Fans with long memories, or an anorakish taste for detail, will know the answer immediately. Pete Sixsmith offers a guiding hand to those less acquainted with the legion of former Sunderland players …
Not a great couple of days for us Red and Whites. A hangover from the bitter disappointment of Tuesday night was made even worse when the news came through of Titus Bramble’s arrest.
Click here and you will quickly see what you are invited to sign. Most of us pay lip service to notions of justice. In practice, we repeatedly encounter anomalies …
Niall Quinn stands convicted on one count – not knowing the difference between refute and deny – but is absolutely right to put out a dignified club statement* emphasising that Titus Bramble, arrested on suspicion of rape, maintains his innocence.
Niall was also wise enough to the potential charge of hypocrisy to avoid adding that whenever an individual is charged with a crime in the UK, and indeed his own native Irish Republic, there is – notionally at least – a presumption of innocence. It is nevertheless worth pointing it out: Bramble has not even been charged; if and when that occurs, he must be seen as innocent until and unless found guilty.
In view of technical problems affecting this, the original posting, a slightly modified matchday version now appears as Liverpool v SAFC: the voice of America
Ah, to be a Liverpool fan. Memories of standing on the Kop as a lad, that overpowering emotion as Gerry Marsden sings the first words of You’ll Never Walk Alone with every home fan raising scarf aloft, a pint or two in the Ship & Mitre after the match. Ed* – our latest “Who Are You?” contributor to seek semi-anonymity (good reason) – can only take our word for it. He’s a keen supporter and edits the fan site, Liverpool Offside, but lives on the other side of the Atlantic, has never set foot in Liverpool and knows nothing of the Anfield experience at first hand. From the American Mid West, he offers his thoughts on the Reds’ slow start to the season, the Anfield hero who has been known to cheat and the corporate chaos engulfing his adopted club. Maybe just as a well he did so before last night’s load of old Cobblers … …
Not a great night: out pf the Carling Cup at an early stage in front of a measly crowd for an all-Premier clash, then Titus Bramble arrested on suspicion of rape (though remember he’s innocent until proved otherwise, a concept that should commend itself to bigwigs at a certain association football club). A jury can sort out that one and low gates are sadly par for the Carling course. As for our flat performance, here is Pete Sixsmith‘s analysis …
I had two possibilities for last night’s seven-word summary. The one that appeared was relevant to the disappointing performance we had turned in against a West Ham side who looked anything but relegation candidates. The other one will stay on my phone so I can recycle it if we are knocked out of the FA Cup by the likes of Bolton or Portsmouth.
Exactly what we didn’t want. Out of the Carling Cup to a team that hadn’t won a single Premier game so far this season.
Good to see that Asamoah Gyan got another goal but this was a hugely disappointing result.
Tonight sees a great chance for Sunderland to make further progress in a winnable competition.
Having seen off mighty Colchester, we face Premier League opposition in the form of a team needing a morale-boosting win from anywhere. Not starting with Darren Bent would not seem to do much good to our chances of stopping that win coming tonight – unless Asamoah Gyan is now fully matchfit and raring to get at them. Sam the Hammer (aka Sam H) is our Hammers previewer and this is a repeat of his interview for those who missed it (we are beset with technical problems just now).
Sam is a regular enough visitor to Salut! Sunderland. He’s a techie wizard, genial company over a pint and lord of the manor over at the West Ham Process, one our constant rivals for top spot among the FootballUnited.com hit parade of footie sites. Sam is also one of life optimists, a condition that helps when you support certain clubs (don’t we know it?), but feels this is one Sunderland will win. So, Sam, Who Are You? …
Image: Mrs Logic Did I speak too soon in welcoming Steve Bruce’s promise to put out a full strength side? …
The world has gone mad. A Hammer comes to Salut! Sunderland and promises to buy drinks for all our readers (later modified, wisely, to “a select few of our favourite commenters”) and a Premier manager talks about the importance of the Carling Cup. Luckily, it was our manager and some drinks, at least, are still on Sam the Hammer …
Hammers fans: go straight here
We must welcome Steve Bruce’s promise to put out a strong side to play West Ham in the Carling Cup tonight/tomorrow night (depending on when and where you’re reading this). And news that Asamoah Gyan will make his first start since arriving for £13m from Rennes, should give all Sunderland fans a great buzz.
SAFC, it is safe to predict, will not win the Premier League title just yet. We have every right to expect a distinct improvement on last season’s 13th place finish, but 12 places higher may still be out of our reach.
Playing Arsenal is tiring. For Salut! Sunderland, that is. We always seem to get a couple of (very welcome) “Who Are You?” previews to deal with, each game manages to end in controversy of one kind or another and then there’s endless debate afterwards. But a lot of the post-Saturday discussion here has been of a very high standard, so thank to the many Gooners who contributed …
Now on to the Carling Cup
Mackem favours Toon shock! As if our own game hadn’t produced sufficient controversy – however contrived – Malcolm Dawson found reason for disgruntlement elsewhere in the Premier programme. In particular, he berates Andre Marriner for failing to take decisions that would have made the Mags’ task at Goodison even comfier …
There has been much debate on Salut! Sunderland and elsewhere about the circumstances surrounding Lee Cattermole’s sending off at Wigan.
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