This is where Pete Sixsmith captures the glory and shame, hope and despair, excitement and ennui of the Sunderland matchday experience. When, rarely, Pete is absent or delayed, a supersub does it for him and the seven-word verdict is preceded by an asterisk. Pete’s full analysis of the game will usually appear within a day or two.
Dragged to the cinema to see We Need To Talk About Kevin, M Salut expected his gloom to deepen with a lot more goal flash texts from Old Trafford than one. The injury blow to Wickham prompted the first message; half time was a disappointed “Failed to defend a corner and Welbeck scored – had kept our shape up until then”. That it turned out to be a Wes Brown own goal didn’t really help. We await Pete’s considered verdict, but this was not a result to please Bruce-bashers.
The full Sixer’s Sevens archive – see link below – sums up what all Sunderland supporters feel, from darkest gloom to sublime elation, in the words one who is usually there …
Nov 5 2011 Manchester United (1) 1 SAFC (0) 0 Decent performance but slipshod defending cost us
Oct 29 2011 SAFC 2 (1) Aston Villa 2 (1) … Determination and effort produced a fair result
Oct 22 2011 Bolton Wanderers (0) 0 SAFC (0) 2 … Team selection vindicated in impressive second half
Oct 16 2011 Arsenal (1) 2 SAFC (1) 1 Defended bravely but attacking options barely existed
Oct 1 2011 SAFC (2) 2 West Bromwich Albion (2) 2 Deserved point after a truly horrendous start
Sept 26 2011 Norwich City (1) 2 SAFC (0) 1 Absolutely no positives to take from this
To see Sixer’s Sevens in full, click here. If an asterisk precedes the comment, the words that follow are the work of someone else because Pete is for once absent from the game or his verdict has been delayed …
Ifos: fair question and if I am honest, the aside was placed in the report to provoke reaction. I do know of people, not many but plural, who felt defeat at Bolton, if it finished off Bruce, a price worth paying; it is not much of a step from that to wanting a heavier defeat at Old Trafford with the same objective in mind. I disagree even though I remain stuck on the fence until this month is done.
Not a result to please the Bruce-Bashers? I’m not entirely sure what that’s supposed to mean. By Bruce-Bashers, do you mean people who have the opinion that Sunderland have a manager who has little record of prolonged success and appears to have no tactical awareness apart form attempting to stop the ‘big’ teams from playing and getting his players to ‘work hard? Why would anyone be pleased to see us lose again? However, 1-0 is far better than 6/7-0 and if you think anyone wants to see their team humiliated, regardless of their opinion of the manager, then you are very wrong!