John McCormick writes: when the fixtures came out this one was on my list, though as things turned out I never had a chance of making it. From this report, by the much-travelled and ever-present Bob Chapman, I don’t appear to have missed anything. Would that the team could play as well as Bob can write.
I have no doubt many of our readers will have something to say after reading Bob’s report. Alas, our site seems to be as unfixable as our team. If you do wish to leave a comment of your own please visit the bottom of the page
John McCormick writes: when the fixtures came out this one was on my list, though as things turned out I never had a chance of making it. From this report, by the much-travelled and ever-present Bob Chapman, I don’t appear to have missed anything. Would that the team could play as well as Bob can write.
I have no doubt many of our readers will have something to say after reading Bob’s report. Alas, our site seems to be as unfixable as our team. If you do wish to leave a comment of your own please visit the bottom of the page
John McCormick writes: three days ago I commented that Pete Sixsmith would be happy to have a break from poor defending and inadequate forwards when he assumed his customary Santa duties.
He must be looking forward to donning the red and white even more as we managed to hold on to a lead for mere seconds this evening, and I imagine he will also be relieved that Malcolm Dawson will be doing the match report; his seven words at half time (in the title) and and in the text (below) that winged its way to Salut! HQ on the final whistle said enough, and that’s without those that came between them.
Johnn McCormick writes: Today, we welcome the return of an excellent but brief series, twice. This is a repost because we appear once again to have been visited by the purveyor of Turkish massage sites. So if you’ve seen this before please accept our apologies. If you haven’t here’s another piece to enjoy.
It was, in fact, my first trip to the SOL since the start of the previous season, and my first Sunderland game since December, and it had to be organised with great care. Trains instead of the car, and clothes that were guaranteed to keep me warm. And I can now add that by the time I got home I was knackered, far more than usual.
The reason lies in events that began nigh on a year ago but please forgive my artistic licence; I’m starting a lot further back than that.
Pete Sixsmith didn’t get to this game (I bet he’s glad about that) and we’re relying for Bob Chapman for tomorrow’s report. It might be a little later than usual but, as all things Bob, it will be very welcome.
Unlike the result, the red cards and the 7 word text that winged its way northward immediately following the final whistle.
League One comprises 24 clubs. Three of them, Bury, Bolton and Blackpool, are entering, exiting or plodging in the clarts of receivership. Leaving them and Sunderland aside gives us twenty clubs.
I thought I’d take a look at their finances. Nothing detailed, just a skim through any entries at Companies House and a quick perusal of a search engine, enough to kill some time I have and satisfy idle curiosity. My idea was to divide the twenty into two and cover 10 clubs each time. After that matters should have moved ahead with the Lancashire Bs and Sunderland’s takeover and I should be able to revisit these four.
We know there’s a lot of rebuilding to do. We know we have some expensive players on our books who we really can’t afford. And we know we have some talent we want to keep.
So there’s a balancing act to do, and our retained list is just the start. Some of these players won’t be here when the the season kicks off. Others will.
The big question for me is what kind of club are we building? Are we buyers or sellers? We’re League One, which means bigger clubs – and there are many of them now -can attract our players, both those established and worth a bit more, or youths who can be lured away to the lights and the likes of Anfield Stadium.
We do have prospects. Our Academy is coming a little bit good, some of the better lads seem willing to stay, and we can afford players beyond the scope of many of our competitors. It looks like an interesting pre-season is beginning.
@SunderlandAFC fans. Your support has been sensational. You have wanted to believe in us and have been inspirational. I appreciate a lot are frustrated with the p/offs. We can though still do this. We can reflect later but our best chance is with ur backing – together please???
A quick glance at our fellow-contenders for promotion via the playoffs shows we have Wembley previous against two of the three – and it’s not encouraging. Portsmouth beat us there in the Checkatrade Trophy final in March and plenty of us will never forget the anguish of 1998 against Charlton.
So if hoodoos exist, they need to be broken. Here’s your chance to say whether and how we’ll make a start on Saturday night. Act Four
John McCormick writes: when the fixtures came out this one was on my list, though as things turned out I never had a chance of making it. From this report, by the much-travelled and ever-present Bob Chapman, I don’t appear to have missed anything. Would that the team could play as well as Bob can write.
John McCormick writes: three days ago I commented that Pete Sixsmith would be happy to have a break from poor defending and inadequate forwards when he assumed his customary Santa duties.
If you read Pete Sixsmith’s match report on the Sheffield United cup match or Malcolm’s account from last Saturday you’ll know I was up for the MK Dons game. Malcolm might have given you a clue that it wasn’t just any old visit. Pete did, too, but I deleted his brief reference.
League One comprises 24 clubs. Three of them, Bury, Bolton and Blackpool, are entering, exiting or plodging in the clarts of receivership. Leaving them and Sunderland aside gives us twenty clubs.
