Sunderland - SAFC Blog

McCormick’s Craic: sing when we’re winning (and losing and drawing)

May 31, 2014May 31, 2014 by Colin Randall

With thanks to Mackftm at YouTube for this gem

My local paper in France runs a French-language version of the lyrics of John Lennon’s Imagine, changed to reflect Jonny Wilkinion’s career-concluding match, donning the red and black of Toulon for the last time in combat for the French championship final at the Stade de France tonight. You can say John McCormick‘s a dreamer, too. He has let his imagination run riot. Not content with allowing an excess of Merlot to induce a vote for Chile in our grand World Cup ‘other team’ poll, he now conducts a musical review of a strange, occasionally rocking and sometimes discordant season for Sunderland. Here, then, are the songs – some real, some imagined, that defined it for him …

Scroll down to vote for your World Cup team (minus England and Brazil: see why at https://safc.blog/2014/05/brazil-2014-vote-the-second-team-of-your-choice/

Brazil 2014: the rights and wrongs of Giaccherini’s omission from Italy squad

May 30, 2014 by Colin Randall

This is what Jake urged ... and he was right, with crucial help towards the end of the season from Giaccherini — This is what Jake urged … and he was right, with crucial help towards the end of the season from Giaccherini

This is one of those occasional guest posts from outsiders, in this case resulting from a collaboration with Superserp.com. It started out as a “will Giaccherini make the squad?” piece but that idea was scuppered by the announcement from Italy that made clear he had not made it. But was Cesare Prandelli right to overlook him – and, for that matter, was Poyet right to make so little use of him? …

Sixer Says: oh for Derby or Wigan and not QPR

May 29, 2014 by Colin Randall

Sixer, right in Irish green. with the more conventionally attired Sobs

One grain of pure white snow, Bert Jansch wrote in his classic song about drug addiction, Needle of Death. It hasn’t yet become quite that bad at Sixsmith Towers. Pete Sixsmith still has a few sporting outlets to get him through the early summer and there is the World Cup to, er, look forward to. Meanwhile, he’s cross about being deprived of fair prices at Fulham, great pies at Wigan and decent beer at the Brunswick in Derby …

Gus Poyet’s new contract: delight first, then relief and qualified hope

May 29, 2014May 29, 2014 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'trust in Gus' — Jake: ‘trust in Gus’

Delight seemed as good a first response as any to news that Gus Poyet had signed a new contract, flattening all the speculation about being lured away to low-rent clubs in east London or on the south coast.

It keeps him, theoretically, at Sunderland until 2016 which translates as two seasons to do what no manager since Peter Reid, mid-term and only fleetingly, has managed since the first half of the 1950s (third in 1950, fourth in 1955), and restore to the club its historical upper-table status.

The Salut! Sunderland HAWAY awards: Kidderminster shock the big boys

May 28, 2014May 28, 2014 by Colin Randall

Scott Jones: 'non-league through and through' — Scott Jones: ‘non-league through and through’

Scott Jones* correctly predicted that the team he follows home and away, Kidderminster Harriers, would lose by a single goal at Sunderland in the FA Cup 4th round.

It was a creditable performance, by the team and our own Pete Sixsmith rated their supporters to be the best to visit the Stadium of Light all season. Pete went on to judge Scott’s answers in the pre-match ‘Who are You?’ questionnaire the finest from any of the seasons 40 interviews.

Scott did not quite make it into the top three but shrugged off big-club competition to collect a special editor’s prize arbitrarily awarded by Monsieur Salut. Philosophy Football have promised a World Cup top; they haven;t yet aid which one but, then, Scott has yet to be located to hear of this life-changing event. Tell him to check his e-mails, someone. Here, once again, is the interview that originally appeared back in January …

From Philosophy Football: better than that suit, Scott

Manchester United grab second place, but only in Salut! Sunderland’s HAWAY awards

May 27, 2014May 27, 2014 by Colin Randall

Pete, with nephew Simon and Fergie, at Dumbarton away 1991

Second place in Salut! Sunderland’s incomparable Haway awards – the Highly Articulate Who are You?s – was taken by a Manchester United supporter, Pete Molyneux*. How United would have thanked you for second place in the Premier League or, indeed, any other competition last season. Come to think of it, they did manage it, second-placed twice, against Sunderland at Old Trafford.

