Sunderland

SAFC v Blackburn: Rovers fan with attitude pulls no punches

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When Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers play, you know that if Vinjay* previews the game you get no name but the certainty of some forthright views. Too forthright, he suggests, for some fellow Rovers fans. Read on for a not-so-fond farewell to Big Sam, relief that the new boss is Steve Kean and not Roy Keane, sideswipes at Alan Shearer and Shay Given and concern that video technology may ruin the game’s talking points …

Salut! Sunderland: You have often bemoaned lack of ambition at Blackburn. Will the new broom sweep away that failure and lead Backburn back to top club status?

As you will recall from my previous Q and As I was not exactly a fan of the previous owners. I’m certainly glad that they have been removed at last. They have been nothing less than an absolute disgrace to Jack Walker and they never got the abuse they deserved. As you may have noticed our new owners have been abused by some of our more ignorant fans. They fully intend to spend more than 5 million despite false reports and will bring new global marketing ideas to the club improving an area that has been neglected and regional minded. Our more parochial fans won’t like the sound of that. Getting rid of the previous owners will always have my gratitude. Looking forward to actually seeing some ambition in January for once.

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Soapbox: Blackpool illuminate the Stadium of Light

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Any hope that meek capitulation at Old Trafford would at least be followed by six home points was swept away in a torrent of missed chances against Blackpool. And, with the exception of Darren Bent’s well-struck free kick against the bar, badly missed chances (“my granddaughter would have saved most of them and she isn’t one yet,” said someone at the Blackcats list). Pete Sixsmith sees our supposedly sleek Mercedes of attacking power cut up by the Skodas of the Premier League …

As the teams were read out before this fiasco, I mentally scratched my head to try to remember something about those who made up our opponents. Taylor-Fletcher – former Huddersfield Town; Campbell – Yeading and Brentford; Vaughan – Crewe and Real Sociedad. None of them names that trip off the tongue. They do now.

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SAFC 0 Blackpool 2: Steve Bruce gives lowdown on a ‘day to forget’

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He sort of says it all …


Dear Colin,

Sometimes in football you have to take a knock like that and I’m scratching my head.

I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a game like that where we had so many attempts on goal without scoring. It was one of those days – we wouldn’t have scored if we’d have played all night.

But we have to go away, lick our wounds and get on with it. I signed Richard Kingson twice and I signed DJ Campbell too, and they’ve come back to haunt me.

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The Blackpool ‘Who are You?’: more plaudits for Jimmy Armfield

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Just a few words on how yesterday’s interview with Jimmy Armfield ahead of today’s big game at the Stadium of Light got people talking about Blackpool’s exemplary man of football …

It is not often that we get 3,500 visitors in a day. Newcastle going down (us gloating) and the 5-1 drubbing at St James’ Park (much of it them gloating) did it, and so did our famous victory at Stamford Bridge.

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Steve Bruce on naïvety and bouncing back

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Image: Mrs Logic

Salut! Sunderland would much rather readers looked at and commented on Pete Sixsmith’s thoughts from Old Trafford or the Jimmy Armfield interview ahead of SAFC v Blackpool.

But here, for what it is worth, is this week’s edition of the billet doux I get after each game from Steve Bruce. Others may have received something remarkably similar so no pretence here that we’re really on first name terms.

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SAFC v Blackpool – Jimmy Armfield talks to Salut! Sunderland

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Jimmy Armfield*. Placed together in that order, they are two of my favourite words in the English language. There have been better footballers and managers, though he wasn’t bad himself, acclaimed during the 1962 World Cup in Chile as “the best right-back in the world” and later doing good work in charge of Bolton and Leeds. There have been better sports commentators. But he has a depth of knowledge and utterly dependable expressive qualities that most of them must envy. We desperately hope the result from the Stadium of Light tomorrow comes as a bitter disappointment to him – a robust comeback after the also-ran display at Old Trafford is a must – but we salute Jimmy Armfield all the same and offer our warmest best wishes to a wonderful voice of the game who played his entire Football League career for one club: tomorrow’s opponents Blackpool …

Salut! Sunderland: What a fabulous time for Blackpool!

Well, the fabulous time really was Wembley. We thought last season was case of trying to stay in the Championship and then suddenly we had this run at the end of the season and ended up in the playoffs and thought “Blimey! they’ve got there. How did we manage that?” And then won it: how did we ever do that that?

Then we thought “OK it will probably turn round” and we all prayed about the first game at Wigan – and ended up winning 4-0.

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Old Trafford Soapbox: quiet day at the new Highbury

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Pete Sixsmith’s dispatch from Manchester United 2 Sunderland 0 was accompanied by the message: “Here it is. No photos, no anger, just nothing. A poor day out; won’t be going there again.” What on earth can he mean? …

At 3.20pm, after conceding a goal, seeing the ball thwack the post and bar and admiring three splendid saves from the excellent Craig Gordon, I would have settled for a 2-0 home win – which is exactly what happened in this non-event of a contest.

If you concede early at the Theatre of Prawn Sandwiches, it’s very difficult to get back into the game.

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Manchester United 2 SAFC 0: outplayed, outclassed, no disgrace

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Listening to Nick Barnes and Gary Bennett seemed a poor reason for posting a match report ahead of tomorrow’s thoughts from Pete Sixsmith. But Ian Porter has come up with some incisive points (at the Blackcats list) and is always happy to share them here …

This really was Men against Boys, for the first 30 minutes at least.

When you see a young lad like Jordan Cook (pictured, from his Facebook page) come on against one of the best teams in the world after playing twice a month or whatever the stiffs play these days and look like a useful player, you have to ask the question: just what is it that an established International actually needs to get accustomed to in the PL?

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