Salut! Sunderland team of scribblers.

First thing first. In the long queue for the Uffizi museum in Florence, the faces of two Mexican students lit up when talk turned to football, and specifically to Sunderland.