Pete Sixsmith was among the tens of thousands who gave a miss to Sunderland vs Burnley. Oh what they missed. Sixer’s comeuppance came when the match he chose instead ended with a heavy defeat in the FA Vase for Shildon. the first team M Salut and almost certainly he saw in their County Durham boyhoods. Next day, he dutifully attended Sunderland Under 23s against Everton and still could get a win … there’s just a passing, sorrowful reference to the plight of SAFC Ladies; read more at this Sunderland Echo link
Burnley
Moyes on the Boys after FA Cup boredraw: deserved praise for Rodwell
Monsieur Salut writes: now that we’ve done away with the nonsenses of ‘Dear Colin’ at the beginning and ‘All the best’ at the end, e-mails from the manager have an impersonal and sometimes perfunctory look. But what else could David Moyes say about the drab affair that was Sunderland 0-0 Burnley, the outcome probably the worst of three options? I’ might have liked a fuller explanation of his thinking, when throwing on a defender for a midfielder as his only (very late) substitution, but there we go. I share his satisfaction at Jack Rodwell’s improved form (my man-of-the-match too) but this was another game best forgotten …
Sixer’s FA Cup Sevens: SAFC 0-0 Burnley. As Jake put it, ‘zzzzz….’
Monsieur Salut writes: To no great surprise Pete Sixsmith preferred Shildon vs Atherton Collieries in the FA Vase. He kept in touch via Barnes and Benno, describing a drab game short on quality and ending goalless before all of 17.632 souls (but my emergency seven-worder appears for now). With a replay almost the last thing Sunderland wanted, and young Joel Asoro on the bench, David Moyes had sent on John O’Shea late as his only substitution. Mmm …
The SAFC Burnley Who are You?: ‘I’d take FA Cup and relegation’
When Andy Robinson*‘s ‘Who are You?’ interview was published before Sunderland played Andy’s club Burnley, we agreed he would also do the honours for the FA Cup game a week later. That game is almost upon us and Andy’s comments on the FA Cup, and what it means to him, will endear him to many readers just as did last week’s interview. As for the game at Turf Moor, Saturday, safe to say Andy enjoyed it more than us. He starts with his reflections on Burnley 4-1 SAFC – leading to his thoughts on this weekend’s match …
Sunderland vs Burnley: aiming for revenge in FA Cup Guess the Score
Monsieur Salut introduces another prize Guess the Score ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup 3rd Round to at home to Burnley, against whom we have something to prove (though most of us might feel strongly that the point should be made, and three points taken, when the return league fixture comes round in March) …
No one won the three-for-two New Year Guess the Score, in which readers were asked to predict both the Burnley and Liverpool scorelines and – if right – win three mugs.
That is hardly surprising since only in the deepest recesses of pessimistic hearts would a Sunderland supporter (most entrants always being SAFC) would the prospect of a crushing defeat at Turf Moor seem a) a likely outcome and b) one respectable to predict.
Sixer’s Burnley Soapbox: the death warrant for Sunderland’s Premier League status?
Pete Sixsmith has endured much as a Sunderland supporter but yesterday’s ordeal was about as bad as it gets. We’re still in a better position points-wise than last year but the omens for improvement via the transfer window don’t look good, and it was transfers that made the difference last season. No-one can be in any doubt significant improvement is needed, and needed desperately; if we continue to play the way we did yesterday we can kiss goodbye to the Premiership for a long, long time, as Pete makes clear in another immaculately observed match report
Moyes on the Boys v Burnley. ‘We kept going’ (and sold out the away end yet again*)
Burnley
John McCormick writes:
As David Moyes writes his final post-match letter of 2016 to Colin we’re left wondering what 2017 will bring. Some decent players? A bit of spirit? A change in our luck?
As if!
Ah, well, it’s what supporting Sunderland’s all about.
Happy New Year, and let’s not forget we’ve been here before. In fact, we’ve been here with fewer points and a worse position. All is not lost
Sixer’s Sevens from Burnley: ‘probably the worst Sunderland display this century’
Monsieur Salut writes: unhappy texts flowed between Turf Moor and me today. I cannot recall an occasion when it seemed right to post Pete Sixsmith‘s seven-word instant verdict as the headline. This was one. I watched and listened as best I could and Gary Bennett got it spot-on – ‘no communication, no will to win, no belief, no character’ …
Weighing up our chances at Burnley and at home to Liverpool
Just a quick update ahead of our two games over the New Year period, away to Burnley tomorrow and at home to Liverpool 48 hours later.
It seemed sensible to bring together Guess the Score into one joint competition, though structured to allow for single entries too.
Burnley Who are You?: ‘I’d take Larsson, Defoe and Pickford if Heaton left’
Let us meet Andy Robinson*, our Burnley ‘Who are you?’ volunteer for both forthcoming games between us, at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday and at our place in the FA Cup a week later. Andy, who says he hasn’t missed many home games in 30 years, loyally wants and predicts wins for his team in both games but, when you return for his follow-up thoughts on the cup match next week, has an interesting view on league vs cup. Here is his look ahead to Saturday’s crunch match at the bottom (note that his shopping list of players he’d be happy to take from Sunderland preceded news of the Jordan Pickford injury) …
Salut! Sunderland: Presumably you’d take defeat in the cup game provided you get three points a week earlier?
Andy Robinson: I’d sell a kidney for three points at the moment so yes.