Right, matchday approaches, David Moyes has raised the bar on what is at stake by fielding a weakened and duly thrashed team at Anfield and now two grand old clubs prepare to slug it out to keep Wembley dreams (for the final, that is, not just the semis) alive. Your task is simple: guess the correct score. Be the first to get it right, in the comments below or at the Salut! Sunderland Facebook group. Entries will be taken up to kickoff and the winner will be chosen by Monsieur Salut.
Do you sometimes feel the “Who are You?” interviews ramble on for too long? Could you do with something shorter, snappier? If yes, then David Stead, secretary of the Cumberland branch of the Everton supporters’ club, is your man. He said in advance he would keep his replies short and treated the questionnaire like an exam paper, choosing the questions he wished to answer and leaving the rest. We’re grateful all the same; being asked out of the blue to be a (blue) “Who are You?” candidate probably feels like having cold-call sales pitches from British Gas, BT and every other double glazing firm combined. So in the great tradition of Barry Maddicott, another Everton fan who, in 2010, produced the shortest “Who are You?” in the history of the series, here are David’s responses ahead of the FA Cup 6th round at Goodison …
Martin O’Neill springs from dressing room celebrations to rattle off a proud, cheerful post-match e-mail that encapsulates all that was good in the 2-0 win over Arsenal. Can anyone translate the bit about Kieran and training yesterday (a few hopelessly wayward potshots maybe)? …
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.
Forget Arsenal being in disarray (not really, of course, but by their standards). This was a great victory, 100 per cent merited and showed precisely why Martin O’Neill manages at a very high level and Monsieur Salut manages at no level at all. I raised an eyebrow at the decision to start without a recognised striker. most of us agreeing that is not Sessegnon’s natural position. And we proceeded to score twice without reply, Sess having a storming game in which he constantly threatened in the centre and on the wing.
Can we hope for the same Arsenal to turn up at the Stadium of Light tomorrow night as crumbled in Milan? Were AC Milan so good that even if Arsenal played no better than on Wednesday, they’d still be good enough to beat us? Or are we facing another cup replay?
Does Arsenal’s walloping in Milan mean they’ll be easy meat on Saturday evening? Or will they return to Sunderland in angry, let’s-prove-we’re-not-useless mode? Time will tell …
Twelve days ago, I met a man on the Tube. He was a director of the Roosterspiripiri fastfood chain on his way home from the Emirates, having watched with his two young sons Arsenal’s demolition of Blackburn. He was also a Gooner, so happy. Once the train emerged into daylight, my mobile phone flashed with news of a goal from Stoke (McClean Coming Clean), so I was happy, too. Man on Tube had a fascinating family background embracing Pakistan, Sunderland and Newcastle and agreed to answer the “Who are You?” questions. Since then, total silence. Luckily Anthony “Ant” Oliveri* popped up. He loves Southend, adores football generally (see his WeAreTrueFans site) but worships Arsenal. And here, much more than a mere supersub for Roosterspiripiri man (who now reports that he has been out of action with a trapped nerve in his shoulder, so all is forgiven), he is …
“Disaster is around the corner, it is,” says Martin O’Neill, tongue in cheek maybe (or maybe not). “It’s lurking. But that’s probably why I’m a Sunderland fan, absolutely, I couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate club.” At the Riverside, we delayed the nasty change in fortunes, setting up a second home game with Arsenal, dangerous but beatable. Pete Sixsmith looks at the 2-1 win at Boro and praises lively opponents as well as our own quietly effective team …
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.
What a relief to move on from Robert Huth, Tony Pulis and the Britannia’s frozen wastes. Can the O’Neill factor work its wonders even in banana skin territory? We will know tomorrow night when we attempt to amend for a tepid display in the first game against Middlesbrough. Enter Iain Lazenby*, great name for a Boro fan, conqueror of Kilimanjaro (took his dad’s scarf to the summit) and once chairman of Middlesbrough Supporters South. He loved our previous interviews with Harry Pearson and Alan Comfort** and was happy to do the honours for the replay …
Martin O’Neill maintained his unbeaten home record at the Stadium of Light with the heartening goal from Fraizer Campbell, just back from long-term injury securing the draw. We now have to go the Boro and win to earn another home tie, against Arsenal, in the 5th round – and Martin’s post-match missive recognised that the main plus from a moderate display was that we were still in the hat …