Monsieur Salut writes: an excellent point, might have been three. My own man of the match was Vito Mannone but no one played badly. Now over to the manager, David Moyes, for his customary post-match email ….
With great respect to Vito Mannone, who has had fine moments in goal for Sunderland and is quite capable of stepping back successfully into first team action, the loss of Jordan Pickford for up to two months can be seen only as a cruel and massive setback.
“We’re looking at 6-8 weeks, it’s a major disappointment for him and for us because he’s been saving us points.”
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) December 29, 2016
The jury is probably still out on both David Moyes and Ellis Short. Sunderland’s recent run has given hope but that hope will disintegrate if we do not continue to pick up points, from the higher-placed clubs as well as fellow-strugglers. This is where Ellis Short comes in: is he simply being canny, letting it be known through his chief executive Martin Bain that no money is available for the transfer window, whereas Moyes actually has at least some room for manoeuvre? Or is he really willing to risk a massive cut in the value of the club he wants to sell, hoping Moyes’s threadbare squad can hack it but ready to let it sink into the Championship if it does not? Alex McMahon offers some thoughts on these issues…
David Moyes didn’t have a happy return to Old Trafford as he watched us twice give away possession and then concede. You can find what he thinks of this by sneaking a peek at the carefully crafted letter he wrote to M Salut, and maybe one or two others, immediately after the game:
John McCormick writes: Wrinkly Pete is quite prescient. I was thinking of doing a relegation review before the end of the week and might still do so, depending on what comes down the Salut chimney in the next few days. I know there’s a “Who are you?” due but there may well be other posts – and you can take that as an invitation to send us something of your own if you wish. Like our esteemed manager we’re always on the lookout for young talent and not above taking on a good old’n.
Which, I suppose, returns me to Wrinkly Pete himself:
Malcolm Dawson writes……..Pete Sixsmith was at the match yesterday but today he’s tied up with festive duties spreading peace and …
David Moyes‘s post-match messages may have become more impersonal – no ‘Dear Colin’s or ‘all the best’s, but we can …
In reality David Moyes, unlike his predecessors, does not start his post-match e-mails with a salutation. ‘Dear Colin’ is therefore a made-up device on the part of Monsieur Salut. What was there to say about the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea – a logical outcome of bottom versus top, boys against men, honest endeavour overwhelmed by sheer quality? Moyes tells us how he saw it …
John McCormick writes…..
I was at our previous game, which we lost. We did, however, have the semblance of a team and it was our first loss in three games, against a full-on Liverpool team. So full on, in fact, that I endured loads of stick on Monday from deluded scousers who, having listened to Klopp, thought we did nothing but defend. But I knew better and had a feeling we would show what we could do when we played the Premier League champions.Not that it matters what I think. The really important words come from our manager, who writes to Colin (and maybe one or two others) immediately after each game. And Colin, in his turn, passes the letter on to his team so we can share it with you:
John McCormick writes…..
I was there, and might give you my opinion later. First, though, here’s what the manager thought.
Or, at least, here’s what the manager decided to share with Colin, and maybe one or two others: