Sunderland

Not606: when Celtic and Rangers supporters sang from same songsheet

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In case you thought the theme song at Ibrox was changing to The Fields of Athenry, think again. Nor are Celtic fans about to augment their repertoire with Follow Follow. But supporters of both clubs did agree on one matter: the need to escape the over-moderation of the BBC’s 606 football chat forum …

Sunderland supporters are well served by internet discussion forums, from Ready to Go to Salut! Sunderland and similar.

I have been meaning to mention not606 for some weeks now. It is a lively site with good, well-read Sunderland pages full of talking points of interest to most SAFC fans. If you come across a certain Kingshirker lurking there, you’ll know it is me. But where did not606 come from? What was the common ground that united Glasgow greens and blues?

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Soapbox: tedium galore on Brands Manchester, Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool

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Want to hear about ALL that’s going on in football? Then don’t bother with 5Live, TalkSport, Sky and much of the national press, says Pete Sixsmith. Oh, and the headline writer inexplicably overlooked Arsenal, which at least spares us 100 indignant comments from hypersensitive Gooners …

One of my Philosophy Football T-shirts says “Bored By The Big Four”.

Add Manchester City to that and you have my feelings towards the Premier League a month before a ball has been kicked.

Billy The Fish has smartly tabled the number of times certain clubs appear on TV and, surprise, surprise, it features the clubs that Sky and ESPN consider to have the biggest drawing power. At the top, we have Liverpool and Tottenham with seven appearances each. Seven!! How’s that for fair shares and neither of them are in the Champions League? In fact, Liverpool aren’t even in Europe (except geographically, Mr Geog Teacher!- ed) .

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SuperKev quiz: see how you fare

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Salut! Sunderland‘s daily newspaper of choice, when not in France, is The Guardian, just as its preferred Sunday read is The Observer. It would love there to be a whole day without Graun suits warning of cutbacks and crisis (OK, that’s an exaggeration; a whole month would be fairer.).

But for now, let us just repeat one or two of the questions posed in today’s Guardian on a subject close to our hearts: Kevin Phillips.

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Soapbox: York looms as Sky makes life tough for Swansea (and us)

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Pete Sixsmith takes up where M Salut left off, a much-deserved dig at the TV people and Premier League for their utterly inconsiderate fixture changes. All the same, a spot of non-league action plus Steve Bruce’s transfer dealings have properly whetted Mr Sixsmith’s appetite for the coming season …

Ticked off my first game on Saturday; an enjoyable friendly between Northern League Division One Shildon and Teesside League regulars, Richmond Town. It ended up in a 2-0 win for the Railwaymen and a chance to see some of the new player who have arrived at Dean Street.

Like Sunderland, they have recruited heavily in the close season and several new players have arrived, while some old favourites have left. The general consensus amongst the regulars who turned up was that the manager had brought in a mixture of experience and potential and that the outlook for the season was positive.

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O’Shea and Brown: Republik of Mancunia puts us on spot

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Scott the Red comes calling from time to time, with questions he wants Salut! Sunderland to answer on issues affecting both his club, Manchester United, and ours.

Our signings of Wes Brown and John O’Shea offered a good enough excuse for Scott to return with to ask what we made of them, and Steve Bruce’s other dealings.

Here is the questionnaire, plus a few of the Republik of Mancunia readers’ responses. See whether you agree with me or them or none of us!

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The Roker End: still standing, on a great site

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Mrs Logic**
Hats off to Brian Leng and all others concerned with a website called The Roker End*.

Technically home to the Sunderland Former Players’ Association, it is packed with material of interest to every supporter of Sunderland AFC – and a good many supporters of other clubs, too, especially those our players also served.

There are interviews galore, proper features and Q&As, news of events and more besides. Try this list for size and quality: Len Shackleton, Johnny Crossan, Johnny Mapson, John Byrne, Nick Sharkey, Ritchie Pitt, Chris Makin. All of them – and more, yes King Charlie included (see comment) – have been interviewed or quoted. Some quotes are familiar – Shack’s “Listen, I’ve nothing against Newcastle – I don’t care who beats them!” – others less so (Mapson: “For the one and only time in my career, I received an approach to throw a game”).

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The Ithics Files: (9) Chairman Bob 1 Media 0

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The cover speaks for itself.

Issue 13 of It’s the Hope I Can’t Stand, way back in April 1999, and Bob – now Sir Bob – Murray was presiding over a club romping to promotion, scoring goals for amusement and drawing huge crowds to the Stadium of Light. The same SoL that some in the media had suggested could prove a white elephant.

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All looking good as Blackpool’s David Vaughan officially signed

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“I’m over the moon,” says our own Jeremy Robson, greeting news at the Blackcats list that David Vaughan’s transfer to Sunderland is official. “(Charlie) Adam got most of the attention for Blackpool last year but DV was outstanding.”

And now he’s one of ours. Ellis Short cannot even complain that Steve Bruce is spending too much of his money since this one is free, Vaughan being out of contract at Blackpool.

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