Give us the French lower leagues, cried Pete Sixsmith, or something like that.
I do not intend to make a habit of it but here, bang up to date, is the state of the French Ligue 2, of special interest to our new recruit Stéphane Sessegnon.
Sunderland
Bruce in: good news, but still points to prove (and get)
On a balance sheet detailing the pluses and minuses of his management of Sunderland, Steve Bruce is comfortably in the black.
So the SAFC decision to offer him a new contract, and his acceptance of it, should be welcomed by supporters.
The Everton ‘Who are You?’: praying for a billionaire
When you’ve worked with singers from Mary Black to Charlotte Church, and been in charge of the music at George Best’s funeral, the phrase “I’m a musician” seems a touch inadequate. Frank Gallagher*, a man who therefore seems to add modesty to his boundless charisma, energy and talent, is our Evertonian ‘Who are You?’ previewer. Frank has a great turn of phrase which, judging by her description of Billy Hughes on FA Cup Final night, he may have inherited from his mother …
Salut! Sunderland: Deep in debt, back in the shadows of your neighbours and struggling to hang on to key players: is this Everton for the foreseeable future or will a sheikh or Russian billionaire ride to the rescue?
It’s clear the only way to compete significantly in the Premiership is with a mega-wallet so I fear a billionaire might be our only hope…Russian, American, Libyan…we’ll not be fussy just as long as he’s loaded. The irony is that we were the original tycoon team, when John Moores of the Littlewoods Pools dynasty looked after us in the 60s and 70s.
Everton v SAFC: musician digs the Blues
Since M Salut is on the road in France, there isn’t time for much posting of new material before this week’s Who are You? feature which will run tomorrow as we approach the resumption, for Sunderland, of the football season.
But here is a sneak preview of that feature.
Our Evertonian is a pal, Frank Gallagher, known through his forays as a musician into the folkie territory of M Salut’s acquaintance.
Clickety click: free tickets to see Wigan
Wigan at home seems an awful long way away and it is, April 23. It is also – whatever our Lancashire friend Bernard Ramsdale might tell us – short on glamour. All the same, free tickets are free tickets and you can, if you support Sunderland or are neutral, try to win a couple from Sunderland’s kit sponsors Tombola by following this link.
We thought at first Tombola was offering the tickets as a Salut! Sunderland competition prize. Don’t tell Phil Cronin, SAFC-supporting boss of the company, that it was not quite like that; he’d only be cross with them for not seizing the opportunity. In any case, Phil’s people did supply the image of our home top, for which we are grateful.And in the meantime, this is a report of the hoops M Salut had to go through to see a past SAFC v Wigan Athletic game, live on TV in the United Arab Emirates. Health warning: as written, back in Feb 2008, it was intended for a general, non-SAFC audience …
Millwall: hard to like but some of their fans care
Before I say anything else, let me offer the thought that Millwall fans – decent ones, anyway, and please do not automatically assume decency and Millwall are mutually exclusive terms – have a point when they say a few missiles thrown by gormless hoodlums should not tarnish an entire club.
Soapbox: hailing Blyth Spartans, hating the Crawley love-in
Whatever happened to the FA Cup? Pete Sixsmith poses the question before bursting the romantic bubble enclosing Crawley Town and thanking heavens for two lowlier competitions in which not just Blyth but Gateshead, Dunston UTS and Whitley Bay are carrying the flag for the North East…
Well, there’s another Saturday gone without a Sunderland game kicking off at 3pm.
It looks like the next two at Everton and Arsenal should be at the usual time, but who can tell with Sky and ESPN?
No doubt many Sunderland fans spent their afternoons in the pub, with the approval of Niall Quinn.
This whole situation regarding folk watching on Greek or Albanian channels has been very interesting.
Gyan, Manchester United and headlines that speak with forked tongues
Q How does a football website make up for being days late with a story?
A Run the story anyway but put a wholly misleading headline on it
Gyan’s Manchester United dream: our nightmare or idle chatter?
How much or how little do we read in today’s offering from our friends at the Ghanasoccernet website?
They quote Asamoah Gyan as saying the following:
“Of course I’m a big fan of Manchester United and will like to play for them if the chance comes my way.”
The Quinny stayaway fans debate: our winners, SAFC’s winners
Niall Quinn is a passionate man, as events over the past week have shown.
Salut! Sunderland remains surprised by his use of the D word – despise – to describe how he felt about fans who stay away from the Stadium of Light to watch illegal live broadcasts in the pub. But it is no surprise at all that he has presented his case in emotional terms – see our original item here – to the extent of saying his own future commitment to the club may be at stake.