COMPETITION ENDS ONCE GAME KICKS OFF
Yes, we’ve hit the bottom three.
It needn’t, shouldn’t – won’t? – be for more than a few more hours.
SAFC v Blackburn a six-pointer as we descend into the drop zone
Salut!’s week: eaten by Wolves, impressed by O’Neill, hailing Ryan Noble
Salut! Sunderland present a quick digest of the week’s action, from another gloomy matchday to the bright hope that young Ryan Noble represents for our future …
Martin O’Neill (caricature courtesy of Kartun Malaysia) probably guessed what was likely to happen at Molineux – a nervy lead, soon allowed to evaporate – and chose to be nowhere near the dugout.
Asamoah ‘in no rush to return’: do we groan or cheer?
If Ghanasoccernet.com is right in quoting Asamoah Gyan – anyone remember him? – as ruling out any early return to Sunderland, there is really only one word that needs to be said by way of appropriate response.
But first let’s see what he is reported to have said:
Nobler times: Reserves hammer Manchester United and the wind doth blow
Noble is No 31 in ‘Vagueonthehow”s image
Martin O’Neill was there, and so was Pete Sixsmith was there, as the happy text messages confirmed, as Ryan Noble hit four more goals for the Reserves the heartening 6-3 win over the once-mighty Reds of Manchester United. So a great new hope for Sunderland’s future maintained his prolific record; the wonder is that the newly fallible United didn’t leave the Eppleton Colliery ground with him tucked in their pockets. …
Manchester United did some preparatory work for Thursday night football and the Europa League as the Red Devils roadshow came to a windy and chilly Eppleton CW last night. TV gantries, a huge double decker bus and a technical team that would have almost filled the stand, never mind the dugouts, all bore witness to the presence of the self-styled “world’s greatest club”.
Blackburn ‘Who are You?’: the wild rover not wild about Newcastle
Mike Delap*, editor of The Wild Blackburn Rover fansite and a Geordie’s son with curiously little time for Newcastle United, is pessimistic about his team’s immediate prospects under the current manager Steve Kean. But he loyally predicts an away win to spoil Martin O’Neill’s day …
Pies, passion and when Martin O’Neill played for Nottingham Forest at Roker
Pete Sixsmith looks back on our new manager’s solitary appearance as a player at Roker Park – and wonders whether his teacher’s pension would run to buying the famous Roker Pie Shop …
Martin O’Neill’s inaugural press conference and his mention of King Charlie Hurley, gave Tyne Tees Television the opportunity to dust off the old Shoot files and run a couple of clips of Hurley scoring goals in front of a packed Roker End. It made me all rheumy-eyed and weak at the knees for Roker Park and all that it represented.
Martin O’Neill, Box Fox and being a winner at 59
A few nights ago, I had after-show drinks with a Sunderland supporter who has recently taken over the role of Songman in the highly – and deservedly – popular West End production War Horse.
Bob Fox is someone I know well from my folk music pursuits. He is, like the new manager at the Stadium of Light, 59.
By the time our date in the pub came around, it was already football’s worst-kept secret that Martin O’Neill would get the job vacated by Steve Bruce. I hoped I might receive a text during the show confirming the appointment so that I could pass on the news.
In the event, the waiting went on a little longer and it was Saturday before the official announcement was made.
Martin’s Musings: O’Neill speaks and a column is born
The title for the sayings of Martin O’Neill, as they are collected for these pages, has been chosen and you see it above.
That means a Salut! Sunderland mug – is there no limit to our generosity? – will be heading the way of “Rob”, whose suggestion it was.
Bendtner and Gary Speed: no case to answer
Salut! Sunderland hopes that when Martin O’Neill presides over his first press conference as Sunderland’s manager this afternoon, he is not drawn into pointless discussion of Nicklas Bendtner’s supposedly disrespectful body language during the pre-match tribute to Gary Speed at Molineux.
With carefully manufactured outrage, the website 101greatgoals.com declares that the on-loan forward was seen “smirking and shrugging as the cameras went past all the players”.
Peter O’Toole, a hell-raising dad and a lost Sunderland passion
Readers who find this a familiar tale are asked to bear with me. I need to check whether the link to the redesigned site is working in all the ways it should; posting something – anything – is one way of doing that. New readers may find what follows interesting …
A few years ago, I thought I’d cracked it for my series of Celebrity Supporter interviews for Wear Down South. Missing out on Gina McKee, Dave Stewart and – bizarrely given his initial enthusiasm – Glenn Hugill had been disappointing, but an exclusive interview with Peter O’Toole beckoned.