Sunderland

The Charlie Methven ‘Who are You?’: (1) Oxford heart vs Sunderland heart

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Charlie in shades, with pals on a jolly trip to see Conference playoff success at Wembley in 2010

Salut! Sunderland wrote at length about SAFC’s executive director Charlie Methven* after he became part of his friend and fellow Oxford United supporter Stewart Donald’s takeover of our club. The vast majority of supporters are probably content with what has happened since. But both have inevitably and understandably divided loyalties as Oxford, having given us a fright at the SoL (it ended 1-1 with Charlie Wyke grabbing the equaliser), welcome SAFC for the return.

Charlie, who also gave a long interview to this site (links in the footnote*), has offered some further thoughts ahead of Saturday’s match, important to both sides for different reasons, important to him (and Donald) for irreconcilably emotional reasons. We shall divide the interview into two parts, the second to appear tomorrow (Thursday).

Read on today and tomorrow to learn more about Charlie’s ‘can’t we both win?’ feelings about the game, his happy times so far on Wearside, thoughts on Jack Ross’s developing squad, plentiful bouquets and a solitary (lightweight) brickbat for Sunderland supporters, his Oxford United passion – but no prediction of either a scoreline or SAFC’s finishing position this season …

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Oxford United vs Sunderland prize Guess the Score. Return of the Donald derby

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There IS a prize and you know what it is.

The start of a busy 11-day spell for Sunderland takes Jack Ross’s side to the Kassam Stadium for the second leg of this season’s home-and-away Donald derby.

Our owner’s connections and allegiance to the opponents are well known.

He and Charlie Methven, minority shareholder and executive director, have shown heartening commitment to SAFC since taking over from the absent and disillusioned Ellis Short. But both are fervent OUFC supporters and will remain so to their dying days even though they have – literally – bought into the passion and yearning for success on Wearside.

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A belated welcome to Will Grigg from Salut! Sunderland – and Christopher Murphy

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Kathryn is very welcome to the pages of Salut! Sunderland. And so is her son Christopher, who reached 13 the other day.

Before one more welcome event, the match that brought three points against Wimbledon, the pair of them had the chance to meet Will Grigg, signed at the last minute on Thursday but still not quite match fit, in the SAFC club shop.

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Wimbledon Who are You? Should that West Ham upset make Sunderland wary?

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Mark Sturges (right) with his supporters’ group banner

What a result that was, says Monsieur Salut. But why does it always seem to happen like this? A player goes months without scoring, a club keeps losing as if for fun, a manager is sacked … and then we come along. The variation of the theme this time is that Wimbledon,rock bottom of League One, suddenly hit a flash of form and dispatched Premier League opposition in the FA Cup. I heard a Hammers fan on TalkSport yesterday and he was apoplectic that his team – otherwise going nowhere special, upwards or downwards – couldn’t muster the spirit and quality to overcome such a modest obstacle to progress in one competition where glory might just be possible.

Our first of possibly two Wombling Who are You? interviewees, Mark Sturges*, answered the Salut! Sunderland questions before the FA cup tie, but his additional thoughts were invited. It’s fair to say there was an air of grim resignation about his original replies but he now adds ths: “The team played very well- surprising as we’d lost 0-3 at home to Fleetwood on the Tuesday. This team has proved we can compete so must start showing that in the league IF we are to have a chance of survival before it’s too late’ …

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AFC Wimbledon Guess the Score: giantkillers at Sunderland after slaying West Ham

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Jake: ‘don’t let them think beating West Ham means owt’

Another game, another prize Guess the Score. Be first to be right, have a UK delivery address and – whoever you support – you will win the mug (a Wimbledon or neutral winner would be found something suitable).

We need to start winning again and we probably didn’t need Wimbledon to have a morale-boosting FA Cup victory over West Ham United.

But in a spirit of friendship, we hand over the rest of this edition of the competition to Gary Jordan*, one of several Wimbledon supporters who responded to a plea for help with the Who are You? interview.

Gary, covering NFL at Wembley

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Sixer’s Manchester City Seven: one step from Wembley

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Jake: ‘not so silly a cup after all’

As Salut! Sunderland‘s tweet put it, this was game that would take us one step from Wembley if we won, but didn’t really matter if we lost since it’s a Mickey Mouse competition anyway. In the event, Pete Sixsmith and our deputy editor Malcolm Dawson were there to witness a good win. So the Checkatrade is important after all. Watmore could you want than one goal? Another, from Gooch. One of the Salut team will be writing about the match at greater length. This is the place for the instant verdict, preceded by an asterisk if someone other than Sixer proves the seven-word summing-up …

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Sunderland vs Manchester City. Checkatrade Guess the Score and Wembley memories

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Jake: ‘the Silly Cup – or a great chance to return to Wembley?’

GUESS THE SCORE: The Checktrade rules are simple – no extra time but penalties if scores are level at 90 minutes. For the prize mug – whoever you support – you must correctly predict the score at full time and, if the teams are drawing, the winner on penalties (don’t worry about the shoot-out score). And you must have a UK delivery address …

Sunderland have had some great moments against Man City in cup games. The 3-1 win in a fifth round FA Cup replay, on our way to Wembley glory in 1973, was one. Wembley again, for the League Cup final in 2014, was another.

We invaded London, steamed ahead thanks to Fabio Borini’s tremendous goal and should have seen him double the lead before half time. Steven Fletcher missed a good chance at 1-2 but by the end, three classy City goals had seen us off.

In that Cinderella of trophies, the Checkatrade, we face City boys not men in the quarterfinals but – as that implies – find ourselves two steps away from a Wembley return. Read again how Pete Sixsmith saw the 2014 League Cup final …

Pete didn’t quite qualify for Mr Robert Halfon MP’s tribute to “scumbag football hooligans”, missing out on the Covent Garden riot (implies Mr H) or good-natured gathering (said the cops) and travelling down on the Durham SAFCSA branch charabanc. This is his wonderful account of a great occasion we wouldn’t let defeat spoil (and the MP did have the grace to apologise, and to Salut! Sunderland no less: https://safc.blog/2014/03/robert-halfon-speaks-i-will-regret-that-tweet-for-the-rest-of-my-life/)…

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View from the Avenue: a Sunderland rallying cry to still half-term wobbles

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Paul Summerside hoping for calmer waters – and a new man on the bridge

Monsieur Salut says: Paul Summerside and I joust regularly at Facebook about Brexit, a subject I broadly feel wisest to avoid at Salut! Sunderland. But he confesses, as a man who more than anything shares the thought that politicians should sort out the wretched mess they created, that this week’s turmoil also prompted some reflection on how things are going at the Stadium of Light …

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Scunthorpe vs Sunderland Who are You?: ‘please don’t sing Garden Shed or Shearer song’

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Ian Moore, our Scunny interviewee, looks ready for action. Star Spanish midfielder Alex Calvo Garcia wears the white shirt

Monsieur Salut writes: Ian Moore* came our way thanks to Matt Blanchard from the Scunthorpe Iron-Bru fan site and podcast (Matt answered our questions in superb style before the first game, which Sunderland won 3-0). It’s another fine addition to the best Who are You? series I can recall in Salut! Sunderland‘s 12 years of existence. But I fear his plea to away supporters to think of something new rather than trotting out My Garden Shed will fall on deaf ears, especially when they find out Alan Shearer is among his sporting heroes (I made up the bit about our fans’ musical tribute to him) …

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