Roger Titford* is a market research specialist, writer and prominent follower of Reading FC, having served as chairman of the supporters’ club. In the first home ‘Who are You?’ of the season, he talks up Berkshire’s potential appeal to the stars, remembers a rare bad decision by Charlie Hurley and makes the case for muckier football …
Monsieur Salut’s very lenient ground rules for deciding whether it is OK to support this or that club – see http://safc.blog/2012/08/chelsea-manchester-united-sunderland-the-rights-and-wrongs-of-choosing-your-club/ – have sparked lively debate. Robert Simmons, from the US of A, rose to the bait and responded in the form of a personal letter. This is all entirely light-hearted (Robbie is, in fact, mightily welcome here) and here he proposes some additional rules …
The thoughts of Robert Simmons, our Voice of America, and the fellow-American supporters who made themselves known after his most recent article, prompted this raid of the Salut! Sunderland archives for a piece, now slightly updated, describing Monsieur Salut’s True Supporter Test …
No, not another piece drawing attention to Sunderland’s slight problem with that annoying but persistent need to score goals if football matches are to be won. All will doubtless fall into place once the transfer window closes and Martin O’Neill has assembled his desired squad. Indeed, we may even seen the Lads score a hatful against Reading on Saturday with or without new faces in the team.
But this is a plaintive plea to supporters of Swansea City to descend from that euphoric place in the clouds, to which they were transported by a sensational five-goal start to the season at Loftus Road, and come to the aid of Salut! Sunderland.
Not content with his thought provoking, even provocative postings on Salut! Sunderland, Stephen Goldsmith has come up with an idea to test the predictive powers of the regular contributors to the site. He explains …
Robert Simmons has already made his mark at what one Arsenal supporter has called our ‘eloquent’ site. Here, he describes the experience of being an American who chooses to follow the Lads and offers thoughts about how Ellis Short might drive up interest in SAFC in their native land. You almost hear John McEnroe asking Robert why …
One last look at a game the mighty Untold Arsenal website* called Arsenal v Sunderbus, though you can also see what Monsieur Salut made of it at the new FC Network feature on the ESPN site A recently recruited addition to the Salut! Sunderland team, Lars Knutsen, exiled in the USA, takes encouragement from the draw, wonders whether Wenger has lost it and appeals to footballers’ wives – while somehow keeping an entirely straight face – to give the Bridges centre a chance …
Pete Sixsmith risked the vagaries of an early morning shower and an irate cat to meet up with his old friends Rupert and Monty at Ashburton Grove. The Durham Branch of the Sunderland Supporters’ Association parked up the bus in north London and according to the pundits the team did the same. But after a somewhat disappointing lack of activity in the transfer market, there was much on show to make the long journey back less pessimistic than it might have been. There is surely more to come before the window is slammed shut but for now Pete applauds the effort of those who turned out at the Emirates and celebrates a point won.
Television pundits and not a few Arsenal supporters whinge about Sunderland “parking the bus”.
Welcome to the new season and another series of the Martin O’Neill post-match e-mail – sent exclusively to Salut! Sunderland (and a few thousand others). Football purists are wittering on tonight about us parking the bus. They said nothing when Chelsea won the CL, also by defending deep and relying on breaks. MON considered it a tremendous effort and elsewhere promised new signings soon (Adam Johnson was today’s rumour)..