Monsieur Salut writes: No referee, however bad, makes as many mistakes as those routinely committed by footballers. But Craig Pawson’s dismissal of Seb Larsson seemed an atrocious call and one he must have known would end the game as a contest. It did. And we lost as maybe we would have done anyway. Pete Sixsmith gets it right in his seven-word verdict and will be back with more …
Alf Common, the first footballer to attract a fee in four figures when Boro bought him from Sunderland in 1905, had to cover the length of what is now the A19 to make his move. More adventurous later travels took him to Sheffield, Arsenal (then a sarf London club) and Preston. Charlie Buchan played only for Sunderland and two London clubs (Arsenal and Leyton). In 17 years, Jimmy Armfield never made it out of Blackpool …
Colin Randall writes: I’ve seen us beat Manchester United at home, at least – but probably only – once, unless I’ve forgotten another one, at Roker Park and once (League Cup) at the Stadium of Light. Others will have seen more, plus those crucial away wins and the League semi-finals home and away. I cannot pretend to be optimistic about Sunday, but who knows? Our United man of wit, warmth and wisdom is Nick Duckworth, who feels we will profit from a season, maybe two in the Championship and that Moyes would be the man to get us back. Interesting responses all round; how many of us, asked to name the best United player in a recent history that includes Cantona, Scholes, Ronaldo (who gets an honourable mention)
and David Bellion, would have said Ryan Giggs? …
The headline, as William Boot would have said in Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop, is correct up to a point. Peter Lynn, better known around here as Wrinkly Pete, has spent much of the season in front an imaginary crystal ball, predicting the outcome of each game and checking how it affects his once-firm belief that Sunderland would survive on 37 points.
While such a tally would mean winning six (of five plus two draws) of the remaining ties, at least Leicester didn’t mess up his calculations since he had us down to lose in any case. Here’s how Pete still thinks – prays? – we can still do it, with original predictions and the points target suitably amended ..
Monsieur Salut writes: masquerading, until it’s corrected, as one Pete Smith, our own Pete Sixsmith was invited by our friends at Art of Football (OK I told them to sign him up) to write about the Jermain Defoe goal captured in that splendid print of theirs, the one you see above. Check it out at Art of Football’s own site …
We awoke to the realisation that yet another defeat, yet another game without hint of a Sunderland goal except from Anichebe’s deflected shot, had indeed happened, writes Monsieur Salut. It wasn’t a bad dream. Nor were the Leicester chants directed at David Moyes: “You’re getting slapped in the morning.”
And we also awoke to reports that Sunderland’s former chief executive Margaret Byrne, who resigned over the club’s deeply questionable handling of the Adam Johnson scandal, is collecting a whopping £750,000 payoff. What heartwarming news! Anything that brings happiness to human beings must surely be welcomed.
So on to another Guess the Score, Salut! Sunderland‘s enthusiasm for the competition kept alive only by the knowledge that Bradley Lowery’s fund is helped a little in the process.
Monsieur Salut writes: Sixer was absent again and we had few expectations. Seeing Cattermole in the starting XI and Anichebe on the bench (sent on late-ish) raised spirits, but we knew we were in such dire straits that only a win, with many more to follow, would do. After doing pretty well for an hour, with the usual lack of punch, Sunderland succumbed to a more determined spell of Leicester play: Oviedo and Kone missed Albrighton’s cross and Slimani’s unchallenged header beat Pickford. Then, after very nearly equalising in a blistering five-second spell with Anichebe hitting a post and Defoe firing into the side netting, Sunderland were down and out. Billy Jones slipped, Albrighton sped off down the left again and Vardy was there to smash home his cross. Here’s to a push for promotion …
Monsieur Salut writes: much earlier in the season, when hope was young and alive (for some), Peter Lynn, alias Wrinkly Pete, decided to look ahead to all remaining games and calculate how – it was ‘how’ not ‘if’ then – Sunderland would reach his estimate of 37 points and safety. You must read on the see how far behind we are in his reckoning.As I wrote at ESPN before the Watford game, tonight is the anniversary of the date two years ago when Leicester City began their incredible bottom-to-top surge with the first of seven wins from the remaining nine games to ensure not just survival but 12th place respectability. I speculated that David Moyes had originally counted on two-to-four points from Watford and Leicester away if we were to emulate City’s escape, but was left needing six by the failure to beat Burnley. Three tonight would be a consolation and might, just might, inspire a proper revival. I’d be lying if I said I expect us to be anything other than just a step closer the drop once the final whistle goes, three more points handed to opponents. Prove me wrong, Lads. And now over to Pete …
Monsieur Salut writes: it goes from bad to worse to boorish. Not content with his share of the blame for leading Sunderland’s downward charge to the Championship, our boss is caught – thinking he is off-air – snapping at a BBC reporter, Vicki Sparks, and threatening to give her ‘a slap even though you’re a woman’. Her crime? Asking an entirely legitimate question after the Burnley goalless draw about any extra pressure Moyes may have felt with the owner Ellis Short present for the game. Reports suggest there was no obvious humour in the remark’s delivery. The manager should add to his apology, already given and accepted, a substantial personal donation to a charity of the reporter’s choosing.
Now on to Leicester. Our ‘Who are You?’ interviewee Brian Archie’s* hope for the game, a 2-1 home win, is unlikely to improve Moyes’s mood. The Watford defeat means we can survive only if we do on Tuesday what Leicester did exactly two years ago and begin a sequence of something like seven wins from nine remaining games …
We went into the weekend with only the faintest of hopes. Surely the Lads couldn’t fire yet another blank. They’d be really up for it, for the two wins in four days that might, just might spark revival. Robert Chapman, standing in once again for Pete Sixsmith, saw the reality. Another lame defeat and the Gap grew wider at Watford. Robert looks back on a match that seemed, despite the premature mathematical interpretation, to dump Sunderland into the Championship …
So it was April Fool’s Day; a day for surprises and stunts. Could Sunderland possibly call all the pundits wrong, get three points and embark on the next great escape?