Peter Thomas was our Swansea City ‘Who are You?’ interviewee – click here – and has a Swans-themed blog Pierre91 …
No winner on Tuesday night so here we go again with Guess the Score. Be the first to post the correct scoreline here – NB before kickoff – and win a Martin O’Neill mug.
OK, the headline has been reported to Lord Justice Leveson as wholly misleading. The prize will change the winner’s life only to the extent that he or she will have a new mug to swill tea or coffee from.
Observant readers will recall the excellent report, from a Swansea viewpoint, of last season’s 2-0 win for Sunderland against his team. The writer was Peter Thomas* and the piece was reproduced from his site Pierre91 in a Day. So it seemed natural to invite him into the “Who are You?” chair ahead of our visit to the Liberty Stadium. Peter, “a Clause 4 Socialist who gets angrier and more radical by the year”, talks about the Swans’ outstanding start to the season, the Sunderland player he’d take “in a heartbeat” and Michael Laudrup’s “stellar” signings …
Pete Sixsmith reports from our satisfactory win over Morecambe and discusses Martin O’Neill’s options for the trip to freescoring Swansea on Saturday …
No, not another piece drawing attention to Sunderland’s slight problem with that annoying but persistent need to score goals if football matches are to be won. All will doubtless fall into place once the transfer window closes and Martin O’Neill has assembled his desired squad. Indeed, we may even seen the Lads score a hatful against Reading on Saturday with or without new faces in the team.
But this is a plaintive plea to supporters of Swansea City to descend from that euphoric place in the clouds, to which they were transported by a sensational five-goal start to the season at Loftus Road, and come to the aid of Salut! Sunderland.
Week in week out, supporters from the teams Sunderland are next due to play rise to the occasion and take part in our ”Who are You?” series.
And once a year, we return the favour and come up with awards for the best sets of replies.
If Pete Sixsmith – now seen on Sharethematch.com too – sounds a lot jauntier than he did at half-time, it is fair to add that he was a very happy bunny by the end, full of praise for Sunderland’s discipline as well as the classy goals as we saw off the threat from a much-praised, confident and often elegant Swansea side …
If you have come here expecting to see Pete Sixsmith’s report, you will have to be patient. That will appear tomorrow. First, let’s hear from another Pete – Peter Thomas, Swansea supporter and writer of the estimable Pierre91 in a Day blog. This is how he saw it; a fair, greatly detailed analysis from a Swansea perspective …
Martin O’Neill couldn’t possibly comment on such theories but is this not a game we would have lost or drawn up to the end of November? Early lead, immediate surrender of overall possession, sitting back deep, poor distribution – all the usual elements. MON’s e-mail salutes an entirely different outcome …
This is where Pete Sixsmith captures the glory and shame, hope and despair, excitement and ennui of the Sunderland matchday experience. When, rarely, Pete is absent or delayed, a supersub does it for him and the seven-word verdict is preceded by an asterisk. Pete’s full analysis of the game will usually appear within a day or two.
Sixer’s half-time assessment was that since Stéphane Sessègnon’s “exquisite” 14th minute finish to put SAFC ahead, we had barely touched the ball. Even winning ugly is still winning and we have often enough played well only to lose. But games won with goals of the quality of those scored by Sess and Gardner should perhaps not be called ugly.