Steve Bruce

SAFC 1 Wigan 1: glass half full?

by

soapbox

With Pete Sixsmith once again missing the action  (and the chance to appear on MOTD2), Malcolm Dawson takes the positives from our match against Wigan.

The journey to the Stadium of Light from my base in the Midlands had a familiar air about it. I have lost count of the number of times fellow exiles and myself have made the trip with the feeling that here was another crucial game. Three points essential.

There have been seasons when we have been pushing for promotion and even two when we harboured hopes of European qualification, but more often it has been the threat of relegation that has been the dark cloud tracking our progress north, emphasising the importance of the win.

Yesterday was no exception. Fortunately, I had missed Monday’s game. I hadn’t been impressed when I watched our game at the Britannia and had no desire to find a pub with ESPN. Reading Sixer’s summing up I was happy to have made the right choice.

Read more

Who are you? We’re Wigan Athletic (2)

by

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.

Read more

Who are you? We’re Wigan Athletic (1)

by

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!

Read more

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

by

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.

Read more

Chelsea 7 Sunderland 2: an appreciation

by

salut


Niall Quinn and Steve Bruce are apparently the guests on Goals on Sunday, on Sky tomorrow. How will they explain away this humiliation? Colin Randall is still apoplectic after another shambolic away performance …

“Appreciate,” gloated the lippy teenager in blue as she walked past the Sunderland end on the way back to her front-row seat after a wander into the concourse nearly stopped her seeing the fourth goal.

Read more

This morning’s puzzle: name Kenwyne’s £40m day

by

Kenwyne CharicatureTransfer windows open out onto a heap of speculation, some of it fuelled by wily agents, some of it appearing to be evidence of – shall we say – the imaginative powers of football reporters. In one window, during Roy Keane’s time, only half a dozen or so of the scores of names in the Sunderland AFC official website’s “rumour mill”, culled from media reports, were remotely in the club’s sights, and several actual targets had not been mentioned at all. What, then, is the truth this time round? …

First, the papers said Steve Bruce was ready to sell Kenwyne Jones.

Then he appeared to heap scorn on the claims. Now, on one interpretation iof his latest remarks, he’s practically launched a public auction.

Read more

A Christmas football wishlist. 1 (A-I): Thierry Henry in Gaelic, Darlo in the playoffs

by

tree

Is Santa listening? Probably not, but Salut! Sunderland thought it would produce its own list of the presents it wants, the things it wants to happen not just for Christmas but for the coming year. Let’s see how many are granted. This is the first of three instalments. Come up with a better suggestion or two and you might win a prize …

A is for Arsène. The elegantly whingeing Alsacian – (“is that why they’re called Arsenal?” asked the daughter who knows nothing about football) – announces a new deal with Optical Express, suddenly sees things more clearly, apologises for his players’ occasional diving and heaps praise on teams that beat or draw against Arsenal as well as those that lose.

B is for Bruce: Steve wins three manager-of-the-month awards in succession and we’re not only safe but sixth.

Read more

Wolves fans deserve a refund, but what’s gone wrong for us?

by

steve


The dreadful run continues. Sunderland cannot finish off lowly teams – or even score against some of them – and can hardly count on doing fairly well, fairly consistently when confronted by the elite. Cana’s heroics have not been forgotten but he starts to look like a liability, the only question each game being how many minutes will elapse before he is shown a card. The first of our forlorn post-Villa reflections is, in part, a tale of two managers …

mick

Steve Bruce, admittedly struggling with a squad hit by injuries and suspensions, plays his best available teams and gets a single point from two home games. Mick McCarthy gets slated for fielding reserves at Old Trafford (and yes, the travelling Wolves fans should be given £100 a head refunds for their wasted evening), but emerges with three points from two tough away games.

Read more

Soapbox: crestfallen at Craven Cottage

by

soapbox

You have been warned. Pete Sixsmith has been in better moods. Sunderland-supporting readers of a sensitive disposition may wish to lock themselves into a small padded room and listen to the collected works of Jedward. If you’re built of stronger stuff, this is Pete’s verdict on a Sunday by the Thames made so dismal by Steve Bruce’s dunces that he wishes he’d stayed in the White Horse and ordered a £9 pint of Thomas Hardy ale. What on earth did Niall Quinn’s guest, Martina Navratilova, make of it? …


As I dragged myself from a warm bed this morning, still groggy after a long journey back from the latest away shambles, I heard the BBC newsreader say that the Government were worried about an increase in depression and anxiety.

One way to prevent this malaise among the red and white army, I snorted, would be to teach defenders to attack the ball when it is punted into the penalty box.

Read more