Sunderland

The Robson Report: Sir Alex Ferguson had millions, Clough charisma and brilliance

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Jonathan Wilosn's book on a Sunderland great
Jonathan Wilson’s book on a Sunderland great

NB: COMMENT ON: A technical blip prevented them until now

Jeremy Robson pays a grand tribute to Brian Clough to mark the imminent 10th anniversary of his death (aged 69, on September 20 2004). Sunderland fan and top writer Jonathan Wilson’s book, Nobody Ever Says Thank You, is available at very decent prices at Salut! Sunderland’s Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0753828715/salusund-21/ …


It’s hard to believe that ten years have lapsed since the passing of the great Brian Clough. Arguably, the finest manager of all time, he didn’t have to spend millions or be in charge at clubs with the deepest pockets to win trophies. He did it on the strength of team work, charisma and sheer brilliance.

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Striking out for victory at Burnley

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Jake: bBack to scoring ways?'
Jake: bBack to scoring ways?’

What sort of team will Gus Poyet send out at Turf Moor? If we are at last to start winning, where will our goal or goals come from?

The summer transfer dealings brought in no new strikers but left us, for now with the three we already had. I raised the question of our attacking options in a preview for ESPN.

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Burnley Who are You? Can ‘one-footed Fletcher’ torment old man Duff

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Jake has ways of making them talk
Jake has ways of making them talk

“The town is the club the club is the town” – that is Aaron Wright*‘s grand description of Burnley. Yet he’s from the other side of the Pennines and is the first in his family to support the club. All the same, he is passionate, knowledgeable, opinionated and just 17. Wasn’t too keen on Steven Fletcher and was unimpressed by Ryan Noble but hails Gus Poyet as a miracle worker …

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Bill Cowell already has an OBE. Now he’s Guessed a Sunderland Score

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Let us introduce you to our Guess the Score sponsors
http://www.personalisedfootballgifts.co.uk/sunderland/sunderland-gifts

Burnley away and another chance to Guess the Score will come soon enough. But first, let’s hear about a winner, a supporter whose mother moved south but had the good sense and exceptional style to go back to her native Sunderland to give birth to each of her children …

Bill Cowell is one of this site’s more regular visitors and, via the Comments, contributors. He has been watching Sunderland since, wait for it, the late 1940s. It is fitting that he should have won the first sponsored instalment of the Guess the Score feature.

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Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 2 Tottenham Hotpsur 2. Now be thankful

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Jake: 'Sixer does it in seven words, no more, no less - unless he miscounts'
Jake: ‘Sixer does it in seven words, no more, no less – unless he miscounts’

Monsieur Salut guessed at ESPN that Gus Poyet would settle for a point. Pete Sixsmith said at haf time he’d take the 1-1 we then had. Anyone who saw or listened to the game will know we got out of jail. Spurs dominated, threatened, hit woodwork, went close too often for comfort. It made the wretched simulation of Erik Lamela (our ‘Who are You?’ interviewee did warn us about him) and Danny Rose seem so unnecessary. But maybe they had a point; after the second equaliser we might even have snatched it. Sixer’s customary seven-word instant verdict (his last one stretched only to six words, until corrected rather late, but never mind that) tells you all you need to now for now…

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Clare’s quest: does this lost treasure ring a Sunderland or Norwich bell?

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With this ring I thee search
With this ring I thee search

After the great Scottish referendum debate inspired by Birflatt Boy and drawing in a couple of thousand new readers, the next item for posting needed to be a golden. Here is it …


An unusual request suddenly popped up at the Facebook group of Salut! Sunderland.

Back in February 2012, Clare Owen found the wedding ring you see above outside the Stadium of Light after SAFC thumped Norwich City 3-0 to roar to an unlikely eighth top under Martin O’Neill.

Not the easiest of things to lose, you may feel, unless it was very loose fitting in the first place or the wearer’s finger had suddenly lost a lot of weight. But lost it was.

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Message to Rangers, Celtic and Scotland: keep your Wee Bit Hill and Glen British

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Birflatt Boy adding weight to the argument
Birflatt Boy adding weight to the argument

Birflatt Boy emerges from his customary shadows to rue the possible departure of the Scots from the UK. Has Fletch let on as to where he stands? What do George Herd and Billy Hughes make of it all? We cannot honestly imagine Phil Bardsley having a view one way or the other. The headline reference to Celtic is naturally tongue-in-cheek with no intention of offending people who believe a big chunk of the west of Scotland is already a fifth province of Ireland …

The devolution debate and upcoming referendum on Scottish independence has got my mind racing.

By the end of next week we may be facing the prospect of a genuine border crossing as we head north. Who can say which way the vote is going to go. Alex Salmond claims that Scotland is on the brink of history. The same might have been said about all manner of eye-watering historical blunders too.

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