Pete Sixsmith needs his football fix like a chocoholic needs a Bounty before breakfast. Still smiling from the hammering of …
Before getting on to Bolton Wanderers and Guess the Score, here is one small piece of unfinished business from the West Ham match.
For my last words on the satisfactory afternoon’s work on Saturday, I shared with readers of the ESPN FC site the thought, already expressed on these pages, that the good, loud contingent Hammers support deserved better than the miserable display their team offered them.
Pete Sixsmith has not been the world’s most cheerful chappie this season. He was in decidedly happier fettle after yesterday’s sweet demolition job, finding warm words of praise for the entire Sunderland team, spirited and dominant as they were, and for the fans’ equally spirited mockery of the ineffectual pantomime villain, Kevin Nolan. He even offers sporting applause to the sizeable away support who must have been appalled by what they saw but kept up decent encouragement of their players throughout …
It was freezing today at the Stadium of Light but the boys put in a performance to warm the cockles. …
Salut! Sunderland tries hard to get Pete Sixsmith’s seven word verdict and Jake’s full time graphics onto the site as soon as humanly possible after the final whistle. Quicker even than the Echo Pink used to hit the news stands but with all the team at the game today it is a little later than usual. Still who’s going to complain after the result?
Last week, I honestly thought someone, possibly a Bolton fan, had decided the FA Cup game had 2-2 written all over it. I could find no trace of such a prediction; did I just dream it? If anyone can point me in its direction, then the man, woman or child who made it is owed a mug.
You’ve seen the West Ham Who are You?; now see what we told them.
And not just us. Pete Sixsmith readily supplied the nitty gritty on all things Sunderland. But in the panic to locate a warm, witty or wise SAFC supporter in time – Salut! Sunderland knows that panic – the fan site WestHamOnline found that, like hailable London taxis driven by Hammers fans, they come alomg not at all or in pairs.
Apologies for earlier distortion on images – the posting had to be made in haste
The first thing to say about Peter Thorne*, our West Ham “Who are You?” volunteer, is that he is not Billy Bragg, the Bard of Barking and famous Hammer. He is, however, Billy Blagg, blogging under that nom de guerre at WestHamOnline. As Peter, he is another of Monsieur Salut’s fellow contributors to the ESPN FC pages. Late panic over – his replies initially went astray – here are his full, frank and entertaining thoughts as Sunderland prepare to face his team on Saturday …
Well, the first inward transfer has been done. Alfred N’Diaye, 22, is now a Sunderland player having joined for, reportedly, just under £4m – the club says “undisclosed fee” so has no grounds for complaint when people speculate – and hopes to play some part in Saturday’s game against West Ham.
That’s a decent goal you see him picking up for the Turkish side, Bursaspor, in the clip. So he’s an attacking midfielder but can also play in defence.
John McCormick takes a long, cool look at the way young would-be footballers’ dreams of top-flight careers are nurtured and, all too often, dashed …
There have recently been comments that Martin O’Neill needed not only to get busy in the transfer window but also to start bringing in some of our academy players.
The latter may be wishful thinking. You may remember Goldy, on these pages, voicing early-season criticism of our academy’s attitude to young players. My own experience, gained when I talked to teachers and conducted pupil interviews in the North West, suggests that there is a problem but it’s not confined to Sunderland.