Gus Poyet said the deal had been agreed. Brendan Rodgers likewise. People ‘close’ to Fabio Borini insisted he had no wish to rejoin Sunderland, this time permanently, and would hold out for a Serie A move or stick it out at Liverpool. Who knows? Rob Hutchison has the fan’s view ….
Pete Sixsmith, in the company of Salut! Sunderland’s deputy editor Malcom Dawson, had an enjoyable afternoon despite the rain, watching the first goals of SAFC’s pre-season programme in a 5-1 dismantling of Darlington, or rather the form Darlo now take after all the woes of recent seasons. That meant, for example, a trip to Bishop, not Darlington itself. Let Pete explain …
Malcolm Dawson, Salut! Sunderland‘s deputy editor, reaches a milestone of his life with some heartfelt thoughts on the way football – its teams, players, owners and even clubs’ names – has changed. How, he wonders, will young supporters of the modern age look back on the game when they, too, enter their 60s? …
Who are You? – interviews with fans of teams SAFC are about to play – is a feature of which Salut! Sunderland is quite proud, even if it sometimes seems a thankless task. What you are about to read makes the whole thing feel worthwhile …
Raich Carter, son of the man who played 278 times for Sunderland and nowhere often enough for England (13 caps) despite being one of his generation’s finest footballers, was a popular choice as the winner of Salut! Sunderland’s annual “Who are You?” awards. He’s a Hull City fan – dad was their player-manager from 19478-1951 and made a huge impact on Humberside – with a massive soft spot for Wearside.
On a day when I caught (via Facebook) my old pal Barry Emmerson “listening on Spotify to Billy Fury (not Halfway to Paradise but Jealousy) – it seems right that Pete Sixsmith should launch a new series on opening games of Sunderland seasons. He’s seen quite enough, but has magnificent power of recall that enables him to bring to life the detail of August encounters of his and SAFC’s past …
Salut! Sunderland welcomes offerings from anyone with something to say that directly relates to our shared passion for SAFC or offers a fresh, illuminating insight into football more generally. Here is a piece submitted by a collaborator (in its nicer sense, not the French one)* on a subject dear to many Sunderland hearts. Can we have our Borini back and where do we stand in trying to make that happen? Let Sean O’Connor take up the story …
The three footballers in question are John O’Shea, maybe not bound for White Hart Lane, Steven Fletcher, surely raring to go after last season’s disappointments, and – with the new goalie’s top – Vito Mannone, presumably living up to his denial of those rumours suggesting itchy feet.
M Salut writes: thanks to ‘Dinlow’, an error that crept into this report has been corrected (I misled myself into writing that Fletch had not played for Poyet, a ridiculous error – I was there often enough when he did – for which I apologise) ….
Around this time of each year, a few things happen.
Wimbledon’s gone, summer holidays are about to get into full swing, some fan sites abandon joined-up writing and run such pre-school headlines as Never Trust a Mackem: The Reason Why … and people starting moaning about the lack of signings.
This should really have preceded Malcolm Dawson’s short, timely piece on the Luis Suarez biting incident. Monsieur Salut had assorted domestic crises, a heavy extractor fan falling in the middle of the night to smash the hob and my Mac’s refusal to accept the valid password for wifi access being only two of them. So here, out of sequence but welcome, are Jeremy Robson‘s thoughts on footballer’s teeth invading footballer’s flesh …
With all the, um, excitement of Brazil 2014, we have perhaps overlooked the pleasant duty of welcoming the three players …