Every so often, others come cap in hand to Salut! Sunderland for help, almost always of the ‘free, reward-in-heaven’ variety. They want our views of this or that. Monsieur Salut reckons he has done his bit for unpaid journalism and usually asks around in case someone else fancies obliging the website, publication or broadcaster concerned.
Pete Sixsmith‘s great fund of knowledge, general as well as football, makes him an easy recipient in this buck-passing exercise. Here he is again, responding heartily to a request from a newly established site, http://thefootballshirtcollective.com/. The approach was from the site’s Michael Maxwell, who said: “We want to tell the stories behind great football shirts.”
Sixer rattled off his answers to three questions as quickly as used to get down low goalbound shots when he was a goalie for the Shildon Sunderland Supporters’ AFC. You may come up with other candidates …
Monsieur Salut writes: John McCormick, back from a holiday in Spain, finally made it to a game and made a better choice for his debut (mine having been QPR away). He offers an entertainingly whimsical account of getting up to the North East from his Liverpool exile and struggling to acquaint himself with new faces in red and white stripes, but seeing a decent win and – not fully recognised elsewhere – a good substitute’s shift from Adam Johnson …
Jake: ‘Sixer does it in seven words, no more, no less – unless he miscounts’
Monsieur Salut’s younger daughter Nathalie was hailed in this week’s Ealing Gazette for a ‘stunning 30-yard volley’ for her team in a cup win. How we longed for one of those from SAFC. But Pete Sixsmith saw clinicial finishing of a different kind as Steven Fletcher scored twice and Connor Wickham once to deliver a first Premier win of the season, each also clocking up superb assist. Stoke’s goal was a sloppy one to concede and Sixer saw more anxious moments than he’d have liked, but this was a massive boost to the team and supporters’ confidence …
Jake: ‘our strikers swung their banjos with accuracy today and gave the cow’s backside a reet battering!’
What you could win: a mug with this design and your own name as No 12, from Personalised Football Gifts
Everyone knows the drill by now, or should.
Accurately predict the score in SAFC vs Stoke City Round Two, Premier League on Saturday, be the first to post that prediction and do so before kickoff and you win a prize.
South West Stokies can talk for England. Before the league cup game, we had Mike Alderson, the branch chairman, with some fascinating thoughts on all matters Stoke City that brought him a mixed response on a Potters’ message board (see below). The lines will be buzzing again when they see that our volunteer for the Premier game, Dave Shenton*, the branch travel officer, largely shares Mike’s views on Tony Pulis’s reign. Maybe one of the Oatcake critics will offer to chip in for the return league game (last time I tried to find a candidate there, I was invited to eff off). But let’s hear from Dave. Prepare for another great read with passing digs at Joey Barton, the Mags and Jack Wilshere …
Malcolm Dawson writes….the atmosphere on the journey home last night was decidely downbeat. Pete Sixsmith was fuming at what he saw as another inept performance whilst I adopted the taciturn approach which I always seem to do having witnessed yet another disappointing result at the Stadium of Light. At least I didn’t have to get up early next day to teach Year 9s about rubber production in 1950s Malaya or some such. Peter did which is why his version of the latest League Cup debacle is later than normal. Shildon at home to Whickham in the Northern League Cup this evening explains its brevity.
I didn’t think we played all that badly last night…up to a point and the point was about 25 minutes into the game. We had started brightly, taken the lead and then failed to put the game to bed. We let Stoke back into it and they made us pay. Some decent runs in behind their defence but an inability to find the net, misplaced passes and slack defending all allowed The Potters the opportunity to progress.
Jake captures the Bard, with thanks to Owen Lennox
Gus Poyet writes to Monsieur Salut after every game. It’s not the most exclusive of communications, going to thousands of other Sunderland fans, too. This is what he made of our exit from the Capital One Cup, robbing us of one of our chances of another trip to Wembley. Sixer’s Sevens spent the night with no access to the Comments section. This was not intentional – the site’s system was playing up, also preventing uploading of Jake’s images – but, as Salut! Sunderland’s deputy editor, Malcolm Dawson, said, this was perhaps no bad thing. Gus was more upbeat …
Jake: ‘Sixer does it in seven words, no more, no less – unless he miscounts’
Few Sunderland games pass without Pete Sixsmith registering his seven-word summary. After tonight’s exit from the league cup, he offered a number of versions: ‘Lacked pace, tempo and imagination. Otherwise fine’ … ‘keeper beaten twice at his near post’ … ‘disillusionment setting in already. A poor squad’ and an ineligible longer one ‘a very poor performance which does not augur well for the annual relegation battle’. Monsieur Salut has chosen another of his seven-worders and wonders whether we should react to this defeat with anger, relief or indifference …
