Salut! Sunderland’s 2018 end of season reviews: (1) Nick Barnes urges unity

Cheers

Monsieur Salut writes: unfashionable as it is to praise the press or media more generally, I believe local and national writers and broadcasters covering Sunderland by and large do a good job. I think in particular of the Sunderland Echo‘s Phil Smith, the Chronicle‘s James Hunter and The Guardian‘s Louise Taylor but could mention a number of others. And for supporters who cannot get to many games, there is the excellent double act provided by BBC Radio Newcastle, Gary Bennett’s passionate and astute reading of a game complementing Nick Barnes‘s impeccable commentary.

Nick is a West Country man and could even find himself having to report on SAFC against his own Exeter City – currently fifth in League Two but with a game in hand on two clubs above them – next season. But 15 years of covering Sunderland have left their mark (how could they not?) and there’s obvious affection for the club and especially its fans. At Facebook, he generated a lively debate with this heartfelt appeal for a sense of togetherness, an end to understandable but unproductive vitriol.

Not every one of his Facebook ‘friends’ agreed – 89 comments have been posted as I write and range from ‘wake up and smell the bulls*** from the club; it stinks’ to ‘wonderful summation’.

Either way – or some way in between – Nick’s brief thoughts, reproduced with his consent, serve as a useful starting point for the 2017-2018 edition of Salut! Sunderland‘s the end-of-season reviews* …

Read more