Colin Randall writes: I always worried about images for this site. Without access to professional databases, without – mostly – the nerve to grab photographs from elsewhere unless we had permission or a good excuse – the arrival of Jake was manna from heaven. For eight or nine of our 13 years, Jake – John Clark, a solid Sunderland lad exiled in Spain – has supplied a . wonderful stream of illustrations to preview a match, or record its result, or often enough just to capture a moment, a mood. Salut! Sunderland has been greatly enriched by his presence and I cannot find truly adequate words to express my admiration and appreciation.
Now – though not for the first time as he reminded me this morning (see this) – John/Jake finds words of his own that are not just the witty captions to his own images and banners and those priceless comments he’d sometimes post…
One last shout-out for the Lads at Wembley tomorrow – or last but one since another piece, by Lars Knutsen, is now scheduled for later today – means, this time, one last sing-out (there’s no music from Lars).
OK, we usually offer a few random thoughts on the forthcoming game as we invite readers – whoever they support – to Guess the Score.
Cue a break with tradition.
For this week only, our illustrator Jake provides not only the image but the only four words that really concern Sunderland supporters. He repeats them many times, but there are still, essentially, just the four words.
Jake is our treasured but exiled graphic artist. Most of the images at Salut! Sunderland emanate from his place in Spain. Here, he joins the Beauties and Beasts parade with scathing comments about modern football gear and find reminiscences of shirts of the past, though not always the matches he wore them too …
Colin Randall writes: it is not just Sunderland AFC that knows the meaning of struggle. Salut! Sunderland has its moments, too. I am talking readership levels. Victory – and defeats for those who remember them – in the Wear-Tyne derbies always boost numbers, though not as much as they once did. So do John McCormick’s statistical epics on relegation prospects among the bottom eight (or so) clubs. When Monsieur Salut, John or deputy editor Malcolm Dawson come up with a catchy headline, the effect can be the same because of the way website aggregators work. The common denominator, I am sad to say, is other clubs. We often draw big hits when the content, and therefore the headlines, mention them. Purely Sunderland-themed articles do not, with honourable exceptions, have the same effect.
This suggests we are not quite getting it right for SAFC supporters. Our Facebook group has more than 500 members but there are some days when we do not attract even that number of visitors to the site. Here, after John McCormick has set the scene, is your chance to tell us what it is we are doing wrong, what we should be more or better, what we should not be doing at all …
It is time for that rarest of things, Salut! Sunderland beating its own drum and asking readers to apply their own percussive accompaniment.
From the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) comes news of its 2013 Writers Awards ceremony, in association with William Hill, which will take place on Monday December the Emirates stadium. Monsieur Salut feels able to proceed with what it could mean for this site on the firm understanding that Paul Danson will not be among the judges.
