Lars Knutsen prefaced the e-mail which arrived this morning with “We need a win against Sheffield Wednesday”. There’s no disagreement there. Nor will there be, I suggest, any disagreement with his proposition that “Reidy’s master coup was of course the signing of the legend, Kevin Phillips for a mere £375000 from Watford”.
From Sheffield Wednesday to Peter Reid might seem quite a jump. But there’s logic to Lars and he draws some interesting parallels in his latest missive:
John McCormick writes: once, in the days of Ted Heath and strife, I went to see us play Leyton Orient in an afternoon kickoff and then legged it to White Hart Lane and Spurs v somebody or other. If I remember correctly I saw the last half hour, or maybe a bit more. I’ve never told anybody before, especially Pete Sixsmith, for the man would quite rightly have looked down his nose and sniffed at me for thinking I’d done something special.
Speaking of which, here’s his report from Pride Park and a very good Good Friday fixture:
Pete Sixsmith then (not so long ago) … he’s a lot trimmer now
John McCormick writes: I visited the Statcat to check if we played Sheffield Wednesday in 1968 as I had memories of their supporters in the back room of the Cambridge when I was still an underage drinker. I found I could have been out a year in either direction as we were in the same division as them for a number of seasons, and they even went down with us at the end of that decade. I reckon I would have been at most, if not all, of those home games.
But I’m pretty sure I wasn’t there in April 1965, unlike a certain Pete Sixsmith:
John McCormick writes: I watched the opening game of the season at a pub in the Lakes and thought we did OK. I watched this at home, courtesy of Will’s Sky-linked tablet. As the match opened I thought we didn’t look as good as we did in August and that Derby were well organised, which only goes to show that I need to get out more.
Pete Sixsmith does that and is consequently in a much better position to judge. His report on this game won’t be here until Sunday as he’s groundhopping on his way home, so we’ll have to do with his instant seven word reaction for now.
John McCormick writes: as I’ve edited and posted the trips Pete has written about for this series I have often wondered if I was there. More rarely, I’ve known I was. But not this time. I don’t think am certain I’ve (n)ever been to Derby, never mind watched a game of football there.
Pete Sixsmith, of course, has been there. Not only has he been there, he’s been there more than once, and he’s been to more than one ground:
Let’s go back to the start of the season (and don’t we wish we could).
I polled our readers as to who would make the top six. These clubs came up favourite ( in the order given) and I began tracking them and reporting on their progress from time to time:
Middlesbrough
Aston Villa
Fulham
Sheffield Wednesday
Leeds
and Sunderland
By Christmas, if not earlier, it was obvious some changes were needed.
John McCormick writes: I won’t be going to the North East before June, so I won’t be seeing any home games this season. Just as well, I suppose, as the text friend Paul sent from the North stand yesterday suggested the team froze more than the weather.
Pete Sixsmith’s report, a little more detailed but no more positive, would tend to agree …
John McCormick writes: The darkness began to descend early in the second half at the Stadium of Light, and that was before Jake Clarke-Salter got himself sent off for the second time in an hour of playing.
Pete Sixsmith sat through the debacle and his match report will let us know how bad it got. Until then we’ll have to make do with his seven-word text, sent immediately on the final whistle.
John McCormick writes: Tuesday morning, and I’m idly contemplating the weekend and Pete Sixsmith’s“first time” feature which will announce it. “Did I see Preston in our promotion year?” I thought to myself. So I got out my trusty promotion year souvenir brochure that my dad bought me (2/6) and had a look.
Preston were there, as I expected, but I remember nothing about the game, not even the very decent score, which makes me wonder if I went. Fortunately, Pete Sixsmith definitely did:
Could we have got something from this game? I thought so, but Bob Chapman’s report will give a more accurate picture than the SAFC website and that won’t arrive until tomorrow.
Bob will be reporting in the Place of Pete Sixsmith, who decided against a trip to Loftus Road. Even so, it was Pete who forwarded the seven-word text that summed up a dismal day.
John McCormick writes: Tuesday morning, and I’m idly contemplating the weekend and Pete Sixsmith’s “first time” feature which will announce it. “Did I see Preston in our promotion year?” I thought to myself. So I got out my trusty promotion year souvenir brochure that my dad bought me (2/6) and had a look.
