We must rely on the official club site, and texts from Pete Sixsmith watching at home, for our knowledge of Sunderland’s resilient display in the final preseason friendly, against Borussia Dortmund in the woefully named Cashpoint Arena in Altach, Austria.
A powerful header from Lamine Kone, a man David Moyes must keep unless he has Charlie Hurley up his sleeve, kept the unbeaten summer record intact and gave strong reason for hope in spite of the ponderous progress on inward transfers. That – the failure to sign anyone – is surely about to change but for now, let us feed on the positives – and with any luck SAFC.com won’t mind either the properly credited use of an extract from its own report or the photo of the new away strip, which the club has in recent season been only too happy to provide in any case.
As results go, then, a satisfactory approach to our 10th successive season in the Premier League. Let us hope it is a good one, whether or not the current pattern of stats, bets and tips suggests SAFC can hope for the welcome rarity of a stress-free autumn, winter and spring …
