Tottenham Hotpsur

Will the real Mauricio Pochettino stand up or feel ‘entitled to go down’?

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Jake: ‘will VAR and punishment after the crime just make cheats better at cheating?’

Monsieur Salut: would I have taken survival last season, would I take survival this season, if it depended on a blatant act of cheating by a Sunderland player? Easy to say no when, in the heart, you might mean yes, maybe or depends. But I’ll stick to my guns and say no. And whatever individual fans feel about matters affecting their teams, football as a sport should rise above natural human instincts to win at whatever cost …

A realistic breath of fresh air or a deplorable attempt to defend the indefensible? That appears to be our choice as we assess the Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino’s efforts to shrug off diving as unimportant.

Salut! Sunderland has never sat on the fence. Diving is cheating. It should have no place in the game. Perpetrators ought to be boiled in oil or, if medieval punishments are out of fashion, suspended for three or more games. When a Sunderland player dives, as Dele Alil does so often for Spurs, we make no attempt to defend or excuse.

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Sixer’s Tottenham Sevens: Ndong and Kone stifle Spurs

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Jake: catch Sixer’s instant seven-word verdicts throughout the season

John McCormick writes: 

I’ve been having a spot of bother with the website this evening. It has been loth to open pages for editing and very slow to load. So please bear with me as I try to put up pages today and tomorrow.

No problems with Pete Sixsmith, however. He’s right on the whistle with an instant post-match verdict, in seven words, no more, no less  …

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SAFC v Tottenham Hotspur Guess the Score: double prize if Sunderland win

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Jake updates his brilliant image for last season’s SAFC v Spurs game

Monsieur Salut is off to the Far East on a fact-finding tour holiday but puts off preparations to explain how one esteemed reader of this site can win not one mug, but two in this week’s competition …

Each matchday is preceded by a Guess the Score competition. And each week, most of Salut! Sunderland‘s loyal readers operate on the principle of blind faith and predict a win or a draw for the team they support.

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

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Martin Croake:
Martin Cloake

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 …

spursaway800110-2

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Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland. Guess the score, and maybe win a mug

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Jake: 'the doubt has currently been removed - defo no prize'
Jake:

John McCormick writes: At the start of the year I was at White Hart Lane, subbing for Sixer. I saw Jordan Pickford and the Hoff make their Premier League debuts, some six foot backs crowding Jermain Defoe out of the game and some soft goals after PVA put us in front.

The final score was 4-1, which I don’t think anyone predicted.

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Let’s meet again: Richard Littlejohn, star columnist, Tottenham fan, Salut! Sunderland winner

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Jake: Charlie Fleming and Danny Blanchflower (we think) scrap for the ball
Jake: Charlie Fleming and Danny Blanchflower scrap for the ball

Salut! Sunderland seeks out all manner of people for the ‘Who are You?’ series. It’s great to attract household names but some of the best interviews have been with ordinary fans, home-and-away regulars or armchair supporters. Richard Littlejohn* fits into the first category, familiar to most people from his TV series and strident Daily Mail columns. Monsieur Salut knew him when he was just one of the mob of hacks covering industrial relations. He’s a good lad, whatever you think of his views, he’s a real football supporter and he came third in our HAWAY awards. Here is the interview we ran before the 1-0 home defeat to Spurs in September …

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The ‘Who are You?’ Awards frontrunners: West Brom, Tottenham … and Exeter

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Jake: 'with thanks to all opposing fans who participate'
Jake: ‘with thanks to all opposing fans who participate’

It is that time of year. Salut! Sunderland is preparing to make its annual HAWAY awards, honouring the best of our “Who are You?” interviewees among opposing supporters. The interviews ahead of each match often reach the highest standards (the answers, I mean with due modesty, not the questions) and we are delighted to offer awards to the best as voted by our panel of judges.

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Tottenham v Sunderland. The view from the Upper West Stand

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John McCormick:
John McCormick
Filling in for Pete Sixsmith

As Ed and the family headed off to Halifax for one birthday I headed down to London for another. When he was wandering round to find a pub in which to watch the game I was sitting in White Hart Lane’s West Stand watching the warm up.

The view from the Upper West Stand
The warm-up, from the Upper West Stand

I stayed for two and a half hours. I don’t think Ed ever found the game, although I’m sure he’ll have found a pub. If he managed two and a half hours in the warm, with a drink in his hand and something else on TV, he’ll have had the better of it …

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