Premier League - SAFC Blog

West Brom vs SAFC: the Boingness of the Long-distance Runner

January 19, 2017January 19, 2017 by Colin Randall

Manish Patel* is a man on a mission. He has already raised £1.200 of pounds for Children in Need, by running hundreds of miles, and has set his heart on piling on those sorts of pounds for the charity with four full marathons and a total of 1,000 miles this year. See his page at justgiving.com. In between times, he loves sport and is a passionate West Bromwich Albion supporter. We can hardly begrudge him his joy at Albion’s progress underTony Pulis – or blame him for fearing Sunderland haven’t much hope of avoiding the drop (we get the same feeling every season) …

West Bromwich Albion vs Sunderland Guess the Score: can we, will we?

January 19, 2017January 19, 2017 by Colin Randall

Enter the prize Guess the Score – whoever you support

Something like this – you choose the names. And a Derby County-supporting winner would get a design more to his his/her taste

You never know – you could end up the proud owner of one of these (or a Cardiff one)

Is a mug the way to a despairing Sunderland fan’s heart? Would the already rosy life, relatively, of a Baggie be made complete by having something new to pour his tea into?

There is very little Monsieur Salut wants to say about the third Guess the Score prize competition in a week. It is painful enough to think about Sunderland’s wretched season without having to find something new to write about it on these pages.

Andy Reid on Keano and O’Neill, Defoe and Moyes – and Sunderland spirit

January 18, 2017January 18, 2017 by Colin Randall

So Salut! Sunderland was told the former SAFC and Republic of Ireland midfielder Andy Reid, speaking exclusively to 888sport, was happy to answer our questions as part of the interview. He had some interesting things to say about enjoying his time at Sunderland, playing for Ireland and observing our current plight.

A thank you from Salut! Sunderland, 10 years old this week

January 19, 2017January 18, 2017 by Colin Randall

History time: this photo was the first published by Salut! Sunderland

In which Monsieur Salut salutes all those who have sustained Salut! Sunderland and announces a splendid little prize competition …

Take a grizzled old Sunderland supporter, a much younger Newcastle fan and the Shotton-born midfielder Tommy Miller. What do they have in common?

Ten years ago this week, Salut! Sunderland was born. And the image you see above was the very first to appear on these pages, in the earliest proper posting on January 16 2007.

Sixer’s Stoke City Soapbox: Potters pile more pain on Moyes’s Boys (and us!)

January 15, 2017 by Dean Cruddace

Malcolm Dawson writes……….I never get too worked up about performances such as yesterday’s. I just don’t – ever! I enjoy …

After Stoke horror show, which seven Sunderland players get 3/10?

January 14, 2017 by Colin Randall

M Salut, drawn by Matt, colouring by Jake

Monsieur Salut writes: each matchday, ESPN FC expects me – or Pete Sixsmith when I am away – to send a report with a brief summary of the game followed by out-of-10 ratings for manager and team.

Moyes on the Boys after Stoke debacle: ‘just 20 dodgy minutes’

January 14, 2017 by Colin Randall

Monsieur Salut writes: people left their Stadium of Light seats in droves, Pete Sixsmith sent demoralised text messages and I ended up giving three-out-of-10s galore in my ESPN FC ratings. So what did David Moyes make of it? Well, he has either lost track of time or, when claiming SAFC matched Stoke for all but the first 20 minutes, meant to say the 19 minutes they took, starting in the 15th, to put the game out of sight …

Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 1-3 Stoke City. With barely a whimper

January 14, 2017 by Colin Randall

Jake: ‘the curse Of Jack Rodwell is beyond a joke now. Maybe we should consider hiring an exorcist or witchdoctor or something’

Monsieur Salut writes: Is there no end to the pain to which Sunderland supporters are subjected by those rewarded handsomely to manage and play for the club? By the time Sunderland got started, 38 minutes into this miserable game, they were three down; it might have been four or five so easily had a well-organised but hardly exceptional Stoke City ripped though our slow, panic-stricken defence. Jermain Defoe scored with a clinical finish to pull one back but apart from one absymal miss from six yards by Jack Rodwell, even a marginally improved second-half performance offered few signs of hope.

David Moyes added his own contribution to a catalogue of individual failings by refusing to make a single change and, quite obviously, saying nothing at half-time to inspire a meaningful comeback. Pete Sixmsith’s seven-word verdict did undergo changes as the game wore on. I shall offer them all below …

Jermain Defoe looked unhappy but who wouldn’t? SAFC absolutely must keep him

January 16, 2017January 14, 2017 by Colin Randall

Oxford vs Portsmouth (CC BY 2.0) by quisnovus

Monsieur Salut writes: I got into trouble with a Salut! Sunderland reader, ‘Maw’ over at Twitter when I tweeted Jermain Defoe and said that while I might understand him wanting to leave at the end of the season, would he please stay for now? ‘Grow up,’ was the gist of my critic’s response and, while there was a germ of a serious point in what I had said, I ended up conceding defeat. The serious point holds good, especially if it is true, as speculated, that Defoe’s body language on Saturday suggested restlessness; whatever restructuring is needed – and by whom – come the summer, Defoe is our main, perhaps only hope of salvation between now and then. Alex McMahon agrees …

Jermain Defoe is one of the best strikers in the Premier League. The Sunderland man may be 34, but he certainly has not lost his mojo. The former England man has scored 12 goals and created as many chances in 21 Premier League appearances so far this season. That’s 57 per cent of the goals Sunderland have scored.

Should Sunderland aim to be more like Stoke?

January 13, 2017 by Colin Randall

Monsieur Salut writes: Pete Sixsmith raised this question here several months ago. It occurred to me again as I wrote my preview of Sunderland vs Stoke City for ESPN FC – is Mark Hughes’s side, and the club itself, more or less what SAFC should be aiming to emulate? Why can they attract players with greater apparent ease than us, and how do they manage to get into the top half so often (OK, a bad start this season makes that a taller order for 2016-17)?