Jake: ‘thanks to all who participate’. Click this image to see all of this seaon’s interviewsWith nominations about to close in Salut! Sunderland’s annual HAWAY awards – the prizes offered for best interviews with opposing fans over the season just ended – there is a clear front runner.
Since judging is not quite complete, and readers may still take part as previously invited simply by adding their choices in order of first-second-third in the Comments below, it would be premature to give away more.
Nominations close at midnight UK time so there is not much time left for stragglers, and we do have a quorum with votes already cast by several contributors.
John McCormick, associate editor, writes in the latest of Salut! Sunderland’s end-of-season reviews (see all contributions here):
I only made it to three games.
The first saw us exit the League Cup at Goodison, where a weaker than usual team in a struggling club had no trouble in dispatching us. Rodwell played that evening, in what I think was his last game for us (other than as an unused sub at Brentford), but other than that there was nothing of note in the game and it has no bearing on the rest of the season, so I’ll ignore it.
This will be my final dodgy numberspost of the season. (If you haven’t seen the previous ones you can follow the link above, and/or those below). There is still a game to go, and two questions remain unanswered, but we can now look at the league table and judge how well our start of season pundits did. Their choices for the top six spots, in order of popularity were: Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Fulham, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland.
Three out of six, and wrong about the top two. Is that a “not bad” verdict or something worse?
Yesterday you might have seen how I – or rather our readers – came to select a number of clubs to follow over the course of the season. They were originally Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Fulham, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland; Wolves,Bristol City, Cardiff, Derby and Sheffield United joined them at the end of the January transfer window.
Let’s go back to the start of the season (and don’t we wish we could).
I polled our readers as to who would make the top six. These clubs came up favourite ( in the order given) and I began tracking them and reporting on their progress from time to time:
Middlesbrough
Aston Villa
Fulham
Sheffield Wednesday
Leeds
and Sunderland
By Christmas, if not earlier, it was obvious some changes were needed.
John McCormick writes: I won’t be going to the North East before June, so I won’t be seeing any home games this season. Just as well, I suppose, as the text friend Paul sent from the North stand yesterday suggested the team froze more than the weather.
Pete Sixsmith’s report, a little more detailed but no more positive, would tend to agree …
John McCormick writes: The darkness began to descend early in the second half at the Stadium of Light, and that was before Jake Clarke-Salter got himself sent off for the second time in an hour of playing.
Pete Sixsmith sat through the debacle and his match report will let us know how bad it got. Until then we’ll have to make do with his seven-word text, sent immediately on the final whistle.
John McCormick writes: Tuesday morning, and I’m idly contemplating the weekend and Pete Sixsmith’s“first time” feature which will announce it. “Did I see Preston in our promotion year?” I thought to myself. So I got out my trusty promotion year souvenir brochure that my dad bought me (2/6) and had a look.
Preston were there, as I expected, but I remember nothing about the game, not even the very decent score, which makes me wonder if I went. Fortunately, Pete Sixsmith definitely did:
Monsieur Salut writes: here’s another Guess the Score. Pete Sixsmith may or may not enter but is already fearful of another home defeat, sensing that Preston North End are simply too well organised for us. As each matchday passes, the exercise of predicting results looks more academic. The point may soon come at which not even blind faith and predictions of SAFC-winning scorelines can any longer make a difference to the way things will end up in May …
Salut! Sunderland is not about to wash its hands of Sunderland AFC, or even to wash its hands of the labour of love running this site entails.
Sixer tastes the tropical flavour of a County Durham winter as he delivers the papers
Most weeks, readers of Salut! Sunderland drop by on Friday morning to catch the latest instalment in Pete Sixsmith’s twin series, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Ground (if the game in question is away), Team (if it’s at the Stadium of Light).
This week, the Millwall edition was posted earlier than usual – namely at this link.
John McCormick writes: Tuesday morning, and I’m idly contemplating the weekend and Pete Sixsmith’s “first time” feature which will announce it. “Did I see Preston in our promotion year?” I thought to myself. So I got out my trusty promotion year souvenir brochure that my dad bought me (2/6) and had a look.
