For the bookies and the media pundits, Sam Allardyce is now pretty much the only show in town.
In other words, if you have voted in the Salut! Sunderland poll for Michael Laudrup, Nigel Pearson, Frank De Boer or “others”, not listed above but including Brendan Rodgers and David Moyes, you will have to accept that Big Sam is Ellis Short’s clear first choice and the pair are already talking terms or about to start.
Monsieur Salut writes: John McCormick, our wizard with the stats, wrote this update to his series on the developing relegation scrap before Dick Advocaat left. His gut feelings may therefore change according to who is appointed, but I suspect his calculations will not, or at least not yet .. now over to John …
It’s still early days and small numbers of both wins and losses will continue to produce swings in win-loss ratios for some time, but with no game reports to post because of the international break it’s as good a time as any to make another visit to the bottom end of the table.
Those of you who’ve visited this series previously might remember that my last review took place just as the transfer window had closed and, with that, I gave you the opportunity to have another vote in the relegation poll that I’d opened in the close season.
My view of the bookies making Harry Redknapp a 20-1 outsider for the SAFC job was that it might be their idea of a joke. Thank heavens he’s ruled himself out with an unprofessional series of sideswipes at Sunderland. Of course we were ‘horrendous’ at Bournemouth, of course we’ve made some ghastly moves in the transfer market and of course we’re in deep trouble.
But why on earth would any of that put off a self-respecting manager from considering taking over a great football club? Even a manager unaccustomed to a club that attracts crowds of the size of Sunderland’s, despite playing turgid and losing football, would have to see the potential. ‘Arry wondered about the bus timetable between the south coast and Wearside – let him stay there …
Pete Sixsmith‘s report of the 2-2 draw with West Ham, and the dramatic aftermath, drew comments from both his brothers, …
Who should SAFC appoint to replace Dick Advocaat? Is Big Sam a foregone conclusion? Will Ellis Short go for a …
The announcement everyone expected came today, as Gary Bennett had said it would. Dick Advocaat has resigned – see the …
Malcolm Dawson writes…..on the way back from today’s game Pete Sixsmith got a text suggesting that Big Dick had checked …
Rob Hutchison has been quiet during the recent Sunderland slump. But he is back after the 2-2 home draw with West Ham with his punchy one-word verdicts on the Lads in red and white (and on the quite appalling ref Neil Swarbrick). Sorry Hammers – you’ll have to do the one-worders for your players …
M Salut writes: at 2-0, with management of the Sunderland AFC in wretched disarray, how many of us were really confident it would stay that way? Yet it should have got better, putting the game beyond West Ham’s reach, if only Borini had buried his great chance. Instead, we went in at the interval at 2-1 after Moses had all the time in the world to set up his cross and Borini could do nothing to stop Carl Jenkinson scoring. Pete Sixsmith worried at half time that the miss would prove costly and he was right, despite going home chuffed with the “best performance of the season”.
With spectacular inconsistency, Neil Swarbrick then sent off Lens, scorer of our sublime second, for a second yellow while looking on benignly when Mark Noble’s crude block on Borini should have made it 10-a-side. Quite scandalous refereeing. With Pantilimon’s weak parry allowing the Hammers to equalise, we had to settle for a point and thank Man City for walloping the Mags to lift us off bottom . …
Salut! Sunderland cannot pretend to know what substance there is to speculation that Dick Advocaat has resolved to leave tomorrow evening if Sunderland fail yet again to record a win.