The curse of Chamakh: Bordeaux tears = Salut! smiles

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Jean TiganaImage: Nicksarebi


Another edition of French Fancies and another irresistible pop at Bordeaux. And vote for Salut! Sunderland in the EPL TALK Club Blog awards by clicking here …

No football manager, or anyone else for that matter, should have to complain that his 16-year-old daughter was made to suffer verbal abuse from some low-life “fan” or “fans” during a match, the episode distressing or worrying enough to cause the girl to leave the stand at half-time.

So for that, Salut! Sunderland offers sympathy and support to Jean Tigana, until last night the boss of les Girondins de Bordeaux. And we’d add that we have absolutely nothing against him in any case, since he was not even at the club when the events involving Sunderland AFC occurred.

That is where sympathy ends and gloating begins. Bordeaux 0 Sochaux 4, all the goals coming in the first half, indeed the first half an hour, is a deeply satisfying result that adds a little spice to the weekend’s other gratifying scoreline of Bolton 1 SAFC 2.

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Bolton 1 Sunderland 2 Observed: a gritty non-classic

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Come back tomorrow for Pete Sixsmith‘s full analysis – actually, his it is only his nearly full analysis – of this priceless victory. This is how he saw it for The Observer. We start with the view of a Wanderers fan …

SHAUN O’GARA, BWFC Supporters’ Club

I thought we had chances after chances to win it, but we just couldn’t score. We didn’t play well at all today and our season is in danger of petering out, which is a shame to see us end it on a whimper after all that we have achieved. We haven’t got much of a midfield at the moment and that is costing us.

Player ratings:

Jaaskelainen 6; Steinsson 5, Robinson 5, Cahill 6, Knight 6; Muamba 5 (Gardner 46, 7); Taylor 6 (Klasnic 76, 6), Lee 6 (Moreno 76, 6), Elmander 5; Davies 6, Sturridge 6

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Sixer’s Sevens: Bolton Wanderers 1 Sunderland 2. Safe!!!!

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pete2

This was the performance we needed. Ferdinand, Zenden and Sessegnon shone as we swept aside survival jitters, a quite exceptional response to that run AND the atrocious injury problems Steve Bruce has had to endure. Starting with a winning away trip to Bolton, these are the most recent of Pete Sixsmith‘s incisive seven-word verdicts capturing the essence of just about every game. When, rarely, Pete is absent, a supersub does it for him. There will be no immediate post-match report, though Pete’s full analysis will appear within the next couple of days.

The full Sixer’s Sevens archive – see link below – encapsulates the matchday experiences, from darkest gloom to sublime elation, of a fan who is usually there …

May 7 2011 Bolton Wanderers (0) 1 SAFC (1) 2 Great result, strong performance and safety assured

April 30 2011 SAFC (0) 0 Fulham (1) 3 No forwards, creaky defence, hurry up summer

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Bolton Sunderland: LLLLDLLLLWL …?

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Right, this is your chance to come to the aid of the partly absent.

You will by now know the score from the Reebok. I will too, thanks to texts from Pete Sixsmith. But I may be nowhere near a screen and therefore have no immediate opportunity to post details.

There will be, soon or in due course, Pete’s seven-word “Sixer’s Seven”, Steve Bruce’s e-mail, Pete again in his fan’s assessment for The Observer and then, of course, his inimitable Soapbox.

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Salut!’s week: Bolton couldn’t, but we’ve made a cup final

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Mrs Logic

There must 50 ways to leave the reader in no doubt it has not been a good week. We’ve probably used them all. But let us all bounce back, get behind the Lads – again – and see how we feel at 5pm. In the meantime, here is another of our nervous backward glances at the stories you may have missed …

It can be tough keeping a promise to be upbeat. But there was one item that stood out a mile as an example of positive thinking. Click on the sub-heading to read each item, starting with a Pete Sixsmith special …

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Time gentlemen please to forget humbling Leeds and Newcastle

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This is not intended as a breach of Salut! Sunderland‘s new commitment to get-behind-the-lads positivism in the run-up to the match (on the grounds that hostilities can always be resumed at 5pm). More of a general view on where we are as a club, what we actually want and whether it is time to stop harping on about past triumphs. And then, loyal readers and gloating visitors, it is over to you …

Much of Thursday passed without me realising the significance of the date: May 5. Then I remembered. And once reminded, I knew like everyone else what had happened on the same date 38 years ago. Did I say everyone else? Who else, apart from us, Leeds and a few football anoraks, actually feels any need to recall the 1973 FA Cup Final?

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No-go zone tips for Bruce as Sunderland see off Preston

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So a Sunderland team can score goals, more than they concede, and reach a cup final. Salut! Sunderland promised to think positively in the approach to Bolton away, and we’re true to our word, offering a big bravo to Keith Bertschin and his team for this scoreline in the ToteSport Cup semi-final:


Sunderland Res 5 Preston North End Res 3

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Bolton ‘Who are You?’: Trotters, rollercoasters and sympathy for refs

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Howard Page, in his band The Menu

Bolton Wanderers have had the sort of season we might have expected, in terms of position and – the Wembley humiliation notwithstanding – progress in the FA Cup. Now they have pride to play for while we are scrapping for a point or two to be absolutely safe. Howard Page* offered some months ago to be our candidate for some questions ahead of this game as we were only too pleased to remind him; Howard would accept bookings for his band to return the favour …

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Bardsley, Mignolet awards, Bolton away and a Salut! ceasefire

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Phil Bardsley - Sunderland - Premier LeagueImage: addick-tedKevin

Since it has reached the stage where I can hardly bear to read anything to do with Sunderland AFC, I realise what it must be like for those coming here and feeling curiously forced to do so.

But no apologies whatsoever for returning briefly to action to congratulate Phil Bardsley on winning the Sunderland Supporters’ Association Player of the Year award and Simon Mignolet the young player equivalent.

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