Out of 13 entries, no one was disloyal or Fulham-supporting enough last week to predict the 1-0 defeat, or any defeat come to that.
So the prize mug rolls merrily forward. Are Paolo Di Canio’s men about to do on their first Premier League travels of the new season what they could not manage at home?
A new season and a new series of Guess the Score competitions.
Sunderland take on Fulham in the knowledge that the home games that follow, right up to early December, are challenging to say the least: Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Newcastle United, Man City, Chelsea, Spurs.
Your chance to guess the score in the last game of the season and, just maybe, win a life-enhancing prize …
This is what Stan Collymore tweeted the other day after Arsenal had saved our bacon: “Spurs & Arsenal, the shootout on Sunday! We’ll be across every game,as the goals fly in on Super Sunday!”
The inference is that it is just a question of who scores the most goals – Arsenal at St James’ Park, Tottenham Hotspur against us and, though unmentioned, Chelsea at home to Everton. All that matters is who finishes 3rd, 4th and 5th.
Well, Sunderland have something to play for, too. That little thing called pride, but also position.
Only one relegation spot left yet any of eight teams could fill it.
The scenarios are not endless but they are certainly plentiful. With Wigan engaged in the FA Cup final this weekend, the agony may go on to the last day.
We’d all hoped the mini-revival sparked by Paolo di Canio’s arrival would turn the Stoke game on Monday night into a much more relaxed occasion that seemed likely just before he arrived as head coach.
Villa Park, and a couple of good results for Stoke, changed all that.
Just before we get on to the business of inviting score predictions for the monumental game at Villa Park on Monday, there’s a spot of housekeeping to announce.
Tim Cahill been shunted off to New York. Howard Webb is demoted to pub league football, or whatever is deemed his punishment for stopping Sunderland being four-up at half time against Newcastle, and no other referee in the world will surely, ever again, fall for the Leon Osman penalty trick.
That still leaves the small matter of how we actually win when playing Everton.
Thanks to the combined forces of Twitter and ESPN, Salut! Sunderland has an Evertonian lined up for the game after the Tyne-Wear derby, plus two willing hands for next season and also a spare Mag for next season IF ….
And at ESPN I have given another outing to the story of Big Jim and the second of the 2-1 St James’ Park victories back in the dayts of Reid, Phillips and Quinn. Jim’s an American pal intrduced by me to the special nature of Sunderland beating Newcastle.
I have had fun all week with the disparate band of people in various lands who post comments to the club-by-club part of the ESPN website – http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/sunderland/id/1359?cc=5739.
Guess the score in Sunderland v Manchester United and you could win a life-changing prize or, if we’re clean out of stock, a mug …
Xuana does not know it – she was only one this week – but her dad is hoping against better judgement for big things this weekend from the reason for that scarf.