At Facebook, Nick Barnes could barely contain his excitement at the commentary duties that lay ahead of him: ‘a beautiful evening for the carnival of football that is the Checkatrade Trophy’. Needless to say, our Pete Sixsmith was there too and, without getting too enthralled by the spectacle, quote enjoyed the rare sight of a Sunderland team winning a game …
A disaster for Durham, says Pete Sixsmith of the enforced relegation of Durham County Cricket Club. I shall leave him to explain the intricacies and implications of the England and Wales Cricket Club decision. Suffice to say Sixer – who traditionally uses what he earns marking examination papers towards the cost of attending SAFC and DCCC matches – is an angry man …
Malcolm Dawson writes…….as we prepare to meet the Baggies of West Bromwich Albion Alan Graham, an old mate of mine …
Monsieur Salut writes: Despite far too many decades as a journalist (three of them with The Daily Telegraph), I have serious misgivings about sting operations. They may sometimes uncover genuine malpractice but, among a number of concerns, I wonder who polices the stinger, in this case the Telegraph. This newspaper has after all spent several years getting rid of the sort of seasoned, sensible and in many case outstandingly good journalists who might have been trusted with such a role. For some reason, it makes me think of speed cops hiding behind bushes, as happens in France. It’s, well, just not British.
That said, Sam Allardyce has been a very foolish man. Pete Sixsmith takes up the story and offers scant sympathy …
Let’s throw another mug into the ring and hope it doesn’t shatter into many pieces.
A prize Salut! Sunderland mug – design to suit the allegiance of the winner so Palace fans can enter – is on offer for the Palace game. No one was correct on the QPR score (except our QPR interviewee, John Crowley, and he didn’t post his prediction in the Guess the Score slot.)
Monsieur Salut invites entries for a prize edition of Guess the Score – and announces another little award, to a Sunderland-supporting television presenter …
Mug is one of those words that can jump up and bite you on the backside. So let it be said straight away that it is no part of Salut! Sunderland‘s mission to suggest that supporting SAFC, or following us at Twitter, makes you a bit of a mug. But we do have two beautifully designed receptacles of hot or cold drinks to give away.
First, we applaud SAFC LAdies for a crucial 4-1 win at Doncaster Belles. Then stand by for the latest edition of Rob Hutchison‘s irreverent Devil’s Advocate, in which he may take a view directly contrary to your own …
With two tweets as the transfer window slammed shut, the sensible and always engaging BBC Radio Newcastle commentator on Sunderland games, Nick Barnes, summed up the frustrations of all those who support the club.
We can and should applaud the late acquisitions of Didier Ndong (he seems to prefer Ibrahim as his given name and Wikipedia awards him an apostrophe but we will go with the SAFC version for now) and, if regrettably another as on-loan signing, Jason Denayer.
But the £5.5m spent earlier on a pair of Manchester United reserves, who may yet prove worth their weight in gold, seems rash compared with the club’s steadfast refusal to reach a deal with Rubin Kuzan to bring Yann M’Vila back permanently to Wearside.
Monsieur Salut writes: I loved this tweet, drawn to my attention by Joe Hughes, a Barnsley-based SAFC fan and a new member of our Facebook group
Is this the way to Javi Manquillo
Every night I've been thinking of Djilo
Crying over Yann M'Vila
But Donald Loves been there for me— j (@Adnanuzaj) August 22, 2016
Now we need to extend the customary Salut! Sunderland welcome to Javier Manqillo – and the hope that Google Translate was up to the task …
Rob Hutchison – find him at Twitter on https://twitter.com/RobHSafc – is best known around here for his one-word ratings, always welcome and always arriving just as Monsieur Salut is about to go out, obliging little white lies to Mme Salut to cover the delay. He now launches an occasional new column, the idea for which appeared as a light bulb above his head as he returned from the opening game at City. He aims it to be weekly – I think occasional is more likely! – and also to devote it to the counter view to the norm on all things Mackem. Over to Jake to come up with a magical image …