Sunderland A.F.C.

Crystal Palace v SAFC: straight from Sixer’s mouth to the Eagle’s Beak

by
Pete Sixsmith
Pete Sixsmith

Crystal Palace vs Sunderland. One year on from going to that wretchedly inaccessible ground of theirs – unless you like lengthy treks from railway stations – and winning 3-1, we are very much the underdogs. A big performance is needed if Big Sam is to make our plight look less hopeless.

We’ll hear tomorrow from a Palace fan, Jay Crame, founder and editor of The Eagles Beak fan site (a sneak preview of our Who are You? interview appears in the footnote*). Jay turned the tables and twisted our own Pete Sixsmith‘s arm to answer questions for his site. With these results …

TEB

Read more

Tales from the Red and Whites: Monty, Benno, Lord Rowell and Sixer

by

 

Lane Hardy: 'hopefully the first of many ...'
Lance Hardy: ‘hopefully the first of many …’


CONDOLENCES to the French midfielder Lassana Diarra on the loss of a cousin, a Muslim like him, in Friday’s attacks by the odious ISIL in Paris. See footnote …


There is not enough time just yet – for reasons I outline in a long footnote touching on the sadness of recent days – to offer a proper review of the volume of Sunderland-related essays edited by Lance Hardy, the author of a superb book on our 1973 FA Cup final win, Stokoe, Sunderland and ’73.

But it is right to record its publication, with the promise that as soon as other commitments permit, a full review will appear on these pages.

Pete Sixsmith was invited to write the review but declined, nobly judging that it was inappropriate for a contributor to the book to assess its merits.

Read more

From golden silence to golden wedding with little SAFC gold in between

by
Peter Lynn: a musical and now marital theme for every moment
Peter Lynn: a musical and now marital theme for every moment

Peter Lynn, aka the Wrinklier of our Petes, is back on his pop music themes, if only briefly, as he looks back on 50 years of marriage to Mrs WrinklyPete – and another blissful union, or test of endurance, his love affair with Sunderland AFC …

I have used the Tremeloes’ 1967 hit as a musical hook, even though I didn’t like them, to explain my absence from this site – for anyone who noticed!

My wife and I reached our Golden wedding anniversary in September and we have been busy celebrating although (regrettably?) I have seen some games this season which I will comment on another time.

Read more

Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 0 Southampton 1. Simply not good enough

by
Jake: catch Sixer's instant seven-word verdicts throughout the season
Jake: catch Sixer’s instant seven-word verdicts throughout the season


Monsieur Salut writes: For starters, Newcastle’s win was probably good for us as Bournemouth are more likely than the Mags to drop heavily into the bottom three. But with performances as limp as the one that deservedly failed to avoid defeat against Southampton, it may not matter in the end. Pete Sixsmith was deeply unimpressed by our play and by the reckless stupidity of Yann M’Vila’s challenge that gave the Saints their penalty winner. It was a pretty depressing show and Sam Allardyce will have to accept that playing ugly is all very well for a team in trouble if you are still able to get something from the game. As Gary Bennett said in the BBC radio commentary we are just not good enough to sit back and defend, hoping to snatch a result ..

Read more

Southampton ‘Who are You?’: Sunderland are in his blood but ‘need’ relegation

by
Jake: 'another win's sorely needed, Sam'
Jake: ‘another win’s sorely needed, Sam’

Connor Armstrong* passionately supports Southampton but, as his surname might suggest, has North-Eastern family roots. An uncle supports SAFC and his father is also from County Durham though he appears to have become a Saints man whatever his footballing allegiance in earlier life. Connor, a football writer who also dabbles in media duties for Southend United (catch him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ConnorArmstrong), was convinced SAFC were heading for relegation until a couple of weeks ago and still wonders whether it might be the best outcome even for us. It’s a fascinating set of replies. Read on …

Read more

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

by
John McCormick:
John McCormick:
Looking for answers

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 …

Read more

SAFC v Southampton prize Guess the Score: light after the Goodison gloom?

by
Jake: 'make us forget the Halloween horror at Everton, Lads'
Jake: ‘make us forget the Halloween horror at Everton, Lads’

This is your chance – whoever you support – to Guess the Score in SAFC vs Saints, be first to get it right and win a prize …


It was already a massive test. Southampton are seventh for a reason just as there is no mystery as to why Sunderland are second bottom.

Our Saints “Who are You?” interviewee* wonders whether Sunderland actually need to go down “to gut the squad and have a decent crack at rebuilding … a risky game, as many can testify”.

The best response is the one Big Sam has been appointed to deliver. And we know from experience that a rotten result is not necessarily followed by another (though we can usually predict one with some accuracy after a derby win).

Read more

Everton’s Martinez and Deulofeu: what is right and wrong about football

by

A man with previous?

Roberto Martinez is an admirable manager who appears to be doing an excellent job with Everton.

Everton, if their more high-minded supporters can bear to hear this, are a club Sunderland fans can identify with. And their club walloped ours on Sunday after we had flattered to deceive only to crumble in a manner with which we are all too familiar.

There is, of course, a “but” coming.

Read more

Sixer’s Sevens: Everton 6-2 SAFC. From derby ecstasy to Halloween horror

by
Jake: 'sort it out, Sam'
Jake: ‘sort it out, Sam’


Monsieur Salut writes: You don’t lose 6-2 by bad luck. Yes, we had some – two shots against the same post before Everton scored, a viable shout for a first-half pen – but this game was thrown away by defending as inept as you will see in the Premier or, dare I say, Ryhope Over 40s, League. After hauling ourselves back into the game, Defoe and Fletch cancelling out Everton’s two-goal lead and another chance going begging when we might have gone 3-2 up, we imploded. Every home attack seemed likely to result in a goal. Of course it will have entertained neutrals but we are not neutrals. Bring back boring football it stops attackers ripping our defence to shreds at will. Pete Sixsmith‘s options for his seven-word verdict tell their own story …

Read more