M Salut writes: I find it slightly worrying that John McCormick has not yet produced one of his statistical projections showing how Sunderland will stay up. Silence speaks volumes? Ordinary Jon, aka Jon Adamson**, has been conducting an exercise of his own and finds reasons for hope as well as concern – concern that would rocket in the event of a bad outcome of Norwich vs SAFC on Saturday …
Young Keir Bradwell‘s ambition is hardly extravagant. He’d like Sunderland to be in the Premier League when he reaches his 14th birthday in September. He assessment of the players’ performance in the ominous goalless draw against Crystal Palace is either wildly extravagant or he’s been listening to Gus Poyet’s post-match praise for the effort shown. Feel free, as ever, to disagree wit him …
Sunderland 0-0 Crystal Palace – Player Ratings
Ken Gambles would love to agree with CSB, who predicts a 5-0 home win at Guess the Score. The idea of playing Palace in such a crucial encounter just fills him with apprehension. Snap out of it, Ken, and keep the faith!
Probably my fondest memory of Palace is from the 1970s when Gerry Queen played for them, spawning the immortal newspaper headline “Queen in Rumpus at Palace”.
And there the pleasure ends. Apparently we’ve a similar record against each other but it certainly doesn’t feel like that to me.
We’ve been this way so many times. The big game on the outcome of which rests so much. And it is fair to say the many Sunderlands of our collective support have not always been great at delivering the goods on such occasions.
Who to turn to among Palace fans for what could be our game of the season. That was my challenge. Then I remembered a former colleague, Mick Brown*, published author and writer of top-rate features for The Daily Telegraph (he mentions perhaps his most memorable assignment: interviewing Phil Spector just before the wall of sound became the walls of a penitentiary). Mick has Never Lost That Lovin’ Feeling for Crystal Palace and agreed to Be our Baby. Er, I’ll get my coat …
It wasn’t clever. It wasn’t funny. And while its impact was some way short of the unrest provoked in Muslim countries by the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, it was – as it was meant to be – insulting. Sense of humour breakdown or justified indignation? Nic Wiseman, co-creator and co-editor of the long-gone SAFC fanzine It’s The Hope I Can’t Stand (ITHICS), describes the resulting furore and says his magazine would never have run an anti-Mag version of the offending cartoon …
When David Meyler played for Sunderland he was struck by two cruel long-term injuries.
He came back from both with remarkable resilience and earned both the admiration and respect of many supporters. I was one of those who regretted that he was not given more chance to succeed in red and white stripes.
Pete Sixsmith felt cheated. Not because he believes Gus Poyet or the team deliberately lost, but because he was obliged to sit through a dreadful display against moderate opponents that exposed glaring weaknesses in the squad. We must all hope to find him in better spirits at tea-time six days from now …
The headline quotes Gary Bennett’s verdict, not Pete Sixsmith’s, on this shambolic exit from the FA Cup when there was the prospect of another Wembley visit, and surely another after that (we’d have played Sheffield United in the semi).
Sixer’s customary seven-word snap judgement – see below – is hardly more flattering. We can salvage only the hope that the players not only can now concentrate on battling a way to Premier League survival, but will. As for the game, it started badly and got worse, as Benno also observed. The first goal was another of those barely challenged free headers. The next two were presented on a plate by Lee Cattermole errors. David Meyler went down (from a lofty height) in Monsieur Salut’s own estimation with his squalid baiting of the referee to ensure a first-half booking for Cattermole, Ustari deserves credit for saving a harshly awarded penalty and that’s about it.
Gus Poyet’s many changes do not spare the players the shame of having let down the vast travelling support once again – making it three defeats out of three this season against Steve Bruce, with no goals scored and six conceded…
Win on Sunday and, as we all know, at least one more Wembley date beckons.
Some pragmatic supporters feel that having had our day of pride, competing on equal terms with one of the best teams in the world so that they were time-wasting shamelessly before the undeserved third goal, we should settle for an FA Cup exit now and focus on survival.