A three all draw is always more satisfying when your team has recovered from three nil down than when it has thrown away a three goal lead. So it has been with the defeats against West Brom, Norwich and now Chelsea. The team’s performances in the latter stages of those games can be seen as causes for optimism. That’s certainly the spin the manager is putting on the outcome of those games, but once Pete Sixsmith has had time for objectivity to kick in he sees worryingly weak team performances achieving too little, too late.
Salut Sunderland
O’Neill One Year On: (4) keep the faith – things will pick up
For our penultimate look back at Martin O’Neill’s first year in charge (Pete Sixsmith‘s view will appear later today) we are pleased to welcome another contributor making his Salut! Sunderland debut. Richard Purdham is a 22 year old from Durham who after experiencing the thrills of the post Steve Bruce turnaround admits to a feeling of anti climax in subsequent months. However, he still thinks that MON is the man for the job. Over to Richard….
Sixer’s Soapbox: Sunderland tilting at windmills in Norwich defeat
Peter Sixsmith stuck in the wilds of snowy Shildon, delves into his bumper book of footballing phrases to sum up Sunday’s game in the flatlands of East Anglia. Whilst this one didn’t have Delia ranting and raving like some inebriated old harpy on the pitch at the break, she was seen in close up on Match of the Day towards the end of the game, biting her nails and mouthing the word bun, as the boys in red and white laid siege in the home side’s goalmouth. But then again she may just have been feeling a bit peckish and thinking of refreshments laid on in the board room. The outcome of the match hardly leaves Sixer over the moon. Let him explain……
A win’s a win for a’that: Sunderland beat Wigan, Sixer cites Burns
Positives: winning, being unbeaten, Mignolet’s world class shot-stopping, Fletcher’s Fifth …
Negatives: matched and menaced by Wigan for half the match, unable to build on a lead even against 10 men. Maybe we should acquire the wonderful gift identified by a certain Scottish bard: ‘to see oursel’s as others see us!’ Over to our resident Burns specialist in – if we are to believe him – pious, farewell mode Pete Sixsmith…
Arsenal six days away: this is how Salut! Sunderland lines up
They’ve got Olivier Giroud, not to mention Cazorla and Podolski; we have Cuellar, and Sess hasn’t gone (I realise that’s tempting fate). Just six days remain before we face still-mighty Arsenal away, further new signings or not, in the new season’s first game. Time to introduce – or reintroduce – our own team …
Bravo Team GB, the organisers, an army of staff and volunteers and all the public services personnel who made the London Olympics such a success.
Dying Magpie caption competition brings parting sorrow and winning joy
Salut! Sunderland is pleased that Titus Bramble has been cleared of sexual assault. He was utterly wrong to be out on the toot after the debacle at Carrow Road but was punished by the club for that and it is right that we should record today’s Not Guilty verdicts in passing. However, Monsieur Salut – having already seen tweets that could easily get the tweeters into bother – will be extremely cautious in deciding whether to permit readers’ comments …
Now’s the time to sharpen your writing skills and brighten these pages
It was a tiring season. Being any supporter of Sunderland was, at times, exhausting enough. Being Pete Sixsmith, determined to get to every game even if it meant watching a joke team selection at Brighton and truly awful performances at many Premier grounds, was a test of any fan’s commitment and stamina.
Soapbox: Wolves have home fans howling as easy prey gets away
With the opposition firmly ensconced at the bottom of the league, a team that had lost seven consecutive games and hadn’t kept a clean sheet in the league since August 27th, Pete Sixsmith travelled to the Stadium of Light in high spirits. Here was a great opportunity to cement that push for a top eight finish. By the end he was fantasising about non PC seventies sitcoms and the latest equivalent of Watney’s Red Barrel …
A night of truth for Sunderland, Everton – and James or Dennis
Tonight’s the night. Sunderland try to go one better than in that battling Goodison display and win a place in the Wembley semi-finals and, who knows, the final after that.
A challenge in a million (and a half): get QPR, Everton scores right
Guess-the-score is back, with a bang. There are two scorelines to predict and the prizes are sensational (one part of this paragraph is entirely false) …