Martin’s Musings on an excruciating defeat: Middlesbrough’s ‘free spirit’ leaves SAFC ‘disappointed’

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Jake's imagination

Disapppointed, it is fair to say, was a word heard often on Steve Bruce’s lips. It annoyed many supporters no end. And it somehow seems entirely the wrong response to this latest setback in the fortunes of Sunderland AFC, implying as it does that we would have progressed further in this uncommonly winnable of competitions if only all our flair, sense of adventure and endeavour had paid off. As opposed to the reason for the exit being, as Pete Sixsmith called, is ‘the most inept performance since the last most inept performance, clueless and brainless’. Let us hear what the boss had to say in the knowledge that sterner analysis is in the minds of others …

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Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 0 Middlesbrough 1 – when will someone score?

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Jake gives Sixer star billing

With M Salut having other duties and his deputy being at the game I (John Mac, that is) was left in charge of the shop. Radio 5 made only fleeting visits to Sunderland, Radio Newcastle doesn’t stream games on the net and the SAFC website was very reluctant to refresh. Fortunately, Pete Sixsmith has the technology we need. Within seconds of the final whistle his text was winging its way across the Pennines with a seven word summary that tells us all we need to know. And that’s as good as it got…





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Wise words on Sunderland’s brand of football PLUS Middlesbrough ‘Guess the Score’
		

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Jake's got his. Now you can join the Buy One, Win One rush




Let us mix fun, competition and a sense or proportion. First, treat this as a Guess the Score posting: usual rules, as recently modified – if you are the first to predict the correct SAFC v Boro score at the end of normal plus any extra time, that is before a penalty shoot-out, you qualify for a free Martin O’Neill mug provided you buy one too*. Now for the sense of proportion …



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Sixer’s Sevens: short, sharp matchday verdicts
		

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Sixer by Jake





It seemed a good moment to refresh this, the full list of seven-word verdicts on each Sunderland game by Pete Sixsmith, Salut! Sunderland‘s peerless chronicler and sage. They appear as soon after each final whistle as we can manage (which sometimes may not be as soon as we’d like), and should be seen here and at a posting updated after the match. If an asterisk precedes the comment, the words that follow are the work of someone else …


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SAFC v Middlesbrough ‘Who are You?’: (2) predicting another ‘unlucky’ Boro exit
		

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Jake demands an improvement ...


For our second Boro ‘Who are You?’ – or would it be more accurate to say the second and third? – we turn to a great stalwart of amateur football, John Atkinson*, president of Shildon FC and a former player in the area, and his pal Eddie Airey**, Shildon to the core, both of whom also share a passion for Middlesbrough FC. John – who has great personal memories of the Clough family – sees a replica of last season in the FA Cup, Eddie is less sure … 


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SAFC v Middlesbrough ‘Who are You?’: (1) hailing Cloughie, Juninho, Julio
		

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Jake wants to know ...


What’s this? Another Monsieur Salut relative supporting the wrong North-eastern team? Well, the region is like that for a lot of families. Pete Chapman, one of my sister’s lads, was born and grew up in Middlesbrough so could hardly be blamed for his choice of club or, as he puts it himself, their choice of him. This is the first of two Who are You? features ahead of tomorrow’s league cup clash at the SoL. Pete tells Uncle Col he sees Julio Arca’s playing career ending but, maybe, another on the horizon …


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Sixer’s Soapbox: Stoke 0 Sunderland 0 – purgatory in the Potteries
		

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Martin O’Neill and plenty of Sunderland fans came away from the Britannia Stadium happy with another point in the bag. After all Stoke can be a difficult team to play and apart from last season’s snowy encounter, the Potteries hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for The Black Cats in recent times. Pete Sixsmith’s growing disillusionment with the Premier League has been well documented in his earlier match reports and there is little here to suggest that the feeling has been diluted. What follows is his cathartic therapy in an effort to forget…..





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