Soapbox: Stoke-ing up the crisis

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soapbox

A raw Monday night and a match of spectacular mediocrity at The Stadium of Light has Pete Sixsmith wishing he could have been occupied with more mundane matters

 

Monday night at Sixsmith Towers is usually a time for domestic duties or for popping over to Darlington to see an art house film like Pan’s Labyrinth, I’ve Loved You So Long and Sex Lives of the Potato Men, all classy movies with intense acting performances from the likes of Kristin Scott Thomas, Marion Cottillard and Johnny Vegas. I like a bit of culture, me.

Domestic duties usually mean doing the ironing, listening to Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on Radio 2. Shirts are neatly folded, trousers are pressed and socks are correctly matched up, as the contents of the basket are transformed from a tangled mess into a tidy pile, ready for the airing cupboard. Ironing is a kind of therapy for me; you get to see the results of your labours, which is a reward in itself.

However, this Monday, the delights of getting a crease in a pair of pants was replaced by watching possibly the worst and almost certainly the most worrying game I have seen at The Stadium Of Light. Thirty five thousand fellow sufferers had to sit through 90 minutes of alleged football from two teams who made any claims that the Premier League is the best in the world look as risible as a promise from John Terry to keep an eye on the Missus while you are away.

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No game: no blues

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No Saturday game at The Stadium since January 3rd, leaves Pete Sixsmith plenty of time to think about all kinds of things and even dream of Wembley…..

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The last time I saw Sunderland’s first team play was 28 days ago on January 3rd when we swamped the Heroes of Holker Street 3-0. Since then, due to weather, long and unwanted away trips and ESPN, I have had to get my football fix elsewhere, and I have thoroughly enjoyed switching from one type of football narcotic to another.

 This enforced absence from watching the red and whites while gritting my teeth and shaking my head has coincided with the flowering of Shildon into potential FA Vase winners. Last week they won at Roker Park, Stotfold to go into the last 16, next week they play at St Ives in Cambridgeshire (of which more later), while yesterday they had a convincing 3-1 win over the current Vase holders, Whitley Bay.

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TalkSport: a guilty pleasure

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irani


What do you listen to during the morning drive to work or when getting ready to leave the house? Who winds you up and who, later in the day, helps you wind down? Colin Randall admits to a weakness for TalkSport – even when it talks rot …

There is a confession to make: I may be addicted to TalkSport radio. Even on days when I really must listen to Radio 4 in the car, I find some time to turn to Alan Brazil’s morning show.

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Who are you? We’re Stoke City

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northy

Sunderland fans take heart. Since we lost at Stoke – and many, many other places since – Simon Northwood, a City fan also known as Northy* of the Rip Roaring Potters website and lead singer of Sounds of an Asylum, has altered his view of where his club will finish (132th instead of 12th) but still thinks we’ll be 11th. Sorry, pal, but we’ll need to do better than draw with you (your prediction) on Monday if that is still on the cards …

Salut! Sunderland:
You’re having another decent season, better – as I write – than ours. Explain!

It’s funny because there has been plenty of discontent throughout the support regarding the way we have been going at things but as usual Pulis and the lads are doing the business and the table doesn’t lie. I think there is plenty more to come from these boys so I expect a decent run in as well.

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Soapbox: the quality of Mersey leaves me drained

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 soapboxI couldn’t bring myself to watch this one, and settled instead for a large glass of red wine and back to back episodes of Brothers and Sisters on catch-up TV.    Even though Rebecca and Justin almost split up, Kitty was diagnosed with a serious illness and Ryan was double-crossing the family business, it was less heart-rending than watching our match.   Malcolm Dawson is made of sterner stuff and reports here on our latest defeat.  

I don’t watch football with the analytical purist’s eye of Pete Sixsmith. I watch it from a purely emotional perspective. Which is not to say that Sixer is the Mr Spock of football supporters.  Anyone who has seen him at footy will have experienced his animated side. But me? I am either jumping up and down or sat back in my seat resigned to 90+ minutes of frustration.

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How to pollute a tribute to a decent Sunderland fan

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squinny2

No one is asked to forget yet another dismal performance, costing us three more points in a match we never remotely looked like saving, let alone winning. Malcolm Dawson will be back with some thoughts on the 2-0 defeat at Everton. But I believe this deserves an airing (adapted from the version at Salut!) because Stephen “Squinny” Wilson was a passionate Sunderland fan who would have been at Goodison, or watching somewhere, had he not been murdered. To the grief of those who cared for Squinny is added the insult of having a tribute sullied by a web parasite …

Who was Stephen Wilson and who is Andrew A Sailer?

The answer to the first question is easy. Stephen, pictured (far right) with fellow Sunderland supporters at a pre-season trip to Amsterdam, was an amiable man who met an end he did not deserve. He was killed in an attack outside a pub in Bishop Auckland.

My friend Pete Sixsmith, who is seen on the extreme left of the picture, wrote an eloquent and touching tribute to him at Salut! Sunderland, entitled simply “Stephen Wilson RIP”.

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Naive, irrational, expectant: summing up Sunderland fans ahead of Goodison?

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salutsunderland


There may be a Carling Cup match to preoccupy fans of the Manchester clubs and even Surly Alex Ferguson. But for fans of Sunderland AFC, the only match that really matters will be taking place 34 miles or so to the west …

As responses to a shocking FA Cup exit at Portsmouth go, buying a ticket for the next game at Pompey – not even two weeks away – may seem irrational. I have just ordered mine.

As a logical approach to tonight’s Premier League tie against Everton, putting money on anything other than another Sunderland defeat might seem naive. I was toying with the idea of a fiver on the unexpected away win.

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Soapbox: Fratton Park or Roker Park – where’s the glory?

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soapbox


Three hundred miles or so each way for a match that – allowing for hindsight – had cup exit written all over it. Or a day out to another Roker Park than the one we remember to see the other SAFC, mighty Shildon, in another cup competition. That was the choice confronting Pete Sixsmith. No contest. And be warned, Steve Bruce, this is the scale of the crisis of confidence engulfing Sunderland: Pete may even prefer Shildon away in the next round to Wigan at home in the Premier …

Commiserations to Malcolm Dawson, who got the short straw and had to pay £20 to watch defending that would have been seen as risible in a Northern League Division two game. I pulled the plum out of the basket and saw a stirring FA Vase tie at Roker Park, Stotfold.

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