When the glittering occasional prize of a Salut! Sunderland mug was reinstituted for the Everton game, it was a safe bet that Eric Bowers would win. After all, he’s already got three, though in fairness one was bought – making him as rare as, say, a priest who finds the painting he bought for £400 is a van Dyck worth £700,000.
The only snag was that he predicted a Sunderland win by a single goal at Goodison. We all knew that could never happen.
The brilliant result at Everton has ushered in an entirely different mood for Sunderland supporters. But will we still feeling …
After the draw that should have been a win at Upton Park, I said that much as I hoped for a win against Chelsea, I was more concerned about the league game at home to Norwich City. It is a tired old cliché (as is “tired old cliché”), but this had much more of a cup final feel to it than Wednesday’s league cup game.
Given the choice, most of us would probably want wins at home to Norwich and then away at Cardiff and Everton if, somehow, that could be the trade-off for going out of the league cup as honourably as possible when Chelsea return to the Stadium of Light.
But there may be the odd romantic out there who just wants to see us perform the rare feat of completing a run to Wembley, come what may in the league.
Fourth bottom. Team’s under pressure, Big Sam’s under pressure and a lifeline may be needed. Just when all seems too gloomy for words, along comes the home game against Sunderland.
Spurs at home on a Saturday night. A great start to the evening if the Lads win. Gloom galore if it goes the wrong way.
Just for fun, have a go at predicting the scoreline. Spurs fans are welcome to join in. Don’t be put off by the lack of a prize; it’s only a mug when there is one. And don’t be offended if a Sunderland supporter opts for 6-0 or better for us. We don’t actually think our strike force is the equal of Man City’s.
John McCormick writes: I remember us beating Chelsea many years ago, when the world was young and the Busty wasn’t bust. More recently we finished just below them as Peter Reid gave our dreams substance. Then they moved into a different financial league and never have the twain looked like meeting again.
In a fair world, that – Wes Brown clinching all three points for Sunderland – naturally would be the outcome.
It may be more likely, given SAFC’s recent luck on the road, that Wayne Rooney’s pal Neil Swarbrick will miraculously overcome his problems with distinguishing between red and yellow and send off three of our team. The remaining eight will perform tirelessly and with a great deal of courage, but just fail to hold out for a draw.
Let’s stick to the first scenario, not the second. Brown, exonerated by the FA (and be under no illusions how high a hurdle has to be cleared under the appeal rules before that can happen), will do as he did at QPR in one of MoN’s early games and score the winner in a 3-2 victory.
Let us first of all take the bull by the horns.
I raised the question the other day of whether it would be a good idea to make Guess the Score a self-financing sweep with a cash prize each time.
It’s nearly here. Tomorrow, which will coincidentally be a full week on from the (unfulfilled) promise by Northumbria Police to get back to Salut! Sunderland with answers to our questions about the disgraceful late change to the matchdate, Sunderland play Southampton in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup.
In a season that has so far had only one ray of sunshine, the game represents SAFC’s best chance of helping to make 2013-2014 memorable for the right reasons.