There seems consensus that Sunderland showed vast improvement at West Ham – they could hardly have been worse than a week before – but that the crowd saw two fairly poor teams, neither truly deserving to lose or, for that matter, win. Bob Chapman‘s ascent of Sixer’s Soapbox was a little more painful than usual – read on for medical news – as was his hobbling tour of east London landmarks beforehand. But he left the Boleyn head intact and predisposition to optimism unshaken …
Malcolm Dawson is of pre-Premiership pre-Sky vintage. He remembers a time when teams like Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Derby …
A new era, even if turns out to be a mini-era, dawns. It is fitting that the first Guess the Score with Dick Advocaat in charge of the team should be a rollover, offering two mugs from which to drink your generous servings of what Wikipedia calls “Advocaat or Advocaatenborrel, a traditional Dutch alcoholic beverage made from eggs, sugar and brandy”.
Dick Advocaat and Monsieur Salut are of a similar vintage, though he (DA) is fractionally older.
Even the pedigree bears superficial comparison:
* title-winning manager with top club and international experience, “currently unemployed” yesterday, managing Sunderland today in Dick’s case
* former chief reporter, executive news editor and Paris bureau chief of top broadsheet, “currently exploring other opportunities” yesterday, running Salut! Sunderland (yesterday and today) in M Salut’s case
But that tells only part of the story for at least one of them. We can safely assume Dick’s done OK.
And since we have a little in common, let’s see if we can get along …