Image: addick-tedKevinJust the quickest of French Fancies to alert Salut! Sunderland readers – not including Jeremy Robson, who professes to stop caring about players once they leave SAFC – to another excellent showing by our old favourite Steed Malbranque, taking full advantage of the new lease of footballing life extended by his first club, l’Olympique Lyonnais.
Steed, having produced a Man of the Match display in his debut against Valenciennes, was praised by the French press after playing the full 90 minutes as OL beat Ajaccio 2-0. “Again convincing” said one football writer. The match details show he set up the second goal, for Lisandro Lopez,
OL briefly went top of Ligue 1 but the lead was later regained by Marseille, who have made an impressive start to the season. But beware. Paris Saint-Germain have started winning, too, and could yet prove too powerful – ie too moneyed – for everyone.
It is also true that Steed’s opening two games have been at home against modest opposition. All the same, Salut! Sunderland is just pleased for Steed. His creative presence is missed.]
The weekend results in Ligue 1 (Montpellier’s latest defeat leaving them, last season’s champions, fifth bottom) …
Paris Saint-Germain 2 Toulouse 0
Reims 3 Montpellier 1
Troyes 1 Lille 1
Valenciennes 0 Bordeaux 0
Saint-Etienne 0 Sochaux 1
Evian TG 3 Bastia 0
Nice 4 Brest 2
Rennes 1 Lorient 2
Lyon 2 AC Ajaccio 0
Nancy 0 Marseille 1
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Was hilarious when Lee Clark bottled his first return here. Did he ever play at the SoL when he left? In Fulham’s first season in the Premier League he got ‘injured’ for one game and one game only. Yep he’s return here. There was people planning to hang dummys donning his SAFC shirts and everything.
Probably a bunch of SMBs who planned to take it that far. Reminds me of a certain t shirt that.
Obvious ones who are still around – just – SKP and Julio.
Lee Clark always got a warm welcome when he returned to the SoL and I remember Dennis Tueart being embraced by the Roker crowd when Manchester City came to visit.
Or maybe I am becoming confused.
I take it all back, Jeremy, especially now that I recall how inconsolable you were when George McCartney left (or was it when he came back?)>
Yes, I’ll second that Mark.
What about Paul Stewart?
I’ll get me coat……………………….
steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed
H’way now Salut. Time to have a quiet word with yourself here about this.
It’s not that I don’t care about players when they go. It’s the cloying sentimentality that was doled out about Jordan Henderson (for example) which just grates with me. Henderson played relatively few games for us and left very early, admittedly for a lot of money. Half of his last season most of us were begging for Doubtfire to drop him so lack lustre was his form. He didn’t pull up any trees for us and there aren’t many roots on display at Anfield since he arrived either. Jordan Henderson wasn’t with us for long enough, or did anywhere near enough to find a place in that rocky cove I call my heart.
There are lots of players whose lives I have taken a keen interest in since departing Sunderland. Marco, I always followed keenly, going back further with Jeff Clarke (I was devastated when he left and when he signed for THEM), Paul Bracewell in the sincere hope that we didn’t get him back yet again!
Throw Jody Craddock on that list. He’s had to deal with a fair bit of tragedy and always been sound as a pound.