West Ham - SAFC Blog

Burnley Guess the Score and a Hull fan aids Bradley Lowery’s fund

March 14, 2017March 14, 2017 by Colin Randall

Jake: ‘is there any point in urging a special performance?’

Monsieur Salut writes: I had an itch to get this week’s Guess the Score out there, but an e-mail from a Hull City supporter exiled in Sri Lanka removed any doubt. You may recall that last week, despite Sunderland’s inactivity, we offered a mini-edition of Nick Barnes’s splendid Matchbook for the first to post correct scorelines in two games of interest to but not involving SAFC, partly because some unexpected advertising enabled us to do so and partly because the publishers, Tales from Red and Whites are paying £5 into the Bradley Lowery fund for each copy bought. So there were two winners – a Hull supporter and Bradley. Read on …

Defoe: West Ham’s insult, Premier interest and red lines Sunderland must impose

January 5, 2017 by Colin Randall

************ ************ ************ ************ ************

ESPN FC ran a fascinating survey on whether their blogger for each Premier League club – Monsieur Salut does the honours for Sunderland with occasional stand-ins by Mr Sixsmith (think Colin Todd on the bench for Gareth Hall and you get the picture) – would buy Jermain Defoe and if yes, what they’d pay.

The brands – so many of whose supporters find it a struggle to locate “their” club by pointing to a map – all voted the same way: No.

Everyone else, save for West Brom, jumped at the idea.

Pickford and Kone: must-keeps or let-goes to Everton, West Ham, elsewhere?

November 10, 2016November 8, 2016 by Colin Randall

Kone: yet again the subject of transfer talk

Monsieur Salut says: the international break makes me twitchy. No serious interest in the football, lots of time to worry about Sunderland. So let’s have a poll …

Are we, then, resigned to Jordan Pickford becoming another Jordan Henderson, red-and-white through and through but grasping, understandably, at opportunities higher up the footballing ladder than where Sunderland find themselves placed?

Do we reluctantly accept that pressure from Everton, or West Ham or someone else with pots of money to spend and heads to turn, will lure away Lamine Kone in January?

And could we live with one or both departing provided – are you listening, Mr Short? – adequate replacements are secured before anyone is let out of the door? So not just Vito Mannone fit again – though that matters, too – but people coming in, and coming in as a pre-condition of anyone else’s departure.

Moyes on the Boys at West Ham: ‘harsh’ – and he’s not kidding

October 22, 2016October 22, 2016 by Colin Randall

John McCormick writes: If that had been us scoring the goal would have been disallowed. No ifs, buts or maybes. It shows just how much the Gods of football have taken against us in recent years and it makes me think, despite my optimistic nature and the presence of Hull, Boro (got to give them credit today) and Burnley (if Boro get credit what do they get?) that this could be the season we go down.
But maybe not. I know nowt about football and for an informed opinion I have to peek over M Salut’s shoulder as he opens the letter written exclusively for him (and maybe one or two others) and couriered across London at vast expense:

Seasonal Adjustment Disorder syndrome. It’s October, so SAFC fans are SAD

October 7, 2016October 7, 2016 by Colin Randall

Around this time of every year, there are certainties we take for granted. The calendar will tell us it is October, trees shed leaves, shops advertise Christmas as if it’s only next week and Sunderland supporters still await a first win of the season.

We generally don’t draw too much comfort for we have actually won twice, because there is something distinctly hollow about beating lower league opposition in the League Cup when you can barely pick up a draw in the Premier League.

Relegation poll: Middlesbrough, Hull or Sunderland? Arsenal and Manchester Utd? Vote now

June 21, 2016June 12, 2016 by Colin Randall

John McCormick: — John McCormick. reading the past, looking to the future

I’m getting a bit tired of the title (and Monsieur Salut should apologise to any reader lured here by thoughts it was a poll on religion; the word inexplicably replaced relegation in the headline when published and still appeared some time later at the newsnow.co.uk site) .

But just because we have some decent players, led by one of the Premier League’s most experienced managers and backed by a tremendous crowd, we can’t assume we’re safe.

Our record is not good. We’ve been one of the survivors for too many seasons and we can’t take anything for granted. Even now there will be some fans somewhere rubbing their hands as they look at the fixtures and thinking ‘Sunderland, that’s an easy three points’.

Glad all over? At least we’re don’t support these Premier clubs

December 9, 2015December 8, 2015 by Colin Randall

Peter Lynn, aka Wrinkly Pete, takes a tongue-in-cheek look at some of the Premier clubs he’s relieved not to support. …

SAFC: back in the Deloitte list, with plenty after our place

June 9, 2015June 9, 2015 by Colin Randall

John McCormick writes: back in January various sources ran the news that all of 2013-14’s Premiership clubs were in the world’s top 40 in terms of revenue. While Norwich, Fulham and Cardiff won’t stay there for 2016 I expect Burnley, QPR and Leicester to replace them. Looking ahead to 2017, Burnley, Hull and QPR should drop out with Norwich reappearing, along with Watford and Bournemouth; that’s the power of the Premier …

HAWAY awards: (2) Manchester United, Liverpool, Swansea, Burnley, Birmingham, West Ham shortlisted

May 15, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'we demanded answers and got them' — Jake: ‘we demanded answers and got them’

We didn’t want supporters of any of the shortlisted clubs to feel left out. They were omitted from the heading of today’s earlier announcement of the start of the process for Salut! Sunderland‘s annual HAWAY awards for the opposing fans who gave us the best interviews this season. This second bite at the cherry completes the shortlist: 13 interviews, 12 clubs (there are two Man Utd nominees).

And we have our first prize sponsor lined up: our pals at the half-decent football magazine When Saturday Comes are putting up a year’s subscription, for which we are very grateful as will be its recipient. With just two more ‘Who are You?’ interviews to be published, the final results should be available soon after the season ends – with SAFC, we hope, still in the Premier League…

West Ham United vs Advocaat’s Sunderland: Guess the Score rollover

March 18, 2015 by Colin Randall

Jake: 'take these chains from our hearts, Dick' — Jake: ‘take these chains from our hearts, Dick’

A new era, even if turns out to be a mini-era, dawns. It is fitting that the first Guess the Score with Dick Advocaat in charge of the team should be a rollover, offering two mugs from which to drink your generous servings of what Wikipedia calls “Advocaat or Advocaatenborrel, a traditional Dutch alcoholic beverage made from eggs, sugar and brandy”.