Salut! Sunderland never had its star illustrator Jake down as the sort to believe in the power of prayer.
But here he is imagining himself in the place of the Sunderland club chaplain, Father Marc Lyden-Smith, who seems to have had a spot of success in persuading Pope Francis to arrange some much-needed divine inspiration for the Lads.
Last week, the prize offered in Guess the Score was a generous, unaffordable £50 but the bar was set high: to win, you needed correct scorelines from two internationals plus the Swansea match.
No one got close enough to trouble me, but then not many bothered to enter at all. The rest must have known what was coming at the Liberty.
There are no rollover jackpots around here but I will offer the more customary Salut! Sunderland mug for Sunderland vs Newcastle United before we move into an era of just-for-fun Guess the Sore features.
There is something very special to Monsieur Salut about the first of the three games in the headline. It will be his debut for the season so far at a Sunderland game.
OK, it’s only Tuesday. But let’s go early this week. The Man Utd “Who are You?” is ready to run but will appear tomorrow or Thursday. No reason, though, why we shouldn’t get cracking in the build-up to Saturday evening’s momentous game with Guess the Score.
The good news is that the prize is back. The less good news is that it’s still only a mug, albeit a beautiful Salut! Sunderland mug with the promise of a suitably amended design should a United supporter emerge as the competition winner.
Come on, all you serial optimists. Have another go at guessing a Sunderland score, the game at home to Liverpool on Sunday.
William C got it right on Tuesday – 2-0 to us – and wins a mug. Two in a week is a bit much so let’s make this another one just for fun.
Whether the revolution is over or on hold, just waiting for a new leader, there’s business to be done.
Kevin Ball has passion and knowledge, commands respect and does his level best. No one could prepare players better than he’ll be doing for the third round Capital One cup game against Peterborough.
You’d want him on your side in the trenches, but he’d be an NCO, not a basic squaddie and you’d tend to do as he said. So no little player revolts, kindergarten tantrums, smuggled letters home telling of mental and physical cruelty.
First and foremost: mighty congratulations to Durham County Cricket Club on their fantastic LV Championship title, secured with an eight-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire at the Riverside ground. Bravo, Lads. And now onto more mundane matters …
For the first match weekend in many months, Monsieur Salut will be unable to keep closer in touch with events at the Hawthorns than text messages from Pete Sixsmith. The big return from France to the UK looms and there’s time for one last weekend break, in Annecy.
Football is back and so is Guess the Score. Have a go in the comments below. And don’t forget to catch the SAFC v Arsenal ‘Who are You?’ interview with Walter Broeckx from the Untold Arsenal site’s sub-section examining bad decisions by matchday officials … https://safc.blog/2013/09/sunderland-v-arsenal-who-are-you-biased-referees-tiptop-ozil-suarez-dilemma/
With their unsure grasp of history prior to the Wenger era, Arsenal’s millions of scattered supporters, living their lives without the least contact with north London or even Woolwich, would not know that when Sunderland last won the top flight championship, Saturday’s equivalent fixture ended with a 5-4 home win in front of just under 59,000 at Roker Park.
Don’t worry – we’ll reach Guess the Score in due course. Just scroll down if you get bored …
Two things have struck Monsieur Salut with particular force this week. One was this refreshingly upbeat comment from a 12-year-old Sunderland supporter, posting at the Blackcats e-mail list, after being enthralled by the last quarter of SAFC v MK Dons:
The grumpy old codgers who reside at the list – yes, I include M Salut – could hardly believe their eyes .
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Never seen the magic of a cup.
Never seen the SoL at night.
Never seen us score 4 goals.
Never witnessed anything quite like that.
Never written an email walking from the stadium grinning ear to ear.
It’s that time of the year again, the first fortnight of a new season when Sunderland supporters tell themselves the spirit of ’73 will be revived by the start of a new march all the way to a Wembley final.
We look at the draw for the first round in which SAFC are involved and, assuming progress, wonder who we’ll get next and at each subsequent stage before the Lads triumph in the final. Come January we are thinking similar thoughts about the FA Cup. This, we say, will be our year and not before time.