Sunderland

Are we really content with 4-4-1-1?

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Steve Bruce swore until blue in the face that he was right not to replace Darren Bent in January.

Salut! Sunderland was equally adamant that Bent should not have been allowed to go anywhere without a replacement – even a stopgap one – lined up. We allowed for the possibility that what Bruce took to calling a “calculated gamble” was not his choice, but thrust upon him by an owner thrilled to bits with the business aspect of Bent’s sale to Villa.

If he really was content to muddle through with one fit first-team striker, pinning hopes on the returns in due course of Danny Welbeck and Fraizer Campbell, then that stands, in my humble view, as his biggest error of the season.

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Soapbox: Hannover horror show, then school’s out for ever

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Sixer’s Soapbox gets Pete Sixsmith instead of the usual illustration today in honour of a big event: his retirement after serving nobly as a teacher (bring on the chalkface, blackboard jungle cliches) for something approaching 40 years. He wished the occasion to go unnoticed but it cannot. Ferryhill Business and Enterprise College is an odd name for a secondary school but that is where Pete has done his teaching, and there will successive generations of past pupils to testify to his skills. M Salut’s bet is that there are plenty of people out there who have done better in life than would have been the case had they not encountered Pete as Sir.

And the “horror show” has more to do with frustrating attempts, as described by Pete, to keep track of events in Hannover than with any serious failings on the playing front: this was useful opposition, significantly ahead of Steve Bruce’s squad in the pre-season build-up, and we still gave them a decent fight for it in the second half …

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Sunderland-Newcastle competition: not a prize to change winner’s life

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Tonight’s friendly on the pre-season German tour is Hannover v Sunderland and comment will be posted here, probably tomorrow.

In the meantime, two bits of Salut! Sunderland housekeeping: a winner in the trifling competition that went with the posting headlined Sunderland, Newcastle and things we have in common, and an update on the Ithics Files.

I said the writer of the Wear-Tyne comment judged (by me) to be the warmest, wittiest or most wise would collect the back copes of the Sunderland AFC Supporters’ Association London & SE branch magazine, Wear Down South and its predecessor 5573.

It was a close-run thing, but in the end my choice means no ceremonial bonfire will be necessary as the decision goes to a Sunderland supporter. A Newcastle United fan – see later – got within a whisker of being offered the same prize and is probably counting his lucky stars to have come only second.

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Cannons, coal and King Charlie: the first Newcastle-Sunderland derby

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Every so often, we are reminded that there is more to supporting Newcastle United than nurturing extraordinary delusions of grandeur or helping Mike Ashley provide highly paid employment for recovering criminals. There is also a deep sense of history, as shown by Michael Hudson*, the thoughtful Mag behind the excellent blog on non-league football Accidental Groundhopper, in these reflections on what he judges to have been the first Tyne-Weart derby, back in 1644.

It started with coal. In north-east England, everything started with coal.

The produce of the Northumbrian coalfield had been shipped from Newcastle since the middle of the 13th century, around the time the city’s mayor, Nicholas Scott, was leading a group of armed merchants in setting fire to the rival port of North Shields (an attempted historical re-enactment by residents of the Meadowell Estate went slightly awry in 1991).

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Arminia Bielefeld 1 Sunderland 1: early verdicts on the new boys

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Pete Sixsmith wasn’t there but Andy Nichol was so, since we have Andy’s consent to reproduce his contributions to the Blackcats list, here were his immediate post-match thoughts …

Sitting in reception at hotel prior to hitting the Johan Albrecht Brauhaus so a few early impressions …

Dong –

nice touches, good in the air. Looks a decent footballer. A bit
lightweight but when able to come off the defender brought others into play
effectively. In terms of starting at Anfield, well ahead of….

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Soapbox: Belle Vue, Consett not Arminia Bielefeld

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Bielefeld v Sunderland (0-0 at half time; send your own updates as comments) is under way and it seems impossible to think: a pre-season tour, near or far, without the presence of Pete Sixmsith. Unless, that is, you count Consett …

If you are expecting my usual insightful views on European life as we begin our German-based pre season, I have to disappoint you.

With the school term not ending until Thursday (we get to finish a day early to make up for losing a Bank Holiday on Royal Wedding Day), I am unable to pass on my thoughts about Bielefeld, Hannover, Hamlein or the Rhur Valley.

I could have made it to MoenchenGladbach for Saturday’s game, but I have an important date at Stalybridge Railway Station that I cannot break, so no early views of Seb Larsson, Connor Wickham or Ji Dong-Won. I’m sure that there will be plenty of press coverage although it may not be as extensive as that accorded to our Tyneside friends after their escapades in Darlington on Friday night.

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Sunderland, Newcastle and things we have in common

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Look: these are just random thoughts on a quiet day/night. Joan Dawson, who edits here whenever M Salut is away or incapable, or both, has a bundle of old editions of 5573, later known as Wear Down South, estimable newsletter of the London & SE branch of the SAFC Supporters’ Association, which will end up at the council tip unless someone claims them. Best response to this modest posting gets the lot, with M Salut paying the postage. A Mag winner – and be patient if your comment takes a while to appear – could always have a ceremonial bonfire …


Any mention of Newcastle brings Mags to the site in droves, and I am delighted that it does.

Broadly speaking, they loathe us and we, being more sportsmanlike, have misgivings about them.

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York Soapbox: making merry with the Minstermen

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Bastille Day over here, the morning after the “start” of the 2011-2012 season back home. Steve Bruce famously dislikes pre-season. Pete Sixsmith rather enjoys it and was happy to spend an evening down the road in York watching the Lads, or certain of them, play with just enough urgency to get us off to a winning start …

There are few more pleasant places to start a pre-season than Bootham Crescent, York. The city is a delight with the evening sun illuminating the Minster, the Wetherby Whaler on the bypass is a Mecca for fish and chip fans, the other Minster continues to dispense excellent beer and the ground is a fine example of what a lower league club needs.

The game was an enjoyable amble for both sides. We turned out a strong side, with only Oumare Tounkara a name and face that few recognised.

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