In honour of Ellis Short, who has taken to wearing an FTM pin badge he tried to buy at the A Love Supreme shop but ended up being given free, we invited readers to hazard a guess at what the initials might stand for if not Follow the Mackems or, more likely, F*** the Mags.
Let’s hear it for the lad/s and lass/es of the Sunderland corporate publicity machine.
Those are not words that trip lightly off the Salut! Sunderland laptop. We’ve had our ups and downs and it’s fair to say the ups must have faded from memory.
But credit where it’s due. This sentence, from the Shields Gazette, quoting the SAFC press office after it was asked about Ellis Short, the club owner, wearing an FTM badge when meeting the President of Tanzania, sent my estimation of Louise Wanless and her team rocketing:
Sunderland AFC declined to comment.
Ian Todd,* co-founder of the London and Southern England branch of the Sunderland AFC Supporters’ Association, probably gets to as many games as anyone. Once or twice in the past season, he wondered whether he’d have been better off going to watch the inspirational Sunderland women’s team instead. Ian’s comprehensive review of the season identifies the heroes – unsung Jack Colback notable among them – and the villains …
The end-of-season reviews are beginning to trickle in. In principle, the series will continue until the flow halts or threatens to turn into a flood. Pete Sixsmith will as usual close the series. Now let’s hear from Mick Goulding, whose occasional contributions are always welcome. He pinpoints MoN’s decline, offers a bleak assessment of a squad PDC may be unable to change as much he’d like and urges Ellis Short to back his gamble with cash …
Monsieur Salut was watching/nodding off to a French crime reconstruction programme, Faites entrer l’accusé (see headline for translation) when news reached him that Paolo Di Canio had been appointed head coach of Sunderland. Di Canio may feel like the accused when he takes his place in the dock at the Stadium of Light for the press conference. He must speak for himself.
David Miliband’s decision to stand down in protest as vice-chairman may be taken as a part principle, part expediency. He’s off the the US anyway. But there are plenty of others among Sunderland supporters who find this a disturbing move on Ellis Short’s part. M Salut has been roundly condemned by a noble jury of readers over at ESPN for voicing his own reservations (see http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/sunderland/id/1322?cc=5739. There is something so – oh what is it? – fascistic, about implying that an individual has no right to express strongly held views whether that individual happens to be Di Canio or M Salut. Pete Sixsmith feels more strongly still and has the stirrings of rebellion in his heart…
First the official Sunderland AFC statement: ‘The club has parted company with manager Martin O’Neill.
Sunderland AFC has announced that it has parted company with manager Martin O’Neill this evening. The club would like to place on record its thanks to Martin and wishes him well for the future. An announcement will be made in the coming days regarding a successor.’And now, quickly rattled off for ESPN – the link, once it appears there, will be http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/sunderland?cc=5739 – and repeated here with its permission, these are Monsieur Salut’s first thoughts on the Martin O’Neill dismissal ….
There was a time, when Sunderland was known as “The Team of All Talents” and upset the footballing authorities by …
Something I had no reason to expect plopped on the doormat during my fleeting visit to London to visit my brother Phil (much, much better; even out of hospital since the weekend). It was a copy of that lesser spotted creature Wear Down South, newsletter of the London and SE branch of the SAFC Supporters’ Association. Ian Todd’s review of events during the many months that had passed since the last edition made the wait worthwhile. Ian, co-founder and mainstay of the branch, tells the story of an important year in SAFC’s recent history with exemplary attention to detail …
Pete Sixsmith gets perilously close to causing another internal spat at Salut! Sunderland with passing thoughts on the waffle, rumour and lies that pass for football transfer news at this time of the year. But first he examines the annual Conn report on the good, bad and ugly of Premier League finances …
This season, Monsieur Salut has decided not to offer his own end-of-season report. Not because he felt so demotivated at the end of it, though he did, but because it is not really fair to make such an appraisal on too few games attended and the rest followed by a combination of consistently admirable coverage by Nick Barnes and Gary Bennett for BBC Radio Newcastle (heard via the SAFC club site), lamentable stop-start internet streams – Jake did point the way, late in the season, to a slightly more reliable link but even that failed on the final day – and even, once or twice, Pete Sixsmith‘s text messages.
Pete, you see, was at every game; his accounts for these pages were a mixture of superb football analaysis and eloquent travelogue, but also of hope and despair. His commitment reached a level unseen from most of the squad at the back end of the season and his words were a pleasure to handle. Here, to end Salut! Sunderland‘s 2012 series of reviews, is his verdict …