Salut Sunderland - SAFC Blog

Swansea v SAFC Guess the Score: and two competitions produced one winner

January 11, 2016 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'anything Oxford can do ....' — Jake: ‘anything Oxford can do ….’

Monsieur Salut writes: this is indeed the Swansea City v Sunderland AFC Guess the Score. From this game onwards, temporarily at least, we revert to ‘for fun only’. We will still come up with competitions whenever sponsors appear on the scene and it goes without saying that any reader who knows a potential candidate/business should get in touch. And in the meantime, have a go anyway …

We asked you to Guess the Score in the Arsenal FA Cup match, with a prize at stake for the last time unless and until a new sponsor comes along to replace Personalised Football Gifts, who depart with our thanks for generous past support (see https://safc.blog/2016/01/the-salut-sunderland-3m-hits-competition-nearly-there/).

And before that we asked you to let us know what we are doing well, what we could do better and what we shouldn’t be doing at all at Salut! Sunderland. To mark last week’s milestone – the three millionth hit since the site was launched eight years ago – we persuaded another supplier, Classic Football Shirts, to come up with a prize for the best response.

We have a winner to announce. And without trace of a fix, the same reader has won both prizes.

A mighty thank you as Salut! Sunderland reaches three million

January 6, 2016January 4, 2016 by Colin Randall

Take a bow, Jake. Your graphics play an important part

The weekend brought many extra readers to Salut! Sunderland, thanks to a rare win and Rob Hutchison’s fine piece on past transfer calamities. This led us closer still to that magical milestone of three million hits since the site was created in the new year of 2007.

To mark this achievement, Salut! Sunderland – or rather our friends at Classic Football Shirts – can offer a prize worth £50 in our 3M Competition. Back in November we invited thoughts on why readership levels had been, shall we say, sluggish since the last milestone – two million was reached rather more quickly – and the response was excellent. Monsieur Salut will choose a winner from those comments and any further received by the end of this week, say midnight on Friday UK time, and he or she will have the £50 to spend on or towards Classic Football Shirts products …

Sunderland and Salut: how do we regain our Quinn/Drumaville peak?

November 13, 2015November 4, 2015 by Colin Randall

Colin Randall writes: it is not just Sunderland AFC that knows the meaning of struggle. Salut! Sunderland has its moments, too. I am talking readership levels. Victory – and defeats for those who remember them – in the Wear-Tyne derbies always boost numbers, though not as much as they once did. So do John McCormick’s statistical epics on relegation prospects among the bottom eight (or so) clubs. When Monsieur Salut, John or deputy editor Malcolm Dawson come up with a catchy headline, the effect can be the same because of the way website aggregators work. The common denominator, I am sad to say, is other clubs. We often draw big hits when the content, and therefore the headlines, mention them. Purely Sunderland-themed articles do not, with honourable exceptions, have the same effect.

This suggests we are not quite getting it right for SAFC supporters. Our Facebook group has more than 500 members but there are some days when we do not attract even that number of visitors to the site. Here, after John McCormick has set the scene, is your chance to tell us what it is we are doing wrong, what we should be more or better, what we should not be doing at all …

Salut! Sunderland: how a site better became a site worse

September 28, 2015September 28, 2015 by Colin Randall

With any luck, Salut! Sunderland will be back to normal or something like it very soon. Sam, our West Ham-supporting …

Salut! Sunderland emergency edition: time for our apologies

September 26, 2015September 26, 2015 by Colin Randall

Unlike the Tele/Torygraph when the IRA attacked Canary Wharf in 1992, Salut! Sunderland has no headquarters to bomb. It is the product of blokes who support Sunderland but live in true Mackem diaspora fashion in the south of France, on Merseyside and in Spain as well as in the North East.

But the impact of a wretched systems issue is there for all to see if they come to these pages today and remember what they looked liked on Thursday.

Football Blogging Awards: vote for Salut! Sunderland if you think we deserve it

September 21, 2015 by Colin Randall

Vote for Salut! Sunderland - if you think we're worth it — Vote for Salut! Sunderland – if you think we’re worth it

VOTE for Salut! Sunderland at this link: http://www.footballbloggingawards.co.uk/vote-now/

At the last count 2,917,743 people had visited Salut! Sunderland since it was launched at the start of 2007.

Correction: we’ve had that many hits, which does not of course mean individual visitors. Unless everyone who ever came here stomped off after the first look and kept a promise never to return, the 2.9m must be divided quite a lot to arrive at the true number.

Do they mean us? Ready to Go readers’ verdict on Salut! Sunderland

January 13, 2015January 12, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake takes the jibe to heart and prepares to offer his services to small club in Madrid — Jake takes the jibe to heart and prepares to offer his services to a small club in Madrid

The saying about glass houses and stones hurtles into mind. Salut! Sunderland writers dish out criticism when they feel it is appropriate, so we must expect brickbats to be tossed our way, too.

I chanced upon a Ready to Go discussion on the merits and otherwise of sites/blogs related to Sunderland AFC. The usual dismay that some SAFC fans are simply unaware we exist soon gave way, by turn, to pride when praise was offered, disappointment when we were given short shrift.

Salut! Sunderland wishes all readers and contributors a glorious Christmas

December 27, 2014December 25, 2014 by Colin Randall

Colin Randall writes (OK, some would say that’s an exaggeration):

Salut! Sunderland had modest beginnings in the New Year of 2007, as an offshoot of Salut!, a post-redundo blog that continued – and maybe even improved – my online work as one of The Daily Telegraph‘s pioneering bloggers, in my case from Paris.

Salut! aimed then, as it does now, to talk about “France, current affairs, travel, the media – and more besides” and you can see how well or badly it fares in meeting that self-imposed challenge at http://francesalut.com.

Salut! Sunderland, like my folk music site Salut! Live, had narrower targets. It was intended as a whimsical site by and for lovers of Sunderland AFC. It had no pretensions about being the new ALS or Ready to Go and that is just as well as both are rightly established at the core of the club’s support.

Football Blogging Awards: even Dylan and Darwin couldn’t save us

November 6, 2014November 6, 2014 by Colin Randall

STOP PRESS: Monsieur Salut writes: I could have sworn the Football Blogging Awards website had November 7 as the closing date for votes. I looked again today, wondering whether to make one final plea for support, and found that the preliminary stage is now over and shortlists have been announced. We are not to be found. but thanks hugely to all who voted for Salut! Sunderland in any of the categories and may the best of the remaining blogs and bloggers prove triumphant. I’ll leave the original post intact below so that you have an idea of the categories and a link to enable you to cast votes in the playoffs if you wish …

Jaake swears Dylan and Darwin voted for us, but not often enough — Jake swears Dylan and Darwin voted for us, but not often enough

Football Blogging Awards: make your Yes vote count for Salut! Sunderland

November 6, 2014September 20, 2014 by Colin Randall

It is time to vote in the annual Football Blogging Awards. There are some big guns in the field and Salut! Sunderland is under no illusions about its chances of picking up an award. We are not sure this is how it works in the Oscars but invite you, all the same, to consider voting for us. You can go directly to the voting form at http://www.footballbloggingawards.co.uk/about/how-to-vote-football-blogging-awards/, or read on first to learn a little about one site courting your support. Salut! Sunderland qualifies for votes in four (not three as I thought) of the 11 sections: Established, Forum, Club and Young Blogger …