Sixer’s selection: The Good, the OK, the Downright Awful and the Borrowed

Sixer keeping cool

John McCormick writes: I’m remaining neutral in respect of a preference for promotion but I have to express an opinion about last night’s result. While we were outplayed for a lot of the second half Fulham only won because of two decisions the ref got wrong. One was to allow a goal where the scorer had moved offside before a free kick was taken – a close decision, this, and perhaps forgivable to get wrong. The other was much clearer, although I didn’t see it until a post-game replay. We should have had a penalty. That we didn’t hardly affects us but there may be consequences for Cardiff.

Bob Chapman, our man at the match, may not agree with me and I won’t know for a while as his report is expected to be late in arriving. To keep us occupied and entertained until it does here’s a little something from Pete Sixsmith. I’ve given you Patrick and Jozy, can you put names to the other faces?

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Jonathan Wilson: the candystripe passions of grandfather, father and son


Jonathan Wilson''s book on a Sunderland great

NB: A tweet by the author, coinciding with World Alzheimer’s Month, has brought this poignant and outstandingly written article a deserved new burst of interest, causing Salut! Sunderland to promote it back to the front page of the site nearly a year after it first appeared. It will stay prominently displayed for the rest of September …

I am proud to say that permission has been received for the reproduction of this quite exceptional and moving account by Jonathan Wilson*, the Sunderland-supporting Guardian sportswriter, of memories of his dad, and an exchange as death approached, that summed up the passion handed down through generations …

Last year, after my dad had died, I stayed holding his hand for about quarter of an hour and then left the nurses to it. In the hospital waiting room I made three calls. The first was to Sunderland Civic Centre to register the death. The second was to the undertakers. And the third was to The Independent to tell them that I was, after all, free to cover Sunderland v Burnley the next day.

I know a lot of people found that odd. To be honest, looking back, it seems odd to me. At the time, though, it seemed perfectly natural.

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SuperKev quiz: see how you fare


Salut! Sunderland‘s daily newspaper of choice, when not in France, is The Guardian, just as its preferred Sunday read is The Observer. It would love there to be a whole day without Graun suits warning of cutbacks and crisis (OK, that’s an exaggeration; a whole month would be fairer.).

But for now, let us just repeat one or two of the questions posed in today’s Guardian on a subject close to our hearts: Kevin Phillips.

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