Malcolm Dawson writes….I should’ve been there but prior commitments meant that I had to be in Lytham St Annes by …
Pete Sixsmith did say at the outset of this series that he would be dealing with some games he did not attend. The evidence is inconclusive but this may be one of them …
Salut! Sunderland wishes all readers a happy, prosperous and relegation-free 2014
Some games will never be forgotten and Pete Sixsmith has identified a few of them already in his Twelve Days of Christmas series. Cast your minds back two years back to New Year’s Day 2011 when Martin O’Neill’s ‘new manager bounce’ was still reaching extraordinary heights. Manchester City were on their way to their first top-flight championship in nearly half a century. Citeh fans will tell you the balance of play suggested a 24-0 away win. In stoppage time, ti was still 0-0. Step forward a certain South Korean …
Carlisle United on Sunday in the FA Cup proper and there’s a good “Who are You?” on its way.
But who can deny that Sunderland vs Aston Villa assumes cup final significance?
Salut! Sunderland is indebted to the fruitful grapevine that is the Blackcats e-mail loop for an alert to this fascinating documentary charting a century in the life of Sunderland, the town and later city and its people.
It is an ideal way to spend an hour or so – or alternatively to dip in and watch extracts – during the break from football.
A fascinating debate has developed at the Blackcats e-mail forum about Sunderland fans, their expectations and their demeanour. Some readers are also in that loop and will have seen the thread. For others, I present – with their consent – the exchanges of two leading participants, NZ-based Geoff Bethell and, from much closer to home (Chester-le-Street), Mick Goulding, both occasional Salut! Sunderland contributors. Since Monsieur Salut once managed nought out of 100 for general science – very unfair as they marked it out of 45, doubled the resulting figure and added on five for the percentage; I was denied my five – he is the last person to advise on this particular application of the Oort Cloud …
Every football club needs a George Foster.
For 46 years, that is to say six years longer than the period that has elapsed since Sunderland last won serious silverware, George has been chairman of the Sunderland AFC Supporters’ Association. You can tell the era from which he comes from the correct use of the apostrophe in the association’s title; even secondary headteachers don’t bother with such things these days.
How did Cheer Up Peter Reid go on from there? ‘…. when a saviour’d come our way.’ The Sunderland chairman, Ellis Short, avoided the word, preferring instead to talk of the “track record, experience, commitment and passion [that] make him the right man to take us forward”. It remains to be seen who will need cheering up most come the end of the season …
Salut! Sunderland extends a hearty if nervous welcome to Gus Poyet, newly appointed as head coach of SAFC on a two-year contract.
After last week’s lapse with the podcast, not posted here until after the Fulham game, the lads have made no mistake this time. M Salut has just listened to it and it’s cracking stuff with the panel talking in front of, and to, a live audience. See the link below …
Mea culpa, penitent stool, abject apologies … guess what we clean forgot to post last week?
Our much-feted podcast duo, Stephen Goldsmith and Gareth Barker, meant to send Monsieur Salut the file but didn’t. M Salut, weighed down by work and domestic duty, neglected to chase them.
What’s the point, you may well now ask, of carefully bolting the stable door long after the horse has had time not only to bolt but to live out its life and end up in someone’s pure beef lasagne?