Stephen Goldsmith writes: I refuse to get too carried away with all the doom and gloom just yet – as tempting as that may be! You certainly won’t be hearing me shout for a change in management amid all this poor show of form. The national media are particularly mystified as to why the Sunderland fans are keeping their patience with O’Neill, in an almost identical manner in which they were mystified as to why we wanted their pal Bruce out last season. Double standards springs to mind. The crux of it all is that last season’s mini-revival highlights the amazing impact that O’Neill had when he came here. Who can argue that the Ulsterman’s arrival resulted in a below average squad performing above themselves? They have now plateaued and it isn’t pretty. Had Bruce still been here we would be playing Championship football, a fact which nobody should doubt.
Norwich v SAFC ‘Who are You?’: Wembley-bound with dog collar and prayers
Salut! Sunderland has cornered the market in football-supporting clerics. Last season we had the thoughts of the Rev Leo Osborn, then in his year as the Methodist equivalent of the Archbishop of Canterbury, ahead of a game against his beloved Aston Villa, and the Rev Alan Comfort, Boro-supporting footballer turned vicar. The Very Rev Christopher Dalliston* is the Anglican Dean of Newcastle, based at St Nicholas’ Cathedral, but when it comes to birds, prefers Canaries to Magpies. As Sunderland prepare to visit the Canaries’ natural habitat, he talks about Grant Holt, Delia, the Friendly Final and a winning Martin O’Neill goal …
Sixer’s Soapbox: Sunderland are the new QPR – quite poor really!
Peter Sixsmith has been watching Sunderland since the days of Cec Irwin and Ambrose Fogarty. In that time he has witnessed some dross and he now adds Tuesday’s visit of the Premier League’s bottom side to that collection. Much of the pre match speculation was about the effect Harry Redknapp would have on the game but in truth QPR could have had Louise Redknapp in the technical area and the outcome would probably have been the same – such was the dearth of attacking options provided by Martin O’Neill’s boys. As a contributor to Total Sport said earlier this evening: “The Samaritans were outside the ground handing out leaflets after this one.” We’ll let Sixer talk it through.
Martin’s Musings: small talk on SAFC’s failure to beat QPR
Don’t worry, we’ll win 3-1. That was one pre-match thought. In the event, they – QPR – won 0-0. Awful result for Sunderland and Martin O’Neill‘s e-mail looks shorter than usual. There’s no elaborate attempt to present it in any better light. Just the customary assertion that another “big game” looms. Oh dear …
Chelsea: still not properly sorry, still a disgrace
Victimhood has set in at Stamford Bridge. After acting despicably last week, dismissing a manager months into a reign that had yielded unexpected glory and refusing to apologise for the appalling slur on Mark Clattenburg’s reputation, the club is clinging to its bogus high ground.
Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 0 QPR 0. ‘Dull as ditchwater’, just not good enough
For once it seems wise to leave proper comment to Pete Sixsmith. He was there, Monsieur Salut was not. Good as Barnes and Bennett are on BBC Radio Newcastle, radio commentary is no substitute for seeing the game in the stadium. Pete’s three-word verdict can be seen above. His seven-word verdict, quoted below woth heavy heart, will be followed in due course by his fuller assessment of what sounded like a cautious, unadventurous evening playing lowly QPR…
Sunderland v QPR: can O’Neill block the ‘Arry effect? Guess the score
Almost forgot. It is a big game tonight, says Martin O’Neill, at the same time denying those tweeted claims that he had offered his resignation after the West Brom defeat.
Sadly, when you’ve won only twice and it’s almost December, every match is big. In the short time left before the match gets under way, here’s your opportunity to say how will this one end up.
Sunderland v QPR Who are You?: ‘keep the faith. We’d have MoN’
As Pete Sixsmith said, another Saturday, another Sunderland defeat (he actually wrote ‘another Sunday’, as in another Sunday to have to write about losing). So let us put WBA behind us and move on in hope. Is it to be a case of ‘Arry arriving at just at the wrong time for us or will the men who are the cause of our disappointment finally offer a home performance the supporters deserve? Monsieur Salut’s former colleague John Crowley, a Loftus Road loyalist (if you can have loyalists from County Cork), weighs up the new boss’s prospects, tells us where the “dour Welshman down the pub” went wrong and prescribes a course of patience for our own support …
Sixer’s Soapbox: costly errors as West Brom boing boing back to the Black Country
Malcolm Dawson writes….: There are times when I question the logic of spending good money going to football. Yes there are times when the team puts in a performance that lifts the heart, when a close game or a dramatic fightback creates a tension that gets the pulse racing, when a back to the wall performance, defying the odds, creates a sense of relief that brings a satisfaction all of its own. But it seems that more often than not I feel like I did on Saturday. After a half an hour or so I had that familiar feeling of resignation that we would get nothing from the game and what may have been a disappointing couple of hours became excruciating as the whining bloke behind me, kept up a constant two word analysis of the team’s performance. On my way back to the car I bumped into a couple of friends, North East born but living in Staffordshire, who had been to see Show of Hands at the Sage on Friday and were stopping off at Derby on the way home to catch a Bellowhead concert. Folk music may not be your cup of tea but you know what you are getting for your pennies. Still I’ll be back for QPR as will Pete Sixsmith. Here’s what he has to say about the Baggies….
Martin’s Musings from SAFC 2 WBA 4: ‘unlucky Simon Mignolet’
There were those of us who thought we may have turned a corner at Craven Cottage, but today that corner only took us into a cul de sac. To me – Malcolm Dawson – it seemed as if nothing much had changed from previous home games and the first half was another dose of “Groundhog Day”. The midfield was static, the team lacked purpose going sideways rather than forwards and it was only after we were two – nil behind that we showed any attacking threat. Was it a penalty? I’ll watch the replays tonight but it was certainly a needless one (M Salut, watching on TV, saw in Liam Ridgewell an accomplished diver at work). Those around me were less than happy but the manager remains upbeat.