Sunderland

Preston North End Who are You?: ‘Grayson thought he was stepping up’

by
Mark Collard: ‘a friend took this from Sky coverage of the Colchester game I mention in my answers. I am the baldy man with glasses and the moment captured is when Colchester were about to take a penalty but it sums up the day’

And now, Simon Grayson and Sunderland’s search for a point or three, as opposed to a search for a point even lower than reached so far, goes on Saturday to Deepdale, the famous old ground of the equally famous Preston North End with its Bill Shankly, Sir Tom Finney and Alan Kelly stands.

Mark Collard*, our PNE ‘Who are You?’ volunteer, was found at Twitter via Monsieur Salut’s electronic acquaintanceship with the singer and writer Maggie Holland. Mark, whose Twitter profile reads ‘archaeologist. director at Rubicon Heritage Services. PNEFC fan’, welcomes the newly positive Preston style under Alex Neill ‘after the tedium of a lot of the games under Grayson’. He sees our misery continuing with another defeat for the former PNE boss …

Read more

Rock bottom, or worse ahead? Grayson on ‘five yards off the pace’ SAFC

by
Jake: ‘let’s start thinking of reasons to be cheerful’

 

Jason Steele may feel it was the curse of Salut! Sunderland. No sooner did we run a largely pro-Robbin Ruiter outsider’s piece on the battle for the No 1 jersey than Newton Aycliffe-born Steele is recalled to side only to concede five times.

But in yet another painfully dismal display by Sunderland, producing a crushing 5-2 defeat at Ipswich, Steele was nowhere near being Simon Grayson’s weakest link.

Read more

Sixer’s Sevens: Ipswich Town 5 Sunderland 2. Run over by the tractor, boys

by
Jake: ‘it won’t always be pretty’

Long before the end of the latest home defeat, to Cardiff City on Saturday, Pete Sixsmith had reached the conclusion that he was watching the worst Sunderland team since he first started going to Roker Park in the 1960s. That was for his seven-word instant verdict; his considered appraisal of the game was more measured, but not much kinder. It didn’t stop him going to Ipswich.

From where he sent another bleak assessment.

 

Read more

Sunderland’s battle between the posts: Justin Steele vs Robbin Ruiter

by
Image of Robbin Ruiter by Peter Ruiter (wikiportret.nl) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

When not moping about the wretched start to the season, and wondering what planet Simon Grayson was on when he lauded the chief exceutive Martin Bain’s brilliance in the transfer market, Sunderland fans are trying to get used to a lot of unfamiliar faces. The departure of Jordan Pickford, followed by that of Vito Mannone, had some looking around to see who in earth would play in goal. The choice has boiled down to two: the Dutchman Robbin Ruiter and the Newton Aycliffe lad Jason Steele. Here is a pro-Ruiter view, one that identifies the work he still has to do but also the potentially key part he could play in overcoming the malaise afflicting the team as a whole …

An abysmal first nine games of the seasons has been characterised by problems for Sunderland all over the pitch, and those troubles begin with the first name on the team sheet.

Having failed to keep a single clean sheet in the Championship so far, Simon Grayson needs a goalkeeper that can be relied upon to provide the foundations needed to start a recovery. But should it be Justin Steele or Robbin Ruiter between the sticks?

Read more

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Ground: Ipswich Town’s Portman Road

by
Sleek Sixer now …

John McCormick writes: Sunderland to Ipswich is not one of the longest journeys in the League. The straight line distance of just over 220 miles puts it in the mid-range category. However, you need to add at least another 50 miles – not all of them easy driving – if you go by road. Alternatively, you could spend a minimum of five hours on the train, with two changes.

When you consider this, and the number of times Sunderland and Ipswich have been in different leagues, you might be surprised to find how many times Pete Sixsmith has been there.

Then again, as it’s Pete Sixsmith, you might not. This is the latest in his twin series of reminiscences on first encounters with Sunderland’s opposing teams and their grounds …

Read more

Ipswich Town vs Sunderland Guess the Score: we have to win some time

by
Jake: willing the Lads to end the misery


For the second game in succession, Guess the Score was won on Saturday by our Who are You? interviewee from the opposing side. So Everton supporter Bernard Walker and Cardiff City fan Mike Morris join the very select band of people waiting for elusive Salut! Sunderland prize mugs.

One of these days, Monsieur Salut’s ship will come in, bringing the cargo needed to make the mug purchases (ie some dosh). And one day, Sunderland will remind supporters what it feels like to follow a winning side, though at least the Ladies and Under 18s recorded victories at the weekend.

Read more

Sixer Says: two cheers for Watmore as Under 23s lose to West Ham

by

 

Sleek Sixer now …

Monsieur Salut writes: in fact there were many more cheers for a decent 70-minute outing for Duncan. The crowd watching the Sunderland Under 23s against West Ham appreciated his running, his passion and the mere fact that he’s back. If Pete Sixsmith offers two cheers not three, it is because he also noticed a familiar Watmore failing: what to do at the end of one of his bursts of speed that leave opponents trailing behind. But it will be good to have his flair and his commitment back in the side.

I wrote recently about the death of a friend and former colleague Charlie Whebell, a West Ham supporter of the old school. He’d have enjoyed watching his young ‘uns remind everyone of the importance of taking chances (and been impressed by the willingness of the subs to chat to spectators) …

…

Read more

Cardiff City Who are You?: SAFC ‘always seem in Newcastle’s shadow’

by
Mike Morris: sympathy for the genuine fans, disdain for the walkout brigade

Colin Randall writes: The last time Mike Morris* shared his thoughts with Salut! Sunderland, it was mid-season (2013-14) and he was expecting a 14th top finish for City, bottom place and relegation for us. We drew at their place and then hammered them at home during the marvellous escape act orchestrated by Gus Poyet. They went down.

Mike, editor of the CardiffCity.com fan site, returns now with his team riding with along with Leeds and Wolves at the top of the Championship. He’s made his peace, emotionally, with the owner previously known as Public Enemy Number One, has a sharp dig at Sunderland fans who desert the stadium when things go wrong (music to Wrinkly Pete‘s ears, though his main gripe is with people leaving before the end of any home game) and offers an unwelcome view of the Wear-Tyne pecking order …

Salut! Sunderland: I honestly didn’t expect this to a top-bottom clash but it’s close. Despite the setback at Preston, you must be relishing change to join the Stadium of Light scalp-hunters

Mike Morris: As an eternal pessimist my gut feeling is that we will be come the first side not to get a result at the SoL this year. But my head says that we should be good enough not to lose the game.

Read more

SAFC vs Cardiff City Guess the Score: who thought this would be a bottom-top clash?

by
Jake introduces Guess the Score

Monsieur Salut writes: sincere apologies if you tried to come here last night and could see only a message saying the database could not be reached. Our contract is with GoDaddy – as I was reminded yesterday when the bill for another two years landed with a painful thud yesterday – and proudly announced this morning that maintenance work had been carried out. If this was the cause of the unannounced interruption in our service, they’ll be on the receiving end of a choice rebuke later on (update: it probably was, but GoDaddy says WordPress does the work and therefore causes the disruption  …


Still no win at home this year (and still no mugs for the winners of previous Guess the Score competitions). I am working on the latter and can but hope Mr Grayson has a viable plan to correct the former.

As things stand, Cardidd fans have every right to be licking their lips at the distinct prospect of yet another smash-and-grab job for visitors to the Stadium of Light. OK, it is not quite bottom vs top but we start just one place above the drop zone whereas City are up there on the same points as the leaders, Leeds and Wolves.

Read more