Sunderland

Calling all Mackemoiselles

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It may be quiet around here in the coming week. I am off to St Petersburg on Monday – still Leningrad as far as Sixer is concerned – and what appears at Salut! Sunderland will depend on what others can supply and what Joan Dawson is able to post. After Chelsea tomorrow (about which I will try to post something, whatever becomes of us), the next game is not until Mon Nov 22 and the Everton “Who are You?” will appear on Friday, Friday and Saturday if we receive more than one completed questionnaire. See you soon …

The word – Mackemoiselles – officially entered the vocabulary on Thursday. Claire Reidlinger, photographed with her son (pictured above) at the Leicester pre-season friendly, had announced that she would not be in the Blackcats e-mail loop for the time being, thanks to a job change, leaving Karen Turner alone in flying the flag for female subscribers.

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Chelsea v Sunderland: ‘no, we don’t always expect to win’

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ChelseaD is as close as we are allowed to get to identifying the young (everyone, viewed from here, is young) woman in Blue who looks forward to another win over Sunderland on Sunday but benignly offers hope of a tighter margin than last season. What else do we know about her? Well, she runs The Chelsea Blog and, tongue pressed firmly into cheek, enjoys the high moral ground of supporting a club whose players never cheat. No, she’s not the Chelsea fan who took delight that rainy day in January in walking past the away end loudly exclaiming “Appreciate!” …

Salut! Sunderland: Despite your setback at Anfield, everyone assumes Chelsea will win the Premier League with ease this season. Is that how Blues fans see it?

Cheers for the reminder!

I can’t speak for the majority but I’ve never assumed we’d win anything this season. If anything, I’ve thought we’d been sailing by the seat of our pants for a few weeks anyway and needed to play a lot better against Liverpool if we were to come out of it with anything. The fact that we didn’t and were missing Lampard, Essien – and even Drogba for 45 minutes of it – showed we’re no less vulnerable than anyone else when it comes to dropping points.

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Welcome, Arsenal, to the world of accidental clogging

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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the embryo of a body of contrition hovering over the Emirates stadium as it dawns on Arsenal folk that their self-canonised saints of football may also, from time to time, stray from the path of purity …

Cesc Fabregas is a magical footballer, a convincing contender for any choice of the Premier League’s finest. He is also, necessarily, strong, fast and committed.

So realistic supporters, whether they are Gooners or follow Sunderland or Chelsea, Wolves or Stoke or indeed anyone else, can sympathise with Fabregas when he tells his manager he hadn’t the slightest wish to injure Stephen Ward of Wolves. Yet it was challenge that some felt merited a card of a different colour than the yellow shown by Mark Halsey.

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Tottenham 1 Sunderland 1: ducking and diving

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The photo shows the penalty box aftermath of David Bentley’s booking for a dramatic dive (‘appy ‘arry reckons it was a blatant penalty so we must be on safe ground in saying the ref got it right). What follows is Salut! Sunderland‘s attempt to fill the absent Pete Sixsmith’s large boots …

The heavy burden of duty, and the idea that nothing’s too good for a lad who grew up in County Durham, has led me to some fancy dinner tables.

Master chefs at establishments from Raymond Blanc’s Manoir aux Quat’Saisons to the Emirates Palace have seen to it that I have been served the finest food and wine.

Last night, it was small cod and chips in a cardboard container along the Tottenham High Road after horrendous acquaintance with Tetley’s Extra Cold in The Ship, a pub I could swear used to stock drinkable beer.

Even so, I had the fear of a born pessimist that this £3.99 culinary experience (the “beer” was another £3.20), and the honour of being interviewed by BBC Radio Newcastle by phone on surfacing from Seven Sisters station, might be the high points of a tough evening. I have not seen us win at White Hart Lane and didn’t really expect my luck to change.

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Tottenham away: recalling a six-goal thriller in the snow

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If you’re a Sunderland fan with experience of White Hart Lane, you’ve probably seen us lose there. But not – if you’ve been often enough – always. Among far too many defeats have been some sterling performances …


See also: The Spurs “Who are You?” – is Gareth Bale in the same class as Cliff Jones?

Unlucky last season, jubilant in the 1984-85 Milk Cup run, the false dawn when Cissé scored a winner two seasons ago – tonight’s game at White Hart Lane has fans wallowing in potted nostalgia over at Ready to Go.

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