Sunderland

Sorry Notts County – Alex Rae’s back in Sunderland colours

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What a good lad Alex Rae* was and is. A “crowd-pleasing, combative midfielder”, says Wikipedia. I’d prepared the interview with Les Bradd with a sad reference to Alex not responding to a similar request to preview Sunderland’s FA Cup tie at home to Notts Co (he is the assistant manager), but still felt sure he’d get back to me. Which he did. Must have been the Salut! Sunderland Christmas card that did the trick. Here, then, are Alex’s thoughts on SAFC, Rangers, Notts Co, the game and life …

See Les Bradd interview – “the Roker Roar gave me headaches” – by clicking here

Salut! Sunderland: What memories of Sunderland were stirred when you first saw Notts County coming out of the hat to play us in the 3rd round?

I never quite got a chance to say bye to the fans when I left so this will be my first opportunity to see the supporters.

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SAFC v Notts County: Roker Roar gave Magpie hero headache

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We’ll have plenty to say about the other Mags, but they can wait until next week. For now, the only Magpies that matter are Notts County. In the first of two memorable editions of our Who are You? series – see Alex Rae’s interview by clicking here – Salut! Sunderland is honoured to welcome Les Bradd*, a great figure from the history of professional football’s oldest club. He agreed like a shot to answer our questions ahead of the FA Cup Third Round tie on Saturday and recalls a career in which he became County’s record scorer – one of the goals a cup winner against Sunderland – and suffered an odd side effect of playing at Roker Park …

You are the top scorer in County’s history: 125 goals in 398 appearance in a career spanning 11 years. Tell us what the club means to you.

I made the move to Notts County from Rotherham United in 1967 at the age of 19 and was one of a young group of players that manager Billy Gray was getting together to achieve promotion. Billy did not stay at the Club long enough and was replaced in 1969 by Jimmy Sirrel who went on to take the club from the 4th to the 2nd division in four years. The 1970s were a special time in my football career at Notts County with the success that we achieved not only in the League but also against teams of higher status than ourselves in various cup runs that we had. Many of those team mates remain great friends to this day and regularly meet and remember the good times that we had when attending Former Players Functions.

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Titus Bramble our rock as Aston Villa seen off

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A good night for Phil Bardsley, a bad night for Danny Welbeck and a dreadful night for poor David Meyler. Fir the second successive year, Bob Chapman steps into Pete Sixsmith’s shoes to report from Villa Park …

How times change. Last March I reported on this same fixture.

We were just about safe, though I was still chewing nails. On the other hand Villa were challenging for a European place. We drew 1-1 and I reported what an influence John Mensah had been in securing a point.

This season we have reversed those roles, but once again it was a centre half, Titus Bramble who impressed me most and helped secures the points, all three this time.

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Dreams become nightmares for our Man Utd and Ireland stars

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This short posting is dedicated to David Meyler, our young Irish midfielder whose awful, accidental injury at Villa Park looks likely to cost him another lengthy period of treatment. The lad had done extremely well on his return from the last cruciate ligament injury and it is no surprise that he is, as Steve Bruce has said, devastated.

Dedicated to David, but started off as a routine piece – written before events at Aston Villa – about Danny Welbeck as one of Pete Sixsmith‘s regular offerings to the Stretford End Arising website’s running series on Manchester United’s loaned-out players. Danny also left the pitch on a stretcher last night and faces a nasty layoff of his own with a torn hamstring. Pete’s thoughts were entirely positive as he wrote the words that follow and Salut! Sunderland hopes to see both players make strong recoveries and make the words come true ….

In 12 months’ time, as he scores Sunderland’s 3rd goal in a tense Europa League victory over Ajax, Danny Welbeck will look back on December 2010 as the month he changed from a boy to a man.

He cemented a place in Steve Bruce’s first team, first of all partnering Darren Bent and then Asamoah Gyan. But the key to it was that he was the first choice while the other two scrapped it out for the privilege of partnering him.

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Aston Villa 0 SAFC 1: the heavy price of victory

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David MeylerPeadar O’Sullivan

Could we ask for more than a 1-0 win at Aston Villa, a place where we often struggle? The latest post-match missive from Steve Bruce explains why the obvious answer, sadly, is yes …

For Match of the Day viewers, there was a miss, a goal, a couple of sendings off and not much else.

For Sunderland supporters, it was an important win on the road with a massive double downside.

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Soapbox: the January transfer window – board it up!

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Football clubs up and down the land are setting out their stalls for the January sales, and looking around in the hope of snapping up bargains of their own. Pete Sixsmith would cheerfully save them all the bother. It’s all enough to make him toy with the attractions of Shildon at home instead of the FA Cup this weekend …

So, the eagerly anticipated transfer window has opened at last. Excuse me while I yawn, while Sky Sports News presenters have 28 days of collective orgasms as they break the news that Gillingham have signed a Spurs Reserve who not even Harry Redknapp has heard of and while tons and tons of newsprint are wasted on “exclusive” stories that turn out to be so exclusive that they are pure fiction.

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Pauline McLynn: Father Ted’s char cheering shamelessly for Aston Villa

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Pauline McLynnDLR Library

An actress’s life can bring varied demands. After being made up to look a lot older for the part of Father Ted’s housekeeper Mrs Doyle, Pauline McLynn* was required to appear nude as Libby in Shameless. But never mind that: she’s here because she is a keen Aston Villa fan. As a lass back in Ireland, she’d flirted with Liverpool and Steve Heighway before being converted by Paul McGrath. Salut! Sunderland gallantly chose a discreet image …

Salut! Sunderland: Things may change before we meet next week you but it has been looking a little ominous at Villa Park with some pundits even mentioning the dreaded R word. Surely not relegation, even after the 4-0 drubbing at Man City.

The only R that I agree with is Resurrection, and I think the game against Chelsea proved we can still take a game to the opposition. Villa are notorious for going downhill a bit at this time of year but I feel we on the rise again now so look out Sunderland.

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Villa ‘Who are You?’: when Ashley Young has us groaning

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We went to Chelsea to improve on a 7-2 drubbing and beat them 3-0. Aston Villa had fared even worse last time at the Bridge – 7-1 – and Sunday’s six-goal draw will have done wonders for morale. Isn’t that downright typical, just before they play us? Dominic Wren*, a Villa fan teaching PE in the United States (that’s him with a middle school pupil) regrets the crisis created by Martin O’Neill’s departure but reminds the squad that their job involves being paid for something 40,000 fans would gladly do for nothing …

See also: Pauline McLynn, Villa-supporting actress from Father Ted and Shameless

Salut! Sunderland: Things may change before we meet you but it has been looking a little ominous at Villa Park with some pundits even mentioning the dreaded R word. Surely not!

Dominic (speaking before the Chelsea game): On paper, no chance, but we all know the game is not played on paper. The effort, passion, pride, intensity, what I refer to as the intangibles, the only things the individual player can control are definitely not present at the moment. Which as any fan will tell you, is the least they expect when they pull on the beloved jersey.

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