No, that isn’t the goal of John McCormick‘s career you see in the above clip, though the one he does remember from his playing days was a cracker, too. Or so he says. But what does life hold once those days come to an end? John explores the business of coming to terms with age’s reality check …
Southampton prove saintly, West Ham bubbles blow and Reading silence is broken
The appeal for volunteers to represent the three promoted clubs – Reading, Southampton and West Ham – in our ‘Who are You?’ series, answering a few questions just before Sunderland play their clubs, initially had 66 per cent success. No problem with the Hammers or Saints, but not a soul from Berkshire responded. Fortunately, the panic is over: we cast our net wider and came up with an ideal candidate. Meanwhile, although we do not play West Ham until next month, here is a passionate Hammer, Matthew Kemp*, with some early thoughts – including his rundown on some of the players – though not Pop Robson – linked to both clubs …
Goldy’s Logic: Wolves and the £14m Fletcher buy – greed or hard bargaining?
NB. Stop Press: Have we, haven’t we? A tweet which may or may not have been a spoof suggested he was ours, or nearly, Wolves having accepted a ludicrously high bid of £14m for Steven Fletcher – good player, no fault of his that football is bonkers but that would make him worth almost as much as PSG paid for Ibrahimovic. It may be complete nonsense, of course. Much dust has still to settle …
Every club will get away with it as long as they can. Sunderland were happy enough to take megabucks for Jordan Henderson, good player and excellent longer-term prospect that he is. Spurs are past masters of the art of extracting ridiculous money for players they sense the would-be buyer wants more than they need to sell. Even so, the Steven Fletcher saga is extraordinary. Wolves have held out for a world-beater fee, with the risk of getting nothing, for a useful player most would value at £5-7m. Before the questionable rumours suggesting we had got what we wanted and so had they, Stephen Goldsmith, a known admirer, had chatted about it to Thomas from the Wolves Blog …
If only fantasy leagues were real, surely an all-Sunderland team would come top
Not the sort of selection to be recommended if you actually want to win. But if you like the idea of fantasy leagues, here is a new one you can join …
The Emirates countdown: expect a storming finish but a rocky start
Bill Taylor advocates realism ahead of Arsenal on Saturday. Whether that translates as the point he and most us would relish, or a philosophical response to heavy defeat, Bill expects the season to start slowly, if slowly’s the right word …
Johnny Watters RIP: a hero in the background
Pete Sixsmith hails a grand Olympic tournament, frets about Saturday at the Emirates and wishes a fond farewell to an important figure from Sunderland’s past …
Arsenal six days away: this is how Salut! Sunderland lines up
They’ve got Olivier Giroud, not to mention Cazorla and Podolski; we have Cuellar, and Sess hasn’t gone (I realise that’s tempting fate). Just six days remain before we face still-mighty Arsenal away, further new signings or not, in the new season’s first game. Time to introduce – or reintroduce – our own team …
Bravo Team GB, the organisers, an army of staff and volunteers and all the public services personnel who made the London Olympics such a success.
Worried about Arsenal? Of course not. All will fit into place …
One week to go and it’s Arsenal away. Olivier Giroud scored a lot of goals in France last season and will be keen to get off to a great Premier start. It’s anyone’s guess where our goalscoring options may come from …
Voice of America: one way of forgetting Leicester and pre-season wobbles
In another pre-season disappointment, Sunderland failed again to score – whatever replays may show about the McClean effort many thought had crossed the line – and went down 1-0 at Leicester. We can but pray managers are right when saying after any pre-season defeat that it’s really only about fitness. So let Robert Simmons whisk us acros the Atlantic again for another look at the game through SAFC-supporting American eyes …
Calling witty, warm and wise Reading, Southampton and West Ham fans
In June last year, Salut! Sunderland put out a little appeal for knowledgeable supporters of QPR, Norwich City and Swansea to offer their services as interviewees in our Who are You? series.