SAFC

Who are you? We’re Wigan Athletic (2)

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wigan1

Steve Halliwell*, from the estimable Wigan Athletic fans’ site Ye Olde Tree and Crown, concludes his answers to Salut! Sunderland’s questions and repays all our kindness by predicting at least a draw for his team against us at the Stadium of Light tomorrow …


Right. Say whatever you want, within the usual bounds, about Steve Bruce.

Managed us twice, left us twice so he mustn’t like the pies, mind you it does look like he ate a few.

He got us sorted second time around ( the first time he was with us wasn’t long enough to change the name on the manager’s door ) especially at the back, joking apart he certainly got the best of Titus Bramble, Player of the Season last term.

He does have an eye for a decent player BUT he also signs absolute rubbish, Kapo & De Ridder to name but two of many, he never tends to get anything in-between good to crap.

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Who are you? We’re Wigan Athletic (1)

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wigan2


Salut! Sunderland respects anyone prepared to fill the shoes of Bernard Ramsdale, whose terrific musings have graced our pages ahead of previous games against Wigan Athletic. Bernard – the Landlord of the WAFC site Ye Olde Tree and Crown – deserved his rest, and Steve Halliwell* has proved himself to be an able stand-in, but – in marked contrast to Barry, our recent Evertonian – at great length. This, then, is the first part of the interview with Steve …

Salut! Sunderland:
Being beaten 9-1 at Spurs seem to set you off on a little run, or certainly didn’t lead to collapse, who gets the credit for that?

Well thank you for reminding me, every flamin shot on target went in didn’t it?

For the two weeks after the game on went my Wigan Athletic tie for work, just to show my support in a small way.

The stick I got especially from Bolton Wanderers fans in particular was horrific but my retort was easy due to us being above them anyway.

As for the PNE, Oldham Athletic, Bury Blackpool (4-1 in the Carling Cup was painful) and other North West supporters I just tended to point out exactly what division they are in relative to us.

I know its smug but while we are still in the Premier League I’m going to enjoy every minute of the fun.

As for the credit it has to be the legend that is Roberto Martinez AND the fans who backed him, the spotty faced nameless keyboard morons on less salubrious boards wanted him sacked.

Allegedly we have professional footballers on the payroll at the DW so why on earth they can’t adapt to a slightly different way of playing is beyond me, the object of the game is the same, as is the pitch, number of players, size of the goals etc.

Roberto tends to favour a more methodical passing game, Steve Bruce ran a tighter ship at the back but its not rocket science or are our players trying to prove themselves stereotypically thick?

After saying all that it is the players themselves who have got us out of the mini slump, it’s a cliché I know but “once over the white line” its all up to them but it was good to have a rant anyway!

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Who are you? We’re Stoke City

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northy

Sunderland fans take heart. Since we lost at Stoke – and many, many other places since – Simon Northwood, a City fan also known as Northy* of the Rip Roaring Potters website and lead singer of Sounds of an Asylum, has altered his view of where his club will finish (132th instead of 12th) but still thinks we’ll be 11th. Sorry, pal, but we’ll need to do better than draw with you (your prediction) on Monday if that is still on the cards …

Salut! Sunderland:
You’re having another decent season, better – as I write – than ours. Explain!

It’s funny because there has been plenty of discontent throughout the support regarding the way we have been going at things but as usual Pulis and the lads are doing the business and the table doesn’t lie. I think there is plenty more to come from these boys so I expect a decent run in as well.

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How to pollute a tribute to a decent Sunderland fan

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squinny2

No one is asked to forget yet another dismal performance, costing us three more points in a match we never remotely looked like saving, let alone winning. Malcolm Dawson will be back with some thoughts on the 2-0 defeat at Everton. But I believe this deserves an airing (adapted from the version at Salut!) because Stephen “Squinny” Wilson was a passionate Sunderland fan who would have been at Goodison, or watching somewhere, had he not been murdered. To the grief of those who cared for Squinny is added the insult of having a tribute sullied by a web parasite …

Who was Stephen Wilson and who is Andrew A Sailer?

The answer to the first question is easy. Stephen, pictured (far right) with fellow Sunderland supporters at a pre-season trip to Amsterdam, was an amiable man who met an end he did not deserve. He was killed in an attack outside a pub in Bishop Auckland.

My friend Pete Sixsmith, who is seen on the extreme left of the picture, wrote an eloquent and touching tribute to him at Salut! Sunderland, entitled simply “Stephen Wilson RIP”.

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Naive, irrational, expectant: summing up Sunderland fans ahead of Goodison?

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salutsunderland


There may be a Carling Cup match to preoccupy fans of the Manchester clubs and even Surly Alex Ferguson. But for fans of Sunderland AFC, the only match that really matters will be taking place 34 miles or so to the west …

As responses to a shocking FA Cup exit at Portsmouth go, buying a ticket for the next game at Pompey – not even two weeks away – may seem irrational. I have just ordered mine.

As a logical approach to tonight’s Premier League tie against Everton, putting money on anything other than another Sunderland defeat might seem naive. I was toying with the idea of a fiver on the unexpected away win.

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Soapbox: Fratton Park or Roker Park – where’s the glory?

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soapbox


Three hundred miles or so each way for a match that – allowing for hindsight – had cup exit written all over it. Or a day out to another Roker Park than the one we remember to see the other SAFC, mighty Shildon, in another cup competition. That was the choice confronting Pete Sixsmith. No contest. And be warned, Steve Bruce, this is the scale of the crisis of confidence engulfing Sunderland: Pete may even prefer Shildon away in the next round to Wigan at home in the Premier …

Commiserations to Malcolm Dawson, who got the short straw and had to pay £20 to watch defending that would have been seen as risible in a Northern League Division two game. I pulled the plum out of the basket and saw a stirring FA Vase tie at Roker Park, Stotfold.

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As Stoke’s SAFC “rejects” shine, the message is clear: cheer us Stevie Bruce

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salutsunderland

Very well, reject is a harsh word.

But take a good look at the line-up fielded by Stoke City yesterday before the excellent 3-1 FA Cup win over Arsenal:

Thomas Sorensen, Danny Higginbotham, Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Danny Collins, Glenn Whelan, Dean Whitehead, Rory Delap (Salif Diao, 85), Matthew Etherington (Danny Pugh, 90), Ricardo Fuller (Sanli Tuncay, 85), Mamady Sidibe

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A Trek Supreme

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als2Here’s a word from Salut! Sunderland‘s good causes department: Martyn McFadden, esteemed editor of the fine Sunderland fanzine, A Love Supreme, has found a brilliant alternative to the World Cup.

With Paul Bramley, Ross and Shirley – “he’s a boy, but we call him that anyway!”, we’re assured – he will be in another part of the African continent, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Steve Cram’s children’s charity Coco.

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