Sunderland A.F.C.

The Newcastle United ‘Who are You?’: love and despair across the divide

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Jake: 'let the Lads give us hope'
Jake: ‘let the Lads give us hope’

Paul McMillan* has lots going from him. He’s a smashing lad – Monsieur Salut and he once worked together in Abu Dhabi – and comes from Washington. His wife Georgia, though an Aussie, supports Sunderland and once told on these pages the story, a mixture of joy, tragedy and love, of how she and Paul got together. We even covered the wedding, at a distance. But Paul is a Mag, black and white through and through. He returns to Salut! Sunderland for the first time in almost seven years for a look at Sunday’s derby, at the respective woes of both clubs and the prospects for Sunderland survival under Big Sam …

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SAFC v Newcastle United: (4) wanting a win but longing for Monday

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This is the new banner image that greets members going to our Facebook group
This is Jake’s new banner image to greet members of Salut! Sunderland‘s Facebook group. Join it today at this link if you are a Facebook user

Get the Salut! Sunderland Facebook group above 500 members. Join today at this link

So Salut! Sunderland‘s buildup preparations for the Wear-Tyne derby are just about done. Ticket is sorted, travel plans have been made. Look at the home page – www.salutsunderland.com – and you’ll find a prize Guess the Score and updated look at the interview with a Mag that won last season’s HAWAY top prize. At least one new Who are You? interview will run between now and the weekend. We must all therefore be raring to go. We cannot wait. The excitement has got to us. Yes but only up to a point. Pete Sixsmith has seen dozens of Wear-Tyne and Tyne-Wear derbies and just wants it over with. Then again, as our Newcastle-supporting HAWAY winner Nick Donaldson said last season (it was repeated here the other day: ‘Nearly 30 years away [from the North East] now and all I have ever witnessed is mild interest bordering on couldn’t-give-a-tossment. It’s only a big deal in the North East, but that doesn’t diminish it. It’s our derby, not theirs. – See more at: https://safc.blog/2015/10/safc-vs-newcastle-united-2-the-mag-who-loves-mackems/#sthash.OTVhh9Z0.dpuf …

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SAFC v Newcastle United: (3) Guess the Score. Six in a row?

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Martin Bates meets one of last season's derby winners on the summer tour in Toronto
Martin Bates meets one of last season’s derby winners on the summer tour in Toronto

Cometh the hour, cometh the number. That number is six, Newcastle United’s tally in the demolition of Norwich City (after some shaky moments) on Sunday and also – if only Sunderland can bring the Mags crashing back to earth – how many times we would then have beaten them on the trot.

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The Chapman Report from West Bromwich Albion: another new boss’s losing start

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Robert Chapman: 'when will we win?'
Robert Chapman: ‘when will we win?’

Once again, Bob Chapman stepped into Pete Sixsmith’s boots for the visit to WBA. And once again he provides an incisive assessment of what he witnessed, with an interesting having-it-both-way assessment of the one big controversy of the game …

Here is a Salut Sunderland quiz question. This report is the fourth in a sequence of firsts so what is it? For a clue the previous three were Swansea, Chelsea and West Ham.

West Bromwich Albion has the honour of possessing the highest league ground in England. I would have thought the likes of Burnley, Oldham and Bradford would be higher, but at 552 feet the Hawthorns is the highest.

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SAFC vs Newcastle United: (2) the Mag who loves Mackems

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As Jake put it, 'like two cheeks of the same a***'
As Jake put it, ‘like two cheeks of the same a***’

It is fair to say this was and remains one of the finest ‘Who are You?’ interviews Salut! Sunderland has produced in its eight-and-a-bit years of existence. There have been many contenders for that honour but Nick Donaldson‘s answers seemed right on every level. He romped to victory in last season’s HAWAY awards for the best Q+A of 2014-2015.

So as part of our buildup to SAFC vs NUFC, the Wear-Tyne derby, here it is again. Much of what Nick had to say is relevant now, but he was invited to update his thoughts after the 6-2 win over Norwich and that is how we start …

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SAFC vs Newcastle United 2015/16: (1) let the buildup begin

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Jake: 'aren't we just two cheeks of the same backside?'
Jake: ‘aren’t we just two cheeks of the same backside?’


Bob Chapman’s report from West Brom has not arrived yet but it seems important to get our Wear-Tyne derby coverage started as soon as possible.

We’ve been promised at least one “Who are You?” interview and, since it’s only Monday, there’s no need – yet – to panic.

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Pantilimon and WBA’s Berahino: Graham Poll clears the keeper, we say sorry

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Jake: 'M Salut's feeling a bit contrite, Costel'
Jake: ‘M Salut’s feeling a bit contrite, Costel’

It is possible to believe Costel Pantilimon needs to be much more assertive in the goalmouth, and to deal much more safely with crosses and long-range shots, but also acknowledge – however belatedly – that the West Bromwich Albion goal on Saturday was indeed the result of a foul. Or even two fouls.

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Sixer’s Sevens: WBA 1-0 Sunderland. Urgently required: a safe keeper

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Jake: catch Sixer's instant seven-word verdicts throughout the season
Jake: Sixer went AWOL so for once it is Bob Chapman’s knee that’s jerking


Monsieur Salut writes: What can a manager do about the sort of error Costel Pantilimon made against West Brom, spilling a cross to give Saido Berahino a gift of a tap-in? Big Sam was as powerless as Dick Advocaat had been when Pants made an equally schoolboyish mistake to give West Ham an equaliser in the last match.

After a decent first half, that lead early in the second half was decisive and Sunderland lacked the guile or strength to get back into the game. A draw seemed a minimum requirement against another team in the bottom six. Pete Sixsmith was not there and the seven-word verdict, concentrating on the Hawthorns catering, is from his supersub Bob Chapman. James McClean proved again that he really is a bit of a prat, stupidly and provocatively going to the Sunderland support at the final whistle to wave a triumphant fist at them. Clearly he is not going to grow up any time soon …

BUT DO SAY SO if you feel I am being harsh on Pants and believe he was fouled…

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Tell us the team Big Sam should send out at West Bromwich Albion

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Jake: 'time to start winning but, above all, to stop losing'
Jake: ‘time to start winning but, above all, to stop losing’


It is pointless to say this is the Big One. Every game Sunderland play, probably for the rest of the season, threatens to be a big one unless we find ourselves in an irredeemable position – or, and now I am dreaming, safe in midtable after an extraordinary winning run – early in the new year.

Let’s just say WBA away is or could be a defining moment in the reign of Sam Allardyce. SAFC are in a mess and there is only so much time left to extricate us from it if relegation is not to become the foregone conclusion most pundits – and increasingly our Who are You? interviewees – think it is.

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