Sunderland

Sixer’s Sevens: Birmingham City 0 Sunderland 3. We always win 3-0, Lee

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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’

Pete Sixsmith was wondering on his way to Birmingham whether he ought to question his own sanity. Awful ground, long midweek trek, the usual complaints. But we filled our section while the Bluenoses stayed away (as, of course, did Mackems during last season’s league cup run). The first half sounded dreadful enough listening to Benno and Barnes – ‘thanks heaven for the half time whistle’ said Barnes – so we can only guess what is was like to be at St Andrew’s. The second half surprised Sixer, Benno and Barnes by producing a three-goal canter. But great to hear our supporters chanting ‘we always win three nil’ at Lee Clark …

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Sunderland 1 Manchester United 1: player ratings, with Buckley a whisker ahead of Catts

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Jake gets the point
Jake gets the point

Keir Bradwell was late but not as late as the editor suspected. Just in time for it to appear before the Birmingham City game, his player-by-player assessment of Sunderland’s home debut landed. Here, then, are one young fan’s marks out of 10. Try to remember, this is a subjective exercise. You are not required to agree with all or even any of them …

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Oulala: a fantasy football game with a Salut! Sunderland mini-league

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She's a winner and doesn't even support Sunderland
She’s a winner and doesn’t even support Sunderland

Monsieur Salut offers thanks to Russell Cane, who is involved in promoting the fantasy football game with the enticing Gallic name of Oulala …


Visit the Oulala home page at: http://www.oulala.com/

* And register to play at https://www.oulala.com/en/register

* See the Salut! Sunderland mini-league, created for us by Oulala at https://www.oulala.com/en/circle/salut-sunderland and hook up to that

* See our featured winner Azerty’s story at http://www.oulala.com/en/community/blog/item/words-from-a-winner-14, She supports Borussia Mönchengladbach because she likes unpronounceable names

NB: The deadline for entries to this week’s game is 6.30pm on Friday

I am not sure how many Salut! Sunderland will have the time to devote to this, but it seems a spot of fun – with prizes that sound better than our unwanted coffee mugs – so let Russell explain how it works:

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Birmingham vs SAFC ‘Guess the Score’: Lee Clark, SMB and another Wembley dream

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Jake: Wembley bound again?
Jake: Wembley bound again?

It seems only five minutes, but is more than five months, since we were all putting a thumping at Arsenal behind us and watching a spirited first half at Wembley in which Fabio Borini scored one cracker, from Adam Johnson’s marvellous long ball, and ought to have had another. Citeh then produced two even better goals and, as we pressed for an equaliser, an entirely undeserved third on the break to kill us off.

Is St Andrew’s the start of another quest for glory? And if so, can it be achieved or at least competed for without the distraction of a desperate battle against relegation.

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Salut! Sunderland: The Way It Is

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Jake introduces the new feature allowing you to have your say on topic or off
Jake introduces the made-for-purpose feature allowing you to have your say on topic or off

Here is the feature we introduced with the intention of getting readers talking.

Salut! Sunderland: the way it is is essentially your forum, a place to let off steam, make a point or raise an issue none of the site’s contributors has got round to writing about. It removes the need to wait for Sixer, Monsieur Salut, John Mac, Ken Gambles, Malcolm Dawson, Jeremy Robson or any of the the others to catch up on the news. We haven’t the resources to be any quicker.

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Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 1 Manchester United 1. Rodwell did well, won point

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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’

Pete Sixsmith sees another Sunderland draw, but one most of us would have accepted before the game. Jack Rodwell, after his disappointing debut at WBA, powered in a splendid header to equalise after Mata had put United ahead much against the run of play. Mata’s tap-in capping a clinical counter-attack after Connor Wickham ought to have scored at the other end when when played in by a superb Will Buckley pass.

Despite a few nervous moments at the end, it was a thoroughly deserved draw in a game where Sunderland never looked second best. Oh, and Ashley Young proved something about leopards and spots. Here, as usual, is Pete’s instant seven-word verdict. He’ll have more to say about the encouraging signs that were there for all to see …

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SAFC-Manchester United ‘Who are You?’: Fergie, Moyes, LVG – and Liam Miller

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

Tony Park* stood out among Manchester United supporters on Twitter, and elsewhere for that matter. I had not heard of him but his historian’s interest in the MUFC youth scheme and what becomes of its graduates marked him down as a someone with special rapport with the club and its tradition of nurturing young talent.

As a product of Tony’s knowledge and research, last year saw the appearance of Sons of United, a pictorial history of 80 years of the MUFC Youth Team which he co-authored with Steve Hobin. He seemed a great candidate for ‘Who are You?’ ahead of Sunday’s match and I am delighted he agreed to answer our questions …

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Fifty years of Sunderland openers: (5) not sent to Coventry

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Jake offers no crest and no ship, just unmistakeable SAFC
Jake offers no crest and no ship, just unmistakeable SAFC

We thought it was all over. It will be now, or once this has been published. Pete Sixsmith had presented one last look back over opening games selected from his half century of Sunderland support, and it had promptly been overlooked. Here, then, is his recollection of one he missed – which was perhaps just as well. See the rest of the series at https://safc.blog/category/fifty-years-before-the-red-and-white-mast-2/

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