John McCormick writes: I wasn’t there and I missed the first 40 minutes on TV so I’m not the best person to offer a comment. That said, I think we played without heart, and I suspect the sending off made little difference; Man Utd looked like they took their foot off the pedal after the first goal and could have stepped up the pace at any time. David Moyes says much the same, only in a different way:
Nick Duckworth: ‘me and my lad at his first visit to Old Trafford’
Colin Randall writes: I’ve seen us beat Manchester United at home, at least – but probably only – once, unless I’ve forgotten another one, at Roker Park and once (League Cup) at the Stadium of Light. Others will have seen more, plus those crucial away wins and the League semi-finals home and away. I cannot pretend to be optimistic about Sunday, but who knows? Our United man of wit, warmth and wisdom is Nick Duckworth, who feels we will profit from a season, maybe two in the Championship and that Moyes would be the man to get us back. Interesting responses all round; how many of us, asked to name the best United player in a recent history that includes Cantona, Scholes, Ronaldo (who gets an honourable mention) and David Bellion, would have said Ryan Giggs? …
For Robert Champman, homes games mean a long old haul from the Home Counites. So Lweicester was a doddle. Here are his measured post-match thoughts and a conclusion about David Moyes that may generate discussion. The headline sums up his outlook – and no, by ‘deserving time, Bob doesn’t mean the boss should be chucked in jail …
Having already decided that I wouldn’t be returning, almost certainly, to the moronic clappers’ stadium (Pete Sixsmith description) next season, I was in relaxed mood setting off in the late afternoon for the short drive up to Leicester.
We awoke to the realisation that yet another defeat, yet another game without hint of a Sunderland goal except from Anichebe’s deflected shot, had indeed happened, writes Monsieur Salut. It wasn’t a bad dream. Nor were the Leicester chants directed at David Moyes: “You’re getting slapped in the morning.”
And we also awoke to reports that Sunderland’s former chief executive Margaret Byrne, who resigned over the club’s deeply questionable handling of the Adam Johnson scandal, is collecting a whopping £750,000 payoff. What heartwarming news! Anything that brings happiness to human beings must surely be welcomed.
Jake says: ‘have a go’
So on to another Guess the Score, Salut! Sunderland‘s enthusiasm for the competition kept alive only by the knowledge that Bradley Lowery’s fund is helped a little in the process.
David Moyes offers his post-match thoughts. We were well beaten in the end despite Moyes’s justifiable claims that we had previously played reasonably well. Just not good enough, most of us would say. Doomed, we’d then add. Moyes does not go that far, of course …
Jake: ‘who do you think you are kidding, Mr Moyes?
Managers are not paid to say their teams played badly, they deserved to lose and there’s surely now no way back. Over to our own David Moyes, who ‘thought’ we deserved a point or three. Mmm …
Jake’s verdict was ‘not enough’ and David Moyes felt unable to disagree
Monsieur Salut writes: normally, our deputy editor Malcolm Dawson introduces Pete Sixsmith‘s unfailingly compelling reflections on Sunderland matches. I have become quite proficient at following each match by internet streams and Barnes and Benno but Malcolm and Sixer both attend most home games and the lame 0-0 draw to Burnley was no exception (the interviewee for our first-class Burnley ‘Who are You?’ Duncan Sutcliffe joined them in County Durham yesterday to complete his journey from Lancashire to the Stadium of Light).
Sixer suggested that for once I should post his piece because, talking over the disappointment of the game by phone this morning, we both found bleak humour in my oversight, when sending my usual report to ESPN, in inadvertently omitting Jack Rodwell entirely from my ratings. It was therefore, until quickly rectified, as if we had started with 10 men. Mmmm. Over to Sixer to ponder this Freudian slip and other striking features of a match that may prove decisive in our latest bid to survive in the top flight, and see if you can improve on his closing reference to the newly departed and truly great Chuck Berry …
John McCormick writes: Two weeks ago we started positively against Man City and we showed fight. Our manager found things to praise.
This week, despite a couple of positive comments, he’s not as upbeat. Nor am I or, I suspect, anyone who went to the SOL as a home fan. We are just not good enough for the first division.
John McCormick writes: For a while it looked like we might get something. We shaped up as a football team, with Borini and Januzaj being positive, and even Billy Jones getting close, and we showed fight.
Then they scored, and scored a second, and it became once again close, but no cigars.
And by the end of the game, really, it was not even close. What can you expect when City could bring on a player of the calibre of Kevin de Bruyne with fifteen minutes to go?
Yet, despite the gap, our manager found things to praise (somewhat ungrammatically) in his post-match message, and this time I agree with him.
This arrived ‘in the post’ as an entry in Guess the Score for SAFC vs Manchester City and before today’s rather depressing run of scores elsewhere. The author, Tom Lynn, is not just another disgruntled fan – he’s part of the life and soul of the Sunderland fan base, a man you bump into home and away and former editor of The Wearside Roar. He went for SAFC 0-4 City and also described the ‘hype around Pickford’ as ridiculous, calling him a great shotstopper with no real command of his area. Monsieur Salut does not agree with every word but it’s written from the heart and deserves to be seen ..
