The 223 posts have been put in the spreadsheet. (Mr Probert didn’t score very well).
The poll has been removed as it’s being set up for the next game. Comments are below for you to read and add to:
Sixer’s Sevens: Sunderland rue lack of killer finish as Luton are gifted a penalty
SAFC made a return to the Stadium of Light, Pete Sixsmith made a return to the Stadum of Light and Mick Harford made return to Sunderland while Josh Maja didn’t, because he was sick, we’re told. I reckon a few thousand others will have been sick – as a parrot – after an inexplicable penalty which led to one of Pete’s texts labelling the ref as inept. I wonder how that will affect his score when ‘rate the ref’ opens in 15 minutes
Pete sent more texts during and after the game, one of them seven words long. You’ll find it below. It suggests there is an issue Jack Ross need to address, with or without Josh Maja, before we can breathe more easily. Expect more from Pete is due course …
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Team: Luton Town
John McCormick writes, I’m not sure whether or not I ever saw Luton during the sixties. Pete Sixsmith didn’t, so I doubt that I did. I might have seen them in the game below but it’s unlikely as I was in my first year away and didn’t go back that often. I did go back two years later, though, when I was one of 53,000 that saw us cruise past Luton in a cup game. Can you guess what year that was without reading Pete’s piece?
What a stupid question. Why would anyone not want to read Pete’s piece?
Wrinkly Pete: home is where the heart is but our away days arouse the passion
Peter Lynn, aka the wrinkly one, gets to a lot of games home and away. He’s noticed, even when things are going badly, how much more vocal the travelling support is than Stadium of Light crowds, where he feels something special has to happen on the field to inspire a real buzz in the stands …
Can we play you (away) every week?
Every fan of every club will be aware of the taunting lyrics “can we play you every week?” sung to Bread of Heaven when a thumping takes place. Sometimes you’re on the receiving end and sometimes giving it out.
My spin on it is that we would be better off playing away from home. I imagine many saying/thinking “How dare you say that?” Well read on……..
A Luton view on ‘best League One team by far’: not them, Sunderland or Portsmouth
NB: Richard has now, at Monsieur Salut’s request, expanded on his acclaim for Barnsley. See below for the longer response to the relevant question
Monsieur Salut writes: back when played Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in the second game of the season, our Hatters’ Who are You? interviewee Richard Armstrong correctly predicted a 1-1 draw. He thought then that after the glory of promotion the previous season, Luton would be mid-table while we would reach the playoffs.
Given all that has happened since, with Luton second top one place ahead of us, it seemed a good idea to go back to him ahead of Saturday’s crucial return. What does Richard think now, how will Nathan Jones’s departure for the manager’s job at Stoke affect the Hatters and do Sunderland now look capable of winning automatic promotion? Read on and, if you’ve seen all the League One frontrunners, let us know whether you agree on who is best of the bunch ..
Salut!’s Seasonal Summary. Part Two: from Bristol to Blackpool
By now you should have read part one of this series, the preview of the Christmas period which I wrote for the SAFC programme. You might even remember some of the words I wrote, especially the conclusion:
“Christmas and early January remain crucial, which for us means holding our own away and completing doubles over Bradford and Shrewsbury at home. I’m not one for predicting results or tempting fate, and am all too aware there are no easy games in this league but I think we can do that, and I can see us still being in contention when the decorations come down.”
Sunderland 4 Newcastle U21s 0: experienced Black Cats polish off young Magpies
SUNDERLAND AFC 4 NEWCASTLE UNITED U21S 0 – EFL TROPHY I switched on Radio Newcastle’s Total Sport as I set …
Sixer’s Checkatrade Sevens: cruise to victory puts SAFC-Newcastle U21 out of way
Pete Sixsmith is recovering after his recent op but felt it wiser to give a miss to SAFC vs whoever might be representing the Mags. In his place, possibly in his actual place at the SoL, Salut! Sunderland‘s Malcolm Dawson took the armband for the seven word verdict.
SAFC vs Luton Town Guess the Score: we won’t get many better chances to go second
We know it. They know it. The Charlton game was important but Saturday’s battle of third-top, Sunderland, versus second-top, Luton Town, is immense.
The stakes are perfectly simple. Win and Sunderland go second in Luton’s place, still enjoying a game in hand. Lose and we lose that game-in-hand advantage as the Hatters will have stretched the gap between us to four points.
A draw, disappointing as it would be to fail to improve on the 1-1 outcome at their place, would at least leave things as they are, though a glance at the fixtures shows top-of-the-table Portsmouth have an eminently winnable home tie against Blackpool. Sunderland and Jack Ross have to show they can rise to what will be a high-pressure occasion.
Your task is the guess the score at the Stadium of Light.
Rating the Ref: Watford don’t appreciate a SAFC bête noire either
A message from Ken Gambles, whose idea led to our mini-series Rate the Ref, presents an opportunity for Monsieur Salut to offer a final encouragement to supporters to mark Steve Martin’s performance in charge of the 1-1 draw at Charlton.
In his 1-10 list of ratings for each edition of the series, Ken chose a special ignominous mention for one hapless man with the whistle, David Coote. Alongside the (lowest) 1/10 option appears this explanatory note: “Coote-like (the ref for the Peterborough game). Enough said. Abysmal.”
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