Premier League

Forget Oscars: the HAWAY awards are what matters to fans of Everton, Stoke, Chelsea … and Shrewsbury

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Jake: ‘with thanks to all opposing fans who participate’

Salut! Sunderland gets big hits for “Who are You?” interviews, the Q and A sessions with opposing fans that we publish before every game, writes Monsieur Salut.

And at the end of each season, we present the Haways – Highly Articulate Who Are You? awards – to those our judges deem to have been the best.

It is entirely subjective but a spot of fun. If any reader who follows the series wishes to have a say, please just leave a comment (using your correct e-mail address, which is not shown but I can see) and you will be contacted.

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Relishing victory at Hull and time to Guess the Score vs Swansea

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Peter Lynn, aka Wrinkly Pete

Monsieur Salut writes: talk about killing two birds with one stone. Peter Lynn has put away – probably smashed – the crystal ball that kept telling him we’d stay up. But he hasn’t lost the faith in an broader sense. He was at Hull and will, I imagine be at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

So read on, enjoy Wrinkly Pete’s reflections – and then guess the score in SAFC vs Swansea. Anyone can enter and the first reader to predict the correct result will eventually get a prize. Usual prizes – a suitable mug or the Nick Barnes Matchbook mini-version, either producing a small donation to the Bradley Lowery appeal fund – – and usual rules …

Ah but there is a great prize and it aids the Bradley Lowery campaign

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Gambles Rambles: time to punish timewasters and ban late substitutions

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Ken Gambles: ‘would a Gooner rhyme my surname with stumbles?’

One minor regret of our 10 seasons in the Premier League is that this spell ends without the authorities taking up the ingenious suggestions from our own Ken Gambles of making shirt-pullers wear bright pink knitted mittens and divers pull on goggles. Undeterred, Ken has come up with other thoughts on rule changes, this time proposing sanctions designed to punish offending teams, not humiliate individuals …

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Premier title looks sorted but Sunderland can now affect Hull and Swansea’s fate

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… through the Championship, we’re on our way

After a season devoid of impact or excitement, Sunderland are in the relatively unusual position of having a major say in who else goes down – and a glance at the odds at 10bet homepage suggests the bookies don’t expect us to stand in Swansea’s way on Saturday.

Our rare win at the weekend, with goals from Billy Jones and Jermain Defoe to beat Hull, did the Swans a power of good. But they were also doing what we used to do when we took survival battles more seriously: they won an important game of their own.

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How will Sunderland get on in the Championship: a poll and a prize

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[polldaddy poll=9742072][polldaddy poll=9742072][polldaddy poll=9742072][polldaddy poll=9742072]

NB: the fourth and fifth answers were added by readers. I cannot cast the vote those readers gave themselves so they – plus others if in agreement – should tick the relevant box now

We’re down and demoralised. Yes, we beat Hull. We may even win another game to salvage more pride, but probably not a place higher than 20th.

Some will put a gloss on relegation – “at least we’ll see some wins and some goals” – but we all know where we’d rather be next season.

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Sixer’s Sevens: Hull City 0-2 SAFC. Hollow victory, pride restored

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Jake: ‘well knock me down with a feather’

Pete Sixsmith decided after all to go to the Hull game and you’ll see his seven-word verdict below. I imagine thousands of Sunderland supporters not even bothering how it went. At half-time, Sixer’s verdict was that we looked better organised (not a huge leap) in a poor game. Then, all of a sudden, Billy Jones came good with a great diving header. To be followed by a deserved 15th goal for Defoe, albeit offside, to produce the sort of win we could have done with a lot more often. Honeyman was good, so were Anchibe and O’Shea but Pickford had to be outstanding – and was …

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Hull City ‘Who are You?’: soft spot, heavy heart for Sunderland

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Cheering from afar: Ian Wilson and a young Tiger

Ian Wilson* is the warm-hearted Hull City fan who recently chipped in with £50 for the Bradley Lowery fund. He turns out to be exiled in Sri Lanka and to have spent a lot of time at Roker Park while working in the North East. Ian expresses obviously sincere sympathy on our relegation, muses over  the players he’d take from our squad, offers cautious optimism on Hull’s survival prospects – and says David Moyes is not the man to revive Sunderland’s fortunes …

Jake: ‘like a bat out of Hull?’

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What’s next for SAFC? Anyone for Garry Monk or Slaviša Jokanovic if Moyes goes?

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David Moyes: by Jason Gulledge from Dallas, TX, USA – David Moyes, CC BY 2.0, Link

We will know soon whether David Moyes is to stay on for the massive job of reviving Sunderland after his wretched season in charge. If he goes, we would need swift, decisive action on a replacement to avoid the problems caused last summer by the FA’s dithering over Big Sam and England. Here, a guest writer weighs up the options …

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