In his interview with Salut! Sunderland before our heroic win at Man Utd at the start of this month, Pete went on a bit because we needed to get him talking first of all about his famous/infamous banner protest of 1989, in which he invited Alex Ferguson, not yet a knight and not yet a United hero, to pack his bags. So we split the interview into two parts. But now we knit them together again; it’s a long summer read that will show those up to it why it came close to winning the Haway first prize …

His prize is a choice of tops from our imaginative friends at Campo Retro:

From Campo Retro's World Cup selection — From Campo Retro’s World Cup selection

Better team: Derby. Better day out: Wigan. But welcome back QPR

May 26, 2014 by Colin Randall

Jake makes Steve's day — Jake makes Steve’s day

Even a QPR-supporting friend thought his team was lucky. ‘Smash and grab,’ he wrote. ‘Someone should go to jail for that.’ Our own John McCormick, Liverpool-based, rued the loss of a grand day out (Wigan). Not sure anyone was too bothered about Brighton. But QPR won it and are back in the Premier. Monsieur Salut shares those thoughts but is pleased on two counts: his younger daughter, Nathalie, used to play for QPR Ladies, and Steve Colwell, Hoops fan and no stranger to these pages or the Salut! Sunderland Facebook group, is an all-round good bloke. Let him take up the story …

Third place in the HAWAY Awards: Melissa Rudd, of Norwich and TalkSPORT

May 26, 2014 by Colin Randall

Melissa Rudd’s interview looked a winner in Salut! Sunderland’s Haway awards – Highly Articulate Who are You? works for us to produce the acronym – when it appeared before her club, Norwich City, came up to Sunderland and deservedly took a point. Her bad luck was threefold: two later entries that our judges collectively found to be even better, plus the Canaries’ relegation. Commiserations, Melissa, and thanks again. Your consolation as the final results are announced is to have your golden words reproduced below – and to collect her choice of prize as now described:

Melissa may choose between a year’s subscription to the great football magazine When Saturday Comes or a choice of WSC tops. If she visits http://www.wsc.co.uk/, she will get an idea of the options.

Salut! Sunderland’s famous HAWAY awards: 1) Hull 2) Manchester United 3) Norwich

May 28, 2014May 26, 2014 by Colin Randall

From our main sponsor soccerpro.com's range. 'If only I could have that,' sighs the Man Utd candidate — From our main sponsor soccerpro.com’s range. Our winner chooses items to a total value of $200 from soccerpro products

WAY has grown to HAWAY, simply because it seemed an appropriate acronym for Salut! Sunderland‘s annual Who are You? awards to those judged to have contributed the most interesting responses in the Who are You? feature that precedes every Sunderland game. It doesn’t matter too much whether we make this the Hello and Who are You? awards or dream up some other first words starting H and A. Our Oscars are, henceforth, the Haways.

Farewell Bardo. Now enjoy Stoke’s lesser red and white stripes

May 23, 2014May 23, 2014 by Colin Randall

Leading the way as Jake captures moments from Phil Bardsley's SAFC career — Leading the way as Jake captures moments from Phil Bardsley’s SAFC career

Forget the Man Utd old boy nonsense. Phil Bardsley may be a Salford lad, a United fan and a player who’d give his right arm to have had a proper Old Trafford career. But he was barely part of the playing set-up – eight appearances in five years. Until this week’s move to Stoke, he has effectively been Sunderland and Sunderland alone, with a commendable 200 games, seven goals (some of them spectacular and rather important) and just a few loan spells, all pre-SoL, at Rangers, Burnley, Villa and Royal Antwerp, to modify the impression of a solidly one-club man…