Sixer’s Sevens – Norwich City: as Sunderland let the lifeline slip

Malcolm Dawson writes…..things are so bad at the moment for Sunderland supporters that here at Salut! Sunderland M Salut has gone en vacances sur la plage and John Mac is as we speak, jetting away de vacaciones en la playa, leaving me to update the site from a wet and dreary Weardale and Peter Sixsmith, after presumably a wet and dreary wander along Seaburn sea front, to trudge along to the Stadium of Light and take up his customary position in the East Stand to bring us his instant seven word verdict. Canaries were once common throughout the North East coalmines to forewarn of impending disaster. Was this evening the final flicker of the Championship flame or was there a bit of spark to cheer our wordmeister on a wet and miserable night.  I’ll bet you’ve got a fair idea but let’s see what he has to say in his immediate post match seven word summary.

Jake: Sixer’s in

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The First Time Ever I Saw Your Team: Norwich City

Pete Sixsmith

John McCormick writes: the cup tie at Carrow Road mentioned below has a certain resonance but I don’t remember the replay. 1968 is very much a time when I’d have been there but there’s nothing, absolutely nothing, that I remember about it.

Pete Sixsmith, once again, comes to the rescue. He was there. He remembers it. He leaves me hanging my head in shame.  I can say no more and I humbly apologise, much as so many of our players should do.

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SAFC vs Norwich City Who are You?: on Grabban, Delia … and Ricky van Wolfswinkel

Black Dog: ‘Black Cats don’t scare me’

Monsieur Salut writes: the curtain seems almost down on as bad a season as most Sunderland fans have experienced. Thanks Ellis Short – near the top of the Championship table for money spent of agents’ fees, near the bottom for investment on players and next to bottom of the league when not actually bottom.

Martin Penney is our Norwich City interviewee. He has missed all of five of the Canaries’ home games in 30 years. He’s from the Norwich MyFootballWriter site and the dog you see above, poised to bark loudly at the Black Cats, is ‘a Patterdale called Geezer after the best bassist in the entire world – Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath’. There you have it, and here are his excellent responses to Salut! Sunderland‘s questions …

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Norwich Guess the Score: to think we’ll be at the World Cup

Enter for fun or to win a mug

Monsieur Salut writes: a family holiday looms so this is being prepared between Black Monday, perhaps the defining moment of a wretched season when even a half-decent performance was undone by the usual defensive frailties, and whatever happens at Leeds. I leave it to Salut! Sunderland colleagues to update this introduction as they see fit after Elland Road. For now, I shall combine the usual prize Guess the Score competition for the next home game, Norwich City and a rare chance to record a double, with some thoughts from elsewhere on a competition that seems to have little or nothing to do with the preoccupations of a club heading for League One (or not, according to results) …

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Hutch’s patch from Leeds: Olivia checks in as we (just about) check out

Rob: a long road back?

Rob Hutchison was driving, he told Olivia, who texted Colin, who group e-mailed asking if anyone could put this up and I (John Mac) picked up the message. That’s teamwork.

Did we see any teamwork at Elland Road? I thought we were OK, Pete’s seven word text suggests we did and now we have some corroboration.

What a pity it’s too late

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Sixer’s Sevens – Leeds United: close but no cigar

Jake: ‘it’s not always pretty’

Unless Radio Newcastle had their effects microphone turned up extra loud today the Sunderland fans at Elland Road were in fine form. The Barnes and Bennett commentary conveyed a pleasing performance from the Lads, who it sounds as if dominated the game for long periods. But at one goal ahead the expectation this season is more one of waiting for the opposition to score than going home with three points. Sure enough Leeds got one back and despite going down to 10 men with a few minutes left the pressure from the boys in red and white was not enough to produce a winner. Pete Sixsmith was there and as usual sums things up in only seven words.

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The First Time Ever I Saw Your Ground: Leeds United and Elland Road

Pete Sixsmith

John McCormick writes: Some time in the early sixties, after my dad had taken me to St James Park for my very first proper game, he and I were listening to a match on the radio. It was Sunderland v Leeds or  more probably Leeds v Sunderland. I think I’d decided to support Sunderland by then but it was possibly this match that confirmed it for me and turned me away from the Dark Side for all time.

It may have been another ten years before I got round to seeing Leeds live.  Not so for Pete Sixsmith; it looks like he was there in the flesh as me and my dad sat listening to the light programme  in the kitchen.

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Leeds United vs SAFC Who are You?: ‘glory days may be gone forever’

Kevin Ayscough with a miniature Leeds fan, his grandson Charlie

Monsieur Salut writes: Black Monday was followed by Blacker Tuesday, the latest home defeat put in grim perspective by Birmingham’s win at Bolton. It all made a mockery of the hope some allowed themselves after the aberration of a Sunderland win at Pride Park.

But life of a sort goes on. There’s a prize Leeds United-SAFC Guess the Score and, now, a return to the Who are You? series (our Sheffield Wednesday interview never arrived, but there was no reason for reproach since the volunteer’s father had just died).

We first met our Leeds-supporting candidate Kevin Ayscough*, related to our own Pete Sixsmith through marriage, before the equivalent game at the Stadium of Light, a 2-0 away win that set the tone for most of our home programme. Here he is again, disappointed at Leeds’s own failings and urging SAFC to keep faith with Chris Coleman for the battles ahead …

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