Sixer’s Sevens: Bury just not good enough, but maybe we are

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Jake: ‘it won’t always be pretty’

Welcome to the 2017-2018 edition of Sixer’s Sevens, in which Pete Sixsmith captures the essence of each game in just seven words. An asterisk before the verdict indicates that Sixer was absent and the words have been supplied by a supersub.

But no Supersub was needed today. Pete was there. We got through (and after the most tedious draw in history we’re away to Carlisle in the next round). His match report will follow, though with Norwich so near and so far I’m not sure when, so for now we’ll have to mull over a very non-committal verdict that make no mention of George Honeyman, who did his bit in a team that just might be coming together.  Maybe Jake got it right with his caption.

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Seb Larsson goes to Hull with our best wishes – and thanks

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Thanks for everthing, Seb – but please don’t suddenly rediscover your set piece genius against us

APOLOGIES FOR THE EARLIER LOSS OF THE SITE FROM THE WEB: IT SEEMS LIKELY ONE OF THE IMAGES — USED OF SEB WAS TO BLAME. ITS REMOVAL HAS DONE THE TRICK

There are departures and departures. Sometimes players go and we’re delighted to see the back of them, either because they proved to be useless for Sunderland or seemed to care nothing for the club. Offer your own list of candidates.

A few are so good or promising that it would be unrealistic to expect them as professionals to stay. Witness the two Jordans, Henderson and Pickford: they’ll always be Sunderland fans but how many of us would allow such simple preferences to stand in the way of massive job opportunities?

And then there are those who have done a job for us but for whom a move is in the best interests of club and player.

Seb Larsson falls into that category.

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Bury ‘Who are You?’: fond memories of Paul Butler and losing 5-2 to SAFC

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Neil Davis gets some light training done

Like Mel, commenting in the Bury vs Sunderland Guess the Score competition (have a go whoever you support), I was at Roker Park on Boxing Day 1962 when an accidental collision with Bury’s keeper Chris Harker effectively ended Brian Clough’s career. King Charlie missed a penalty, we lost 1-0 and a fluke winner for Chelsea in the final game of the season cost us promotion. I was not there when a 5-2 win won us promotion many years later. Neil Davis is too young to have been there in the 1960s but remembers the other game as the best defeat he’s experienced … read of for some great thoughts from a solid fan of a proper club …

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Guess the Score as Sunderland take on Bury in the League Cup

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Jake kicks off a new season of Guess the Score

Pete Sixsmith has added another superb instalment to his self-inflicted First Time Ever I Saw Your Team series.

Whoever who support, it’s a great read, taking in Sixer’s experiences of seeing SAFC play Bury.

Monsieur Salut thought he had missed a rather important shared experience of the more distant past – that awful Boxing Day in 1962 when Brian Clough collided with the blameless Bury keeper Chris Harker. But Sixer wasn’t there that day to share the agony of the Fulwell end (compounded by Charlie Hurley’s missed penalty and a 1-0 defeat).

Torn medial and cruciate ligaments were a lot harder to repair back then and although Cloughie came back, it was not for another season and a half and the injury effectively ended his playing career. Was it a blessing in disguise given how distinguished a manager he became?

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The First Time Ever I Saw Your Team: (2) Bury

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For his first contribution to a series he devised in a quiet moment between delivering papers, visiting obscure football grounds and losing weight, Pete Sixsmith very nearly won the Freedom of Derby, so contented were the Rams fans who strayed here long enough to see it.

Second instalment: back where we won 5-2 to clinch promotion yonks ago, and where more recently we went two goals down before snatching victory in the first of our pre-season friendlies.

This was a great idea for a series. Let’s hope Sixer’s lighter shape can withstand the demands it will place on him for all the instalments to come …

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View from the Avenue: a sunnier Summerside outlook

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Paul Summerside calls for a back to basics approach even if it takes longer than a season to mount a serious promotion challenge

Paul Summerside was Mr Doom and Gloom last season – as, in our different ways, were most of the rest of us – and eventually went on strike, boycotting the Stadium of Light in protest at David Moyes still being in charge.

After one home draw against broadly similar underachievers, he/we will hardly be proclaiming the return of Good Times. But in a fascinating debate at Salut! Sunderland‘s Facebook pages – join the group* if you haven’t already – he made these cautiously upbeat points. The optimism depends on Simon Grayson getting the proceeds of the Jeremain Lens departure (UPDATE: on reflection a lot less sensible and lucrative than it appeared; just a loan with SAFC receiving only £1.4m – and more – to strengthen his side …

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Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Fulham, Sheff Wed, Leeds and Sunderland – the ones to watch

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not long now.

As foretold, the poll we’ve been running slipped down the front page and then off it so, although it remained – indeed remains – live, it no-one has visited recently. Before it disappeared from view we’d had over 7,000 votes cast, with well over 1,200 people taking part, from all parts of the UK and beyond.

That’s enough to provide me with a guide as to which clubs we’ll report on as we try to get an idea of who’s heading out of the Championship in the right direction.

As the headline says, Sunderland’s in the mix, probably only because  of the loyalty of diehard fans.

Has that loyalty been strained too much by recent events? Or did they, perhaps, inject a dose of realism? The poll’s still open, perhaps Norwich will make that jump from seventh before the season starts.

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