Fans with highly developed abilities to read lips and interpret body language detected attempts by Lee Bowyer to influence decisions by the referee, Anthony Taylor, in Saturday’s match against Birmingham City.
In particular, Bowyer – old pic courtesy of “Michael Kjaer”‘s Flickr pages – stands accused of trying to persuade Taylor to reduce us to nine men by sending off Kieran Richardson.
This old clip, starting with Eric Roy waltzing through the Chelsea defence to set up Niall Quinn’s first goal in that 4-1 hammering of too long ago, seemed as good a way as any of illustrating a quick look at events in French football over the weekend.
The team Eric now manages, Nice, who therefore qualify for Salut! Sunderland support in the way Paraguay and Ghana did in the World Cup. came back from the long trip to Brittany with three points after an excellent 2-1 win over Lorient. Loïc Remy, for whom each game is described as probably his last for Nice (Marseille have joined the clubs wanting him but Spurs look favourites) got the winner.
Immediately before 3pm, Anthony Taylor and Lee Cattermole shook hands, both proud to be performing new roles for the first time: one as a Premier referee, the other as captain of Sunderland AFC. The amity lasted less than three-quarters of an hour. Was Lee the victim of an overzealous debutant, or clattering Cattermole? This, ladies and gentlemen is how Pete Sixsmith saw things …
Thanks to Colin for the kind words in his introduction to Sixer’s Sevens. I’m not sure that my analysis is always first rate as I have more mood swings than a nightclub full of hormonal females over the course of a season. Brilliant one week, hopeless the next – but it is Sunderland we are talking about……
However it doesn’t take the perceptions of a Hugh McIlvanney , a David Lacey or a Frank Johnson to work out that the combination of a rookie ref and Lee Cattermole was liable to end in tears. And it did as our captain was given his marching orders just before half time for two offences that barely deserved a yellow card in common sense terms, but which did in refereeing by the book terms.
Two up early in the second half, but with only 10 men, Sunderland were forced onto the back foot and had to make do with a point after Birmingham fought their way back …
Normal service is Darren Bent getting on the scoresheet.
Unfortunately, it is also Sunderland players falling foul of the referee, to the extent that Lee Cattermole was sent off for his second yellow a few minutes before half time.
Result: SAFC 2 Birmingham 2 …
THIS REPORT HAS NOW BEEN SUPERSEDED BY
SAFC 2 Birmignham City 2: normal service resumes
A second goal early in the second half – Stephen Carr into his own net (not his day, since he committed the foul that produced the dodgy penalty) – gave 10-man Sunderland a cushion, which was just as well since we allowed Birmingham to sneak one back with 13 minutes to go, and then a late equaliser …
Darren Bent scores from a penalty that replays suggest wasn’t (edge of box), Birmingham defender lucky to escape a red all the same.
Lee Cattermole then sent off before half time for what Nick Barnes and Gary Bennett, on BBC Radio Newcastle, thought were two exceedingly soft yellows – though in fairness the BBC site’s main Saturday Live coverage was a lot less sympathetic, implying that he’d offended not twice but three times.
Sixer is back. Salut! Sunderland’s inimitable summariser and sage, our chronicler and waffler supreme, sums up every SAFC match – …
Right. That’s the pre-match build-up almost over.
There has been such a bewildering array of signings, departures, rumours and bust-ups that your guess is as good as mine on the likely starting 11 for Sunderland.
Pete Sixsmith gets his 2010-2011 Soapbox erected in time for the big kick-off and, like Colin Randall, harks back to when football was really football and men were men (or lads of not quite 16) ….
What do these numbers have in common? 46;10;2?
They are the number of seasons that Colin and me, Niall Quinn and Steve Bruce have been associated with Sunderland AFC.
Great minds … small minds … think alike … never differ. Colin Randall and Pete Sixsmith both thought of writing about the opening game and both found themselves wallowing in memories of long ago. Colin has a nicer pic to go with his than Pete’s old Soapbox image – but come back in a couple of hours for the essential Sixsmith preview …
Every so often, a comment attributed to a female SAFC fan appears in the sadly neglected Salut! Smiles slot where you currently find Danny Dichio down the left-hand column. Those comments are usually from the lips, or keyboard, of Claire Reidlinger, from the only Washington the world needs to know about. A lovely e-mail offering this pic – “me and the bairn and Filbert the Fox at the Leicester friendly for yer nice Salut thingy” – inspired these thoughts about opening games …
Chelsea. Brings to mind that fabulous Quinn/SuperKev destruction of them in 1999. Sky-high prices for away tickets. Not the cuddliest team or fans in the Premier. But we do know some lovely people who support the Blues and they were utterly deserving of the title last season. AND we ended up top of a very special Chelsea mini-league: ahead, on goal difference, of Villa, Wigan and Stoke among teams they scored seven or eight against. After Man Utd, Chelsea – in the form of Denise, from thechelseablog.org – came calling for the Salut! Sunderland take on life …
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