Sunderland - SAFC Blog

SAD sweet dreamer – it’s just one of those things you put down to experience

October 9, 2016October 8, 2016 by Dean Cruddace

Following on from M Salut’s look at how Seasonal Adjustment Disorder (SAD) is affecting the Stadium of Light faithful, Malcolm …

Sixer’s Sevens: SAFC 1 West Brom 1. Van Aanholt to the rescue

October 1, 2016October 1, 2016 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'underwhelmed, but a point' — Jake: ‘underwhelmed, but a point’

The first-half disappointments – Defoe’s missed sitter, sloppy play leading to WBA’s well-taken goal – had Pete Sixsmith gloomily tweeting a seven-word verdict he thought might survive to end: ‘Lacking in quality all over the field.’ It was difficult to quarrel with that. Patrick Van Aanholt deserves immense credit for almost everything he did after coming on for the the hapless Kirchhoff, his magical crossfield ball to Khazri setting up another good Defoe chance and then starting and ending the move for the equaliser. But don’t expect Sixer to get carried away …

Sixer’s Sevens: Sunderland 2-3 Crystal Palace. Incompetence beyond belief

September 24, 2016 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'we're pretty useless' — Jake: ‘we’re pretty useless’

When Jermain Defoe put us ahead, we were surprised given the run of play. When some decent second half pressure led to his second, superbly finished goal, we saw the heaven that is four post storm six games. After the utterly wretched defending that turned the 2-0 lead into a 3-2 defeat, you can expect Pete Sixsmith to be harsh about what happened next when he delivers his considered verdict. Here’s his traditional seven-worder …

Crystal Palace ‘Who are You?’: ‘garish’ SAFC shirts, Ab Fab owners, Pardew

September 22, 2016September 22, 2016 by Colin Randall

Keith plus A N Other — Keith plus Charlotte, a product of Marriage

Colin Randall writes: Our Crystal Palace interviewee, my badminton-playing friend Keith Marriage*, ‘got it in the neck’ from Mrs M for spending too long on replies to our questions and not doing the washing up. But there appears no risk of the Marriages consciously uncoupling (how could they with that name?) and Keith reckons it was a ‘fun exercise’.

As afterthoughts, he wondered whether David Moyes is still shell-shocked after his Old Trafford experience and has ‘lost his managerial mojo’ and declared that Sunderland way outshone Spurs, ‘sadly just in the garish kit stakes’. It’s a long read but includes some fascinating insights …

Moyes on the Boys: ‘thrilled for Paddy McNair after double at QPR’

September 21, 2016 by Colin Randall

Colin Randall writes: Here are David Moyes’s thoughts – as expressed in his post-match e-mail to me and thousands more – on the 2-1 win that earned Sunderland a 4th Round EFL Cup tie at Southampton …

Hutch’s one-word ratings: Ndong stands out in win at QPR

September 21, 2016 by Colin Randall

Rob Hutchison enjoys a winning Sunderland game and a hugely encouraging star role for Didier (or Ibrahim – take your pick) Ndong. ‘Songs I never thought I’d hear,’ says Rob. ‘Paddy McNair, he scores when he wants.’ Up and running. Made to work for it mind. Moyes does have a plan after all…

Sixer’s Sevens: QPR 1-2 Sunderland. McNair the killer striker

September 21, 2016 by Colin Randall

A win’s a win, as Pete Sixsmith might put it. A 2-1 victory away to QPR has a competent ring to it, but Sixer wasn’t there and Monsieur Salut was unable to follow it except on his mobile, being on a gruelling French naval press trip and, as the match was played, eating and drinking on board a frigate with Exocets pointing towards the centre of Toulon. So we can but stick to the facts as conveyed by scoreline and scorers and then rely on others to fill in details of a win that brings us the dubious reward of Southampton away in the next round of the league cup … the asterisk denotes an emergency seven-word verdict not of Sixer’s making…

Sixer’s Sevens: Tottenham 1-0 Sunderland. Papy’s howler undoes good work

September 21, 2016September 18, 2016 by Colin Randall

Tottenham Hotspur v SAFC ‘Who are You?’: still fuming about The Shelf

September 22, 2016September 15, 2016 by Colin Randall

Martin Cloake* is a Spurs fan and an author, notably of the People’s History of Tottenham Hotspur. Here, he previews our game, looks at what’s going on at both clubs and avoids any predictions. I must admit that while not all Spurs WAYs have endeared the interviewees to us lot, and Martin has a ‘without wanting to insult SAFC’ moment, I loved his response to who should never have been allowed inside their cosy little ground …

Jack ‘Smoggie’ Wrightson RIP: he ‘died happy’ after seeing Middlesbrough beat SAFC

September 5, 2016September 5, 2016 by Colin Randall

Monsieur Salut writes: the original intention was to combine a small tribute to a sadly departed Boro fan, who often came to these pages to wind us all up, with an appeal for votes in a football blogging awards process and a shout-out for our 2,000th follower on Twitter. In fact, Twitter will have to wait and there will be no more than a passing reference in the footnote to the awards. This posting is dedicated to the memory of the Jack Wrightson, aka Smoggie, whose final wind-up was to gloat about his day at the Stadium of Light on August 21 …

The headline was going to read: “Vote for Salut! Sunderland. Welcome our 2000th Twitter follower. RIP Middlesbrough’s Smoggie”.

But in true order of importance, the death of a welcome irritant on the pages of this site easily took priority. So rather than just re-order the heading or the text, it seemed right to concentrate on Jack Wrightson, a lifelong Middlesbrough supporter who died just a couple of days after he had watched his team beat ours at the Stadium of Light.