Liverpool supporters may remain calm. Plenty here have attested to historic admiration for the Red half of their city (while perhaps harbouring misgivings about recent events). Here is the backlash: Peter Sixsmith, long ago lapsed as a Long-haired Lover of Liverpool), turns an unaccustomed shade of blue …
For all Salut! Sunderland knows, Leon Osman is a regular at church, helps old ladies across the road, spends hours daily feeding the homeless and plays Scrabble without even thinking of snatching a sneaky glance at everyone else’s letters.
He also stands accused of being a prize cheat.
Oh no it wasn’t the worst refereeing decision you’ve ever seen. Oh yes it was. Take your pick. It was a shocker however you look at it and we await either a fulsome public apology from Howard Webb or a formal announcement that he is returning to a less accident-prone life as a sergeant of the South Yorkshire constabulary. Leon Osman might wish to say something, too, about the upraised arm which any observer is entitled to interpret as a fraudulent claim for a penalty after he fell over his own feet. Pete Sixsmith has plenty to say …
The nation – as represented by Match of the Day viewers – is about to laugh while watching it. Except Sunderland fans, who will cringe, and Evertonians, who may well smirk. Martin O’Neill could have talked himself into a hefty fine after watching Howard Webb apply for membership of the Everton Supporters’ Club. He didn’t …
This is where Pete Sixsmith captures the glory and shame, hope and despair, excitement and ennui of the Sunderland matchday experience. When, rarely, Pete is absent or delayed, a supersub does it for him and the seven-word verdict is preceded by an asterisk. Pete’s full analysis of the game will usually appear within a day or two.
From the Blue Kipper Everton fan site (typos – theirs or, more likely, ours, having been tidied up), thoughts on our two clubs … and forget the fierce rivalry you suspected might exist between Salut! Sunderland and Roker Report. We share a love of foul-smelling cheese …
Over recent seasons, I may have exhausted the supply of Everton fans willing to answer the “Who are You?” questionnaire in the customary e-mail exchange. Finding a Toffeeman or woman to preview the Boxing Day game was a tough one. In the end, someone at the Toffee Talk website suggested just sticking the questions on there. It is unsatisfactorily anonymous, though I did like the replies on Peter Reid (Avinalaff doesn’t tell us what kind of pounds he needs to lose) and the Man City bags-of-money project …
Football just isn’t what it was, lad.
Back in days gone by, you could stand with a supporter of the other team, bonded by mutual love of the people’s game, in the sure knowledge you were safe from harm.
If you were old enough to get in, you’d be in their pubs rubbing shoulders, taking turns to buy rounds and swapping jolly stories and jokes.
And if you think you just saw a pig in mid-flight outside the bedroom window, you’d be about right.
Before we offer a quick glance back at the week as seen by Salut! Sunderland, stand by for some news of our own: the site is about to undergo a long-overdue redesign. The idea is to make it look less like a blog, more a magazine. If there are things you’d hate to see go, features you could happily do without, links you find useful/a waste of space … etc etc … here is the chance to sound off. Older readers may remember Shots at Sleeman in the Sunday Sun. This can be Shots at Sixer & Salut …
Sunderland Reserves 2 Everton Reserves 0. Take away the R word and that’s the sort of scoreline we can really enjoy.
But it was the Reserves, of course; all the same, they deserve a hearty pat on the back for a good home win that puts them top of the league.