With her old man away in Budapest and relying on Pete Sixsmith’s very gratifying texts from the Stadium of Light, it would have been unfatherly to turn down Nathalie Randall‘s offer to write a piece on the match. She follows the style used by ESPN, where Sixer did the honours for the Hull game. Nathalie probably wants a Liverpool win this coming weekend, but she has a soft spot for her dad’s team, too …
John Mcormick writes: It’s Saturday night, and I’m letting the Chateauneuf-du-Pape breathe. The steak is out of its wrapper and relaxing. The cheese, (a brie that would please Mme Salut) is just resting until it becomes “au point”. Ok, my beloved wife has just explained how I should operate an iron, but my use of such an implement is theoretical and cannot detract from the evening. I’m happy. I’m content. I’m even looking forward to Match of the Day.
But the big thing, the perfect thing, is the knowledge that tomorrow, when I’m cooking the free-range sausage and boiling the free range eggs, it’s Malcolm who will be posting a top-notch account from a top notch reporter, spectator, supporter, or any other noun you may wish to insert.
I’ll leave it to him (Malcolm, that is) to continue. After all, he was there and I wasn’t…..
….Driving to the Stadium of Light yesterday, I realised that I had left my wallet with my season card at home but as I was only five minutes into my journey I had plenty of time to turn around and pick it up. For thirty minutes I was wondering if I had made the right decision. I couldn’t work out if the team had decided to take part in the latest social media craze, the mannequin challenge or whether or not they had been inspired by the latest health craze for the over 50s – walking football. For thirty minutes the midfield defended deep in our own half and when we had the ball there was absolutely no movement off it. How we are missing Lee Cattermole, Seb Larsson or Steven Pienaar, who might have injected a bit of enthusiasm into the rest of players. Even the headless chicken Duncan Watmore seemed content to stand still and watch the player on the ball.
I sent Pete Sixsmith a text which said simply “this is horrible”. Then a bit of magic from Jermaine Defoe turned the game and Victor Anichebe showed that he might well become the most important of our summer signings. I still thought we were poor, mind. Does Sixer agree? Read on to find out…………
John McCormick writes…..
After the game our manager appeared to take some time in sending his post-match letter to M Salut (and maybe one or two others). But knowing our leader is ensconced deep in the heart of Europe (where Mme Salut may hopefully let him look at the results and where he will surely have received M Sixsmith’s texts) Mr Moyes also sent a copy to me to make up for the delay.
What did the letter contain? Well, it wasn’t marked confidential so you can read it for yourself. Here it is:
John McCormick writes……..
For the first half hour or so I thought we were in for a bashing. We looked off the pace, and Elmo was showing Patrick how to do it. But the balance shifted, don’t you think, as the game went on. And who do you think was responsible? Was it David Moyes? Well, maybe, but Pete Sixsmith, there to the death, offers another possibility, in seven words, no more, no less:
Monsieur Salut writes: as many readers will know, I am off to Budapest for the weekend to celebrate my 45th wedding anniversary.
Whatever happens at the SoL on Saturday afternoon, I shall almost certainly have to rely on Pete Sixsmith’s texts to my mobile phone to make me happy or gloomy. I try to be philosophical, especially this early in a season, but it can be tough.
Before I go, let me remind those who have not necessarily been paying attention that it has been a good week on Salut! Sunderland.
This week’s Guess the Score is attracting plenty of entries, which is hardly surprising given
the importance of Saturday’s home game against Hull City. Bottom versus third-bottom is not the stuff of dreams for supporters of the brands – Man Utd/City/Chelsea/Arsenal etc – but it’s got the look of our Cup Final, or maybe the first of several.
There is, perhaps, another reason for the rush of interest: the quality of this week’s prize for whoever is first to predict the correct score.
Monsieur Salut writes: At 15 Mark Bradley* is the youngest ‘Who are You?’ interviewee in the history of Salut! Sunderland. Although we take pride in the quality of this feature, it would not be hard to identify a few examples that showed considerably less maturity and vision than is evident from Mark’s replies.
Like us, he is under no illusion about the significance of Saturday’s game to both clubs and sets of supporters. Concentrating on SAFC, the season does not end if we lose; we are not safe if we win. But the need for three points is pressing, a second successive win that would make climbing out of danger seem less daunting a challenge. We should be grateful to have another struggling side as opponents after finally breaking our duck but, as we so often say, this is Sunderland and we shall see. We thank Mark for his willingness to take part in the discussion …
All the lads and lasses of Budapest out on the town to celebrate a Sunderland win
Pete Sixsmith is not a man without romance. However, his idea of how to make perfect a romantic wedding anniversary weekend in Budapest – a choice of football games – is not necessarily one Madame Salut would share and risks being overlooked. There is certainly romance in the idea of our beloved club whizzing over to Hungary for a major European cup competition. We did it once, way back in 1973, and our Pete was there, breezing through the Iron Curtain to witness splendid goals from Billy Hughes and Dennis Tueart. Let him set the scene for some powerful memories …
While perusing Sunday’s 16-page Observer Special on “Why The Donald Was Able To Seize The Hearts And Minds Of Millions Of Americans” I was disturbed by the phone. Fearing someone trying to convince me that installing solar power was a good idea (in Shildon? Really?) I answered it with a certain amount of trepidation.
Paul Summerside offers another dollop of his usual upbeatery, though he has also been given to moments of doubt, to explain succinctly why Sunderland will beat Hull City and stop us all looking up road maps to Bristol, Barnsley and Burton for next season (truth be told, he’s as nervous as the rest of us) …
Absolutely nailed-on three-nil Sunderland win.
With thanks to the YouTube pages of ExplosiveLemonz
All season, many of us have watched in admiration some of Duncan Watmore’s approach play, his tenacity and his sheer enthusiasm only to be disappointed, as he clearly is, by the lack of end product.
That wasted final ball, the missed opportunity to shoot, the tendency to run a shade too far or let the ball roll beyond him – each of these has happened in games and a bright lad like Watmore did not need Monsieur Salut to tell him so.
So just click on the clip above and savour a moment of finesse he produced in an England Under 21 game.