Sunderland

Jordan: some plain sailing in Liverpool’s red sea

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No longer our future. Image: addick-tedKevin


When Jordan Henderson left, Sunderland supporters were divided into two main camps: dejection about what the move said of our own vaunted ambition, and the feeling we’d done some rather smart business provided the money was properly spent.

We are still waiting for the so-called marquee signings – two needed, three if the underperforming Gyan is on his way – but the money we received from Liverpool, £16m or more, still looks good.

But am I not right in thinking the overwhelming majority of SAFC supporters will feel pride and even reflected glory if he does well at Anfield, just as most of us smile when SuperKev bangs in two more goals for Blackpool? And Jordan’s doing well after a slow start against us.

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After Newcastle & Brighton, will Swansea improve on a week to forget?

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This is the latest edition of Salut! Sunderland’s Week. Pete Sixsmith has worked his not inconsiderable backside off for us in the past seven days. Some of you clearly think he deserves some beer money; he’ll get some, once we’ve recorded our first win of the season, from the proceeds of the mugs and pens already ordered. If you feel like buying something, go to the Salut! Sunderland Shop now …

Most of us have known worse weeks to be a Sunderland supporter. Come to think of it, one 5-1 tonking at St James’ Park was much, much worse than a 1-0 defeat at home followed by our customary exit from as early a stage of the Carling Cup as we can manage.

But it has still been bad. We all know that only a win at Swansea today will restore the faith of lots of those now disaffected with Steve Bruce – and that plenty will remain disaffected even if we are three points better off by 5pm. We also know many SAFC supporters, long suffering or short, are some way short of confident that we can actually record our first win of the season. We shall see.

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Steve Bruce, hysteria and the case for his defence

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Has Steve Bruce every right to go on the offensive in his response to the fierce criticism he has endured since losing at home to Newcastle and then away at Brighton in the Carling Cup? Well, yes and no: the calls for his head may be over the top, for now at any rate, but supporters have a right to voice their opinions on what went wrong in two games, crucial to them and the club.

I am on record as stating here my belief that sacking him this early in the season, after what was then one bad result and is now two, would be absurd. As you can see from the comments that have appeared at Salut! Sunderland all week, that is hardly a universal view.

It hasn’t changed and it won’t change even if we lose tomorrow; three or four games in just doesn’t seem the right time to be contemplating such a dramatic move and change.

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Steve Bruce, hysteria and the case for his defence

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Has Steve Bruce every right to go on the offensive in his response to the fierce criticism he has endured since losing at home to Newcastle and then away at Brighton in the Carling Cup? Well, yes and no: the calls for his head may be over the top, for now at any rate, but supporters have a right to voice their opinions on what went wrong in two games crucial to them and the club.

I am on record as stating here my belief that sacking him this early in the season, after what was then one bad result and is now two, would be absurd. As you can see from the comments that have appeared at Salut! Sunderland all week, that is hardly a universal view.

It hasn’t changed and it won’t change even if we lose tomorrow; three or four games in just doesn’t seem the right time to be contemplating such a dramatic move and change.

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Swansea revisited: looking forward to the Liberty

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From that Soapbox of his, memories rekindled by the half of shandy’s worth of commission he’s earned from sales of mugs and pens, Pete Sixsmith looks back on what Swansea Away used to mean, and ahead to the Liberty stadium. Swansea as Steve Bruce’s Swansong? Some of us still hope nothing happens tomorrow to make that a probability …


After what can best be described as a difficult week (defeats at the hands of the Mags and Brighton and the aforementioned neighbours scraping through at Scunthorpe), we now set off on the longest trip of the season.

It’s 325 miles from Sixsmith Towers to the home of the Swans. It means a start at 5.15am, so let’s all hope that The Brucester picks a team that has at least one decent goalscorer starting the game. Maybe he could start Richardson behind Gyan – it seemed to work at Blackpool last season.

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The Swansea Who Are You?: ‘just let us stay up’

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The Sumbler family celebrates at Wembley

For a time, I worried it wasn’t going to come. There is no greater stress, I said, than the “Who Are You?” series. Then, in the nick of time, Phil Sumbler*, chairman of the Swans Trust (swanstrust.co.uk) – a remarkable example of supporter involvement in a football club – and leading light at the planetswans.co.uk fan site, came back with a grand set of answers to Salut! Sunderland‘s questions ahead of a match of vital importance to both teams. And second thoughts on that stress: it’s only the second biggest source, after Steve Bruce’s team selections …

Salut! Sunderland:
Thumped at Manchester City but not as heavily as we went down there last season. What did you make of the start?

That was welcome to the Premier League for sure. Manchester City need no introduction as a quality side and in the end that quality shone through on the pitch and of course was reflected in the scoreline. However, like many of the travelling Jacks at the game there was enough for us to be positive about and we have to take that positivity into the coming games.

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Soapbox: Carling Cup cop-out, then the trek to Swansea

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Back from Brighton at 5pm today. Off to Swansea at 4am on Saturday, back with any luck by midnight. That is dedication, Mr Bruce, and Pete Sixsmith is far from alone in showing it, game after game. In return, last night at any rate, they were shortchanged …

I notice that M Salut is running a competition called “A Monday Lie In”.

Well, that’s what I did this morning at The Kings Hotel in Brighton (I recommend it – looks a good place to take another man’s wife to). Instead of a quick breakfast and a look for an internet café, I took my time over the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon before a leisurely stroll back to Brighton’s splendid Victorian railway station, and an easy trip back to the North East.

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Stop fretting about Swansea: get your Monday lie-in here

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The people at – or speaking for – Yahoo tell me Salut! Sunderland readers gave a great response to the Monday lie-in competition.

The what? That’s what you’ll be asking if you missed it first time round when I cynically linked it to a certain game most of us wish to forget (there are loads of those games but you know perfectly well which one I mean) in order to attract as many potential entrants as possible. With the deadline only two days away, here again are the details …

Salut! Sunderland has been chosen to invite fans – whoever they support, so Swansea supporters can get stuck in, too – try their luck in a competition with an unusual prize.

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Steve Bruce: would winning at Swansea still not restore faith?

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Why is it we get busier when times are bad? Three games into a new season seems incredibly early to be screaming for the boss’s head but M Salut was taken to task here after saying a managerial change so soon would be “absurd”. Are we all so fickle that a 3-0 romp at Swansea would have supporters singing his praises, or is that too laughable a forecast to be taken seriously?

Birflatt Boy throws his weight behind the revolution and joins the mob surrounding the heavily fortified managerial compound …

I haven’t taken the time to study the odds at the bookies to see just how likely the cognoscenti think it will be for Steve Bruce to be the first PL manager to win the sack race.

But I do have a question for all Sunderland fans: is it too early to sack him, or is it too late?

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