Sunderland

England, my England

by

luke


Luke Harvey, our budding sports journalist, offers some thoughts on the England World Cup warm-up and says Darren Bent’s fate, though important, won’t affect his summer viewing plans …

England’s first warm-up match in the approach to the 2010 World Cup, a 3-1 victory over Mexican opponents, seemed on paper a solid and comfortable win. In reality it was anything but.

On display for 90 minutes were two teams incapable of defending set pieces, and England looked nervous and edgy as they lined up in a curious formation without any of the FA Cup finalists in the team, some fresh faces appearing, and crucially for Sunderland fans – no Darren Bent.

Read more

Champions and daughters

by

lads1

It was a weekend for champions: the Champions’ League final, the Championship playoff final, a fitting finale for southern-based Sunderland supporters who won their own league – and even some reflected glory for Salut! Sunderland …

Chelsea’s Florent Malouda popped up on the French TV news yesterday, beaming as he rejoined Raymond Domenech’s Wolrd Cup squad at their training camp in the Alps – are we expecting snow in South Africa? – after a quick return to London for the birth of his fourth child.

Read more

Soapbox: Mourinho’s Inter Milan – just like watching Blackpool

by

soapbox

Almost a blank Saturday? Pete Sixsmith found no football to tempt him to a ground yesterday, but was so taken with what he heard and saw from Wembley and the Santiago Bernabeu that he became quite confused. Was that Ormerod or Milito who scored Blackpool’s playoff winner? See if you spotted the same similarities between yesterday’s triumphant sides …

Well that was my first blank Saturday for a while. I resisted the temptation of Newcastle University v Shankhouse in the Northern Alliance and spent a non football ground-attending day doing other things.

Read more

Clough or SuperKev or Marco?

by

clough


Must be something to do with watching Diego Milito’s sublime finishing for Inter Milan last night and wondering whether he’s had time to consider a move to Sunderland, where he and Darren Bent could strike up a useful partnership – and challenge for places in our parade of best-ever strikers …


There are things that happened last week that I barely remember. The memory of Brian Clough’s ultimately career-ending injury, colliding with Bury’s goalkeeper Chris Harker in the light snow of Roker Park, is so clear that it might have happened earlier today, rather than Boxing Day 1962.

Read more

Soapbox: come on England – I’m the man for the FA

by

soapbox

Seen enough manifestos to last a liftetime, or at least until Cameron is forced to call another election? Well, here’s another all the same. “Gizza job, I can do that,” says Pete Sixsmith, putting on Yosser Hughes’s best suit to be interviewed for the vacancies left by Lord Triesman’s tumble from grace …

Once again, the Football Association is plunged into turmoil as fearless hacks from the Mail On Sunday uncover Chairman Triesman as a xenophobic ranter, accusing Russia and Spain/Portugal as being in cahoots over the 2018 World Cup bid.

Read more

The Birmingham City fan topping our Pretend Fair Play league

by

kevinball1

Arsenal fans will pounce on the irony of a Birmingham fan winning something to do with fair play and inspired by Eduardo. But the issues are separate, and Kevin Ball is a deserving winner …

kevinball2

We’re open to accusations of cheating ourselves, that we manipulated the result to ensure yet another Mackem connection to Salut! Sunderland competition prizewinners, if only in name.

But look at the replies people gave and Kevin Ball, who runs the Birmingham fan site Joys and Sorrows fully merits his selection as winner of our Pretend Fair Play league, inspired by rival fans’ responses to the Eduardo question: would you take – gladly or guiltily – or almost wish you could decline a trophy/title/survival won by a penalty scored after a blatant dive?

Read more