Football’s coming back.
The internationals break is over, Sixer doubtless had a grand weekend watching non-league football and Rugby League (he chose for once not to share such experiences with us) and Sunderland are geared up for a return to Premier League action.
Mark Solomons*, a recovering tabloid journalist and lifelong Spurs supporter, reckons his lot will romp to a 3-1 victory on Saturday though he’d settle for the usual own goal. In a lively exchange, with touches of self-deprecation, humour and classic Norf London superiority, he damns Danny Rose with faint praise, affects to believe former Spurs hero Gareth Bale doesn’t dive, heaps acclaim on own former goalkeeping star Chris Turner and, as a non-practising Jew, defends the “anti-anti-Semitic” Yid chants …
Let’s go early, I thought. The international breaks are important of course, and it was naturally Sunderland AFC that turned Danny Welbeck into such an impressive striker.
But even though I have to return to France until October, I am excited as anyone planning to be at the SoL on Saturday about the resumption of proper football.
And I also have a great little partnership to announce.
No real football left Rob Hutchison at a loss over the weekend, until he was lured by the prospect of a carvery for £8 at the Hayes Lane ground of Bromley FC, from the Conference South. He enjoyed the day – as our Pete Sixsmith, who lightens the load of being a Sunderland supporter with frequent forays into non-league territory, might have told him he would – though the home fans would have preferred a different outcome …
NB As readers have spotted, The Observer messed it up and used a Crystal Palace review under Pete’s name, certainly in the online version seen here
A tale of two old codgers and their looks through the transfer window. Pete Sixsmith did it more succinctly, for The Observer and doubtless for nowt; Monsieur Salut was tasked to make it a bit longer for ESPN. Old Pete gave Sunderland seven out of 10, his even older pal downgraded his original seven to six at 11pm on Monday …
Rob Hutchison always stands his round. What he cannot abide is the fellow Sunderland fan who insists on standing his ground and won’t accept that sitting is not just required by ground rules but a basic human courtesy to those behind who are no longer so good on their feet …
Monsieur Salut writes: I like Wrinkly Peter Lynn‘s contributions. So do many others. He is, as he puts it himself, ‘old school’ but that is right only in the positive sense that he has good, strong values when it comes to football (and, doubtless, life). Here is a timely reappraisal of Lee Cattermole, who seems to have devoted a lot of effort into showing he is actually a very good footballer…
Ken Gambles takes a look at the loan system that has given us three of our summer recruits. And he doesn’t like it a bit …
Pete Sixsmith makes no secret of his love for the non-league game and, indeed, for the oval ball (provided it’s played to the RL code), the corker and stumps, the (formerly) doped-up Tourists de France and – for all we know – tiddlywinks {again, RL code only). You, too, could enter this world of honest endeavour. Here’s how …
There are worse things than being the coach, as we must these days call managers, of a team in the third tier of Belgium football.
Perhaps not many worse things, but being the coach/manager who took Cercle Sportif Visé, better but not very much better known as CS Visé, down from the second division in May would have been one of them.