Pete Sixsmith was attached to Pardew his butler, and the butler seemed contended enough with life in Shildon’s posh bit, Busty Bank. But Palace gold talks loudly and the butler – he may seem ungoldly but his name derives from the French Par Dieu (by God) – is off back down south, gratefully detaching himself from the ruffians and vagabonds of the North East. Let Sixer sound the bugle ….
Newcastle United
Hutch’s Patch: one-word ratings on Sunderland’s heroes at Newcastle
Many of us know the sensation of being at St James’ Park when we win. Sixer has been at all five victories since 1999 and we can safely assume Rob Hutchison has experienced it, too. Yesterday, however, he was at the Old Red Lion Pub @ORLpub in London and says it “exploded when Johnno put that critter in, 150 London Branch (SAFCSA) members went absolutely bonkers’. Here, ahead of Keir Bradwell’s ratings, are his man-by-man marks and a single word apiece . . . .
Sixer’s Newcastle Soapbox: God bless us every one (nil)!
Malcolm Dawson writes….It is wet and windy in the North East of England as Sunday turns to Monday. But in a house of a red and white persuasion, it is cosy and warm, the Christmas lights are twinkling, schooners of sherry and glasses of mulled wine are being raised before a roaring log fire, whilst happy throngs of smiling people are singing carols, pulling crackers and setting off the party poppers. Meanwhile, gazing longingly through the windows at the joyous scene, stands a sad lonely figure, black and white fingerless mittens and a bah humbug black and white Santa hat the only protection from the cold. How he longs to experience the warmth and camaraderie of this, the festive season, but today the spirit of Derby present and that of Derbies past has brought home the despondency of his chosen path.
Peter Sixsmith is enjoying his Sunday evening as he reports on the day’s events on Tyneside …
Newcastle beaten by Adam Johnson’s masterpiece of breakaway play
Just hit the home page – https://safc.blog – and navigate the site to milk the occasion for all it’s worth.
Pure Poyetry from Newcastle 0-1 Sunderland: ‘some moments are special’
Gus Poyet rightly hails a fabulous winner and a grand team performance. He cannot quite share our tribal passion but he gets it! Read his post-match e-mail to Monsieur Saliut, and a few other delirious fans, and feel his joy …
Sixer’s Sevens: Newcastle 0 SAFC 1. Johnson cracker seals four-in-row
Pete Sixsmith – Father Christmas to many in the North East – saw our fourth successive win against Newcastle as Adam Johnson blasted home a superb winner after we’d wasted chances galore and briefly handed the initiative to the Mags. Sixer said at half time ‘the final ball needs to be better’ though Sunderland had still carved out the three best chances, two headers (one a sitter) to Wickham and Fletcher’s magnificent volleyed attempt, hitting the bar from Larsson’s tremendous ball). Sixer also bemoaned referee Anthony Taylor’s failure to send off Coloccini for his wretched assault on Fletcher or to book Tiote until he’d committed four yellow card offences. Gomez missed a glaring chance in the second half, Johnson missed another (not so straightforward) but no matter. The win was deserved …
Dec 21 NUFC (0) 0 SAFC (0) 1 Four in a row brings Christmas cheer
Dec 13 SAFC (1) 1 West Ham United (1) 1 One point better than none. Tight game
Newcastle United v Sunderland: are the horses now safe?
Previewing the Tyne-Wear derby for ESPN, I mentioned the decision by Northumbria police to treat the game with a less jittery approach to security.
Am I being too cynical in wondering whether the logical outcome, given the sad existence of their horse-punchers and our own minority of not-so-peaceable followers, is that it’ll be back to the ring of steel next time?
Newcastle v SAFC Who are You?: ‘never met a Mackem I disliked’
Geordie and lifelong Toon fan, Nick Donaldson* was one of Monsieur Salut’s colleagues in London and is now following, long after M Salut’s departure, in his footsteps to Abu Dhabi. But while sorting out visas, medicals, accommodation and other formalities, he thought he’d squeeze one more derby before heading east, though he’s having to settle for a pub telly and mixed Mag/Mackem company. Rise above prejudice and stand by for another gem of a Who are You? I forgot to ask him whether 1-9 had a nice ring to it aa a Tyne-Wear score in December …
The Grand Newcastle Utd vs SAFC Guess the Score: fun and framed pitchas
I still have a card my mother once sent me. It showed a long-suffering wife looking daggers at her old man as he hands her the most romantic birthday present he could think of getting: “Here you are, pet. Just what you always wanted. A framed pitcha of the Sunderland football team.”
Well, look at the mug above. Imagine it as a smart framed photograph. It will be yours if you are the first to post a correct prediction of the score for Sunday’s derby at St James’ Park.
Dodgy numbers signify relegation scrap for Hull, QPR, Burnley, Leicester (and us?)
This is my third post in this series, which began in August when I used some dodgy stats and history …