Sunderland - SAFC Blog

Sunderland vs West Bromwich Albion: save our Sixer

February 19, 2015 by Colin Randall

Sixer, incongruously in green, and Sobs endure yet another gormless away performance. Guess which one and you may win a mug (usual exemptions)

How many times over recent seasons have we talked about a forthcoming game as one that defines the season?

It has been often, and always because Sunderland have been in dire trouble or on the edge of it. So the matches in question have tended to be at home, either clear six-pointers or against teams we just have to beat to get points on the board before tougher tests ahead.

WBA on Saturday is another such tie. Losing it will not send us down, just make it seem less likely that we will once again drag ourselves clear of the mire. No one should rely on sensational displays of the kind we saw last season at Manchester United (next game up after the Baggies) and Chelsea. Winning would not necessarily keep us up.

West Bromwich Albion ‘Who are You?’: hoofball, Ideye Brown, Sess and Sunderland sausages

February 18, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake : 'we have ways of making them talk' — Jake : ‘we have ways of making them talk’

Kev Candon is a salt-of-the-earth supporter who has overcome disability to follow his club, West Brom, as loyally as most Baggies. He chairs the WBA Disabled Supporters’ Club but makes light of his own handicap to the extent of calling a book he wrote with two pals Five and a Half Legs Go Nationwide.

Still seeking Justice for Jeff as West Bromwich Albion visit Sunderland

February 18, 2015 by Colin Randall

Every so often, a noble cause brings opposing sets of supporters together and Saturday’s game against WBA offers a chance for one such display of solidarity. This is a slightly updated version of the posting contributed by Salut! Sunderland’s deputy editor Malcolm Dawson and which, we are pleased to report, has been seen by Jeff Astle’s family …

When I was a kid I watched the FA Cup Final on TV religiously. It was virtually the only live televised football available to those of us growing up in the fifties and sixties.

SAFC vs WBA Guess the Score: 50 Shades of unbearable hope

February 17, 2015February 17, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake says: 'can we get anything right?' — Jake says: ‘can we get anything right?’

Decades of Sunderland support should bring an element of gallows humour to anyone’s personality. If our situation were not so dire, or so familiar, it would be wall-to-wall fun, which it isn’t.

But I’ve still enjoyed the doom-laden banter here since Bradford (actually you could insert your own team name after “since” as there have been so many: Watford, West Ham, Notts Co, Wimbledon, Brentford, Southampton, Palace, QPR, Everton, Ipswich, Norwich all spring to mind and I have barely begun).

Pure Poyetry from Bradford: ‘they tried’

February 15, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'let's hope we can still trust in Gus' — Jake: ‘let’s hope we can still trust in Gus’

M Salut says: I wanted to say something directly to Gus Poyet but am so angry, especially on behalf of 4.200+ loyal souls who went to Bradford and endured the dross offered by the handsomely paid men undeservedly wearing a proud club’s shirt, that I leave it to him …

Sixer’s Sevens: Bradford City 2 Sunderland 0. From disgraceful to wretched

February 15, 2015February 15, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake had one word for thus Sunderland display. It is subject to the 9pm watershed

The boos from 4,000+ Sunderland fans for some of the flabbier moments of yet another rotten display told their own story. Pete Sixsmith‘s messages from Valley Parade grew more and more troubled, more and more critical. Make no mistake. This was no fluke. SAFC ought to have the ability and resilience to triumph over truly dreadful decisions (Kevin Friend – who else? – failing to award a clear Sunderland penalty that would have meant a Bradford sending off on 18 minutes). But City were by far the better side and could well have won anyway. Is is too late for drastic action? Here are an assortment of Sixer’s Sevens, to be followed by the fuller appraisal of a loyal but utterly dispirited supporter…

Feb 15 2015 FA Cup 5th Round: Bradford City (1) 2 SAFC (0) 0 Miserable and abject, leaves us relegation certainties … OR … And we thought Tuesday was bad? Disgraceful … OR … Worse than Brentford 10 years ago. Disgraceful … OR … Now free to fully concentrate on relegation

Bradford City vs SAFC Who are You?: fill in the gaps, Bantams!

February 13, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake thought he had ways of making them talk

These are not the finest hours of the Who are You? series. First a QPR fan let us down after promising to deliver, though other Hoops supporters made up for it when we ran the unanswered questions anyway. Now, the Bradford City-supporting Waterloo Road actor Tom Milner* goes AWOL after agreeing to be the candidate ahead of Sunday’s 5th round FA Cup tie. His responses may still come and would, in that event, be added. But as he was asked for replies by Wednesday, and has not been heard from since Monday, this may be a fanciful hope. No hard feelings – he undoubtedly has a good reason – but it does illustrate the frustrations of the series.

Same offer as for QPR is extended to other fans of the Bantams. Enter your own answers to one, more or all the questions in the Comments section below and we will come up with a prize for the best (it may not change your life a great deal but will be Bradford-related and be OK for drinking coffee from) …

Bradford City vs Sunderland Guess the Score: cup glory or unwanted distraction?

February 12, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'are we the underdogs now?' — Jake: ‘are we the underdogs now?’

The lamentable collapse against QPR puts an entirely different complexion on the 5th round FA Cup game at Valley Parade.

I am of the school that wants Sunderland to win every game we compete in, even if it is a meaningless end-of-season match and even if victory for us might save Newcastle skins. I fret about defeats in reserve and youth fixtures. I hate losing the Sunderland-themed Monopoly game.

Masochism (3): Sixer mounts his Soapbox to denounce QPR shambles

February 11, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'when a man's tired of Sunderland ...;

Sunderland AFC please take note. If as loyal and long-standing and (sitting) a fan as Pete Sixsmith is beginning to cry ‘enough is enough’, something’s up. This is how Sixer saw the rotten collective surrender to QPR, complete with a literary allusion to ‘lives of quiet desperation’. Go to the home page – salutsunderland.com and navigate your way to the earlier Masochism pieces – …

Masochism (2): Sunderland’s player ratings vs QPR. ‘Worse than Norwich away’

February 11, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake: have your say on Keir's assessments , then guess tomorrow night's score — Jake: ‘does last night make us underdogs at Bradford?’

If you thought Rob Hutchison was harsh with his one-word verdicts and low player ratings after the shambles of last night, prepare to reconsider. Rob was positively benign compared with Keir Bradwell, who cannot bring himself to award higher than an average of 3/10 for the starting 11.

Keir uses that infamous defeat at Norwich City last season as the benchmark for Sunderland awfulness. I am sure we can all come up with other contenders (including a few from this season, Southampton (a), Fulham (h) among them).