Hutch’s Patch. Ratings from Spurs don’t add up to much

Rob Hutchison: on his way home
Rob Hutchison

Rob Hutchison enclosed a short comment on today’s game:

“Hellish effort. Like watching MoN stuff towards his end. Possession stats of our PL games this season leave the alarm bells clanging madly.  Spurs(a) 26%, Eve(h) 33%, Sot(a) 36%, Boro(h) 47%, Mcfc(a) 23%.”

And followed this with poor marks for most in his one-word ratings

Read more

Diving for glory. Is blaming foreigners jingoistic piffle, or sadly spot-on?

Tom Webb
Tom Webb

Salut! Sunderland has been banging on for years about diving, the feigning of injury, unprofessional attempts by players to get opponents booked or sent off and other forms of cheating. The issue is raised with every “Who are You?” interviewee and I can think of only one or two who said too much fuss was made of it.

But should we really accept that British players are largely blameless, or that they were until they caught the nasty habits of Johnny Foreigner?

Read more

Buck’s Fizz and Fabio’s Bar. Sunderland and Spurs on a Sunday

John McCormick:
John McCormick: keeping faith with his heritage

 

There are thousands of displaced humans enduring unspeakable hardship, risking, and suffering, death as they try to escape regimes that have destroyed their lives*. Compared to that the Transpennine Express, even on its worst days, shades into insignificance. I really shouldn’t complain. Yet, I still don’t enjoy the too-long journey, hence my original plan to come up by car and return straight after the game.

Read more

SAFC vs Tottenham Hotspur: a chance to snatch that elusive first win

Jake: are Charlie Fleming and Danny Blanchflower eligible for Sunday?
Jake: are Charlie Fleming and Danny Blanchflower eligible for Sunday?

We’ve had – and still got – Guess the Score, at https://safc.blog/2015/09/safc-v-tottenham-hotspur-guess-the-score-returns-as-a-mugs-game/. There’s a mug from Personalised Football Gifts awaiting the winner, who can be a Sunderland of Spurs supporter or follow neither team.

And we’ve had a Who are You? with Richard Littlejohn, such a good interview that even Littejohn’s natural enemies, from Sixer to the Sheriff of Nottingham for all we know, were heard offering polite applause. Catch it for yourselves, if you haven’t already, at https://safc.blog/2015/09/tottenham-hotspur-who-are-you-with-littlejohn-west-hams-loss-spurs-gain/.

Read more

Tottenham Hotspur ‘Who are You?’ with Littlejohn: West Ham’s loss, Spurs’ gain

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

Salut! Sunderland’s ‘Who are You?’ series, in which we interview supporters of SAFC opponents, has had some notable catches, including actors, writers, broadcasters, footballers and managers as well as a great procession of ‘ordinary’ fans, often extraordinary people who follow their teams with passion and commitment. As a broad church, we’ve had senior clerics, too.

But we return to journalism for the first of this season’s Tottenham Hotspur editions of ‘Who are You?’ and hear from the tub-thumping columnist and broadcaster Richard Littlejohn*, who rebelled against his family’s West Ham-supporting tradition when the double-winning Spurs side of 1961 captivated him as a boy of seven. Littlejohn, scourge of the politically correct and anyone who says ‘hey Little John, so where’s Robin Hood, then?’, will be relieved to hear the interview has been approved by ‘elf ‘n’ safety’ …

Read more

When Bent scored one penalty, missed two and SAFC still beat Tottenham

Once our goal machine
Once our goal machine

Wouldn’t it be nice to see a repeat on Sunday, with Jermain Defoe taking Darren Bent’s place as the ex-Spurs striker with a point to prove? You’ve seen Guess the Score – https://safc.blog/2015/09/safc-v-tottenham-hotspur-guess-the-score-returns-as-a-mugs-game/– and you will or can see the Richard Littlejohn “Who are You?” interview tomorrow but let’s hark back to a vital morale-boosting win in Sunday’s equivalent fixture of 2010 …

Read more

SAFC v Tottenham Hotspur: Guess the Score returns as a mug’s game

Jake: a wonderful image from times gone by
Jake: a wonderful image from times gone by

Far too early for a Sunday game but the cupboard is otherwise bare so let’s go with Guess the Score. One good excuse: we have the return of prize mugs for winners to gloat about …


Too late for winners so far
– in fact there may have been only one, apart from the Swansea game and its special prize and he’s already got mugs galore – Salut! Sunderland is delighted to announce the resumption of Guess the Score as a prize competition.

Read more