Middlesbrough - SAFC Blog

Sixer’s Soapbox: Moyes stews as Sunderland get burned by Middlesbrough

August 22, 2016August 21, 2016 by Dean Cruddace

Malcolm Dawson writes…..I nearly didn’t go today. I’ve got a bad back. But my lift arrived early so I struggled into my socks and shoes and did what Lamine Kone didn’t do and trekked along to the Stadium of Light. I’ve moved a row back this season but the faces from last year were all there and we spent the pre-match minutes inevitably talking about how the events of the close season have put us back into a familiar frame of mind for our first home game of the season. Of the starting XI only Don Vito, PvA and Defoe were left from the line up which had put Norwich, Chelsea and Everton to the sword and ensured another season of Premiership struggle. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were supposed to be consolidating ourselves as a top half side. Instead we lined up with kids and other clubs’ reserve team cast offs. My GP has ordered a whole set of blood tests, I’m due an X-Ray in the week to see if he can determine the cause of my pain and has threatened me with a prostate examination if nothing is forthcoming from those. (I think he’s a closet Mag!) In the meantime I’ll let Pete Sixsmith describe his own painful experience (and I don’t mean getting through the multiple roadworks on the A690.)

Moyes on the Boys: it’s going to take time

August 22, 2016August 21, 2016 by Colin Randall

John McCormick writes. Pete’s sevens were pessimistic but I thought we did OK in the second half and will be fine once we sort out our defence, midfield and attack.

What does our manager think, however? Well, to let you know, here’s a look at the letter he sent to M Salut, and maybe one or two others, immediately after the game:

Sixer’s Sevens: Middlesbrough look useful – we look like strugglers

August 23, 2016August 21, 2016 by Colin Randall

John McCormick writes: Pete neglected to send me a post-game text so I had to wait until Colin forwarded it. The e-mail he sent contained three possibilities. At half-time it was “Any early season optimism has disappeared already”, then came the seven words which fit the headline.

And last but not least, came seven words that might predict the future:

Sunderland v Middlesbrough ‘Who are You?’: a Smoggie optimist in Prague

August 18, 2016August 18, 2016 by Colin Randall

All the way from professional exile in the Czech Republic, Thomas Keen*, of half-Guisborough, half-USA stock, tells Salut! Sunderland ahead …

Sunderland v Middlesbrough ‘Guess the Score’: a time for winning

August 17, 2016 by Colin Randall

It has been an eventful week.

Much better than expected display at the Etihad, ruined by an unfortunate own goal, egg on Monsieur Salut’s face after he fell for an online reference to Graham Gooch being Lynden’s dad, insolent follow-up comment from Sixer and Malcolm Dawson and now speculation that Watford want and may land Younes Kaboul. Not to mention our former web guru Sam’s belated success in getting rid of that awful error message that had polluted Salut! Sunderland‘s landing pages for a long, long time.

Take pity on Hull, Burnley and Sunderland, all doomed before a ball is kicked.

August 13, 2016 by Colin Randall

John McCormick: bored — John McCormick. Impartial, as always

As the days went by our “who’s doomed” poll slipped down the “Salut”front page until it dropped off the bottom like a relegated team.

By then over 3500 votes had been cast. Most came in flurries in the first couple of days and, although I suspect a strong contingent of Sunderland fans cast votes and tried to move us in the general direction of safety, the positions of the eight chosen clubs didn’t change, and nor did the percentages to any significant extent.

Hull, Burnley and Sunderland doomed. Watford, Middlesbrough, Bournemouth, WBA and Palace are safe

August 11, 2016August 8, 2016 by Colin Randall

This season’s relegation poll went live at about 8.30 on Wednesday morning. By 2.30 some eighteen hundred votes had been cast. Hull received about a third of them and remained clear favourites. Burnley stayed in second place, although the gap had widened, and we had moved up to third. The other five clubs were well behind:

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Hull, Burnley, Bournemouth, Middlesbrough, Watford, Sunderland, West Brom or Crystal Palace. Choose your three

August 3, 2016August 2, 2016 by Colin Randall

It was June 12th when I first put up this season’s relegation poll and July 1st, when the transfer window opened, that I gave you the preliminary results.

Every Premiership club received some votes. Man Utd got thirteen. Spurs and Arsenal (last relegated in the year the Royal Flying Corps established its first airfield) both got ten. Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea received six each, as did Stoke. West Ham were the second best fancied team, with four votes, while Everton received only two votes and are thus deemed most likely to stay in the top division (something they have managed every year since the end of rationing) but not entirely safe.

Given such wishful thinking I had to do some winnowing so I chose 100 votes as the cut-off, which gave me a reasonable number of 8 clubs to watch, and you can see the results in the title above.

The people have spoken: Hull, Burnley and Bournemouth to leave the union

July 1, 2016 by Colin Randall

John McCormick: — John McCormick. Impartial, as always

Would you believe that some people, somewhere, think Man Utd will be relegated? And that others say the axe will fall on Spurs, Chelsea, or Man City. Some even say Arsenal will go down.

That’s democracy for you, so please, please, no histrionics, vitriol or gratuitous insults. There have been enough of them these past few weeks and it’s time for civilised behaviour between gentlefolk, like we always get when discussing football.

Relegation poll: Middlesbrough, Hull or Sunderland? Arsenal and Manchester Utd? Vote now

June 21, 2016June 12, 2016 by Colin Randall

I’m getting a bit tired of the title (and Monsieur Salut should apologise to any reader lured here by thoughts it was a poll on religion; the word inexplicably replaced relegation in the headline when published and still appeared some time later at the newsnow.co.uk site) .

But just because we have some decent players, led by one of the Premier League’s most experienced managers and backed by a tremendous crowd, we can’t assume we’re safe.

Our record is not good. We’ve been one of the survivors for too many seasons and we can’t take anything for granted. Even now there will be some fans somewhere rubbing their hands as they look at the fixtures and thinking ‘Sunderland, that’s an easy three points’.