Tonight sees a great chance for Sunderland to make further progress in a winnable competition.
Having seen off mighty Colchester, we face Premier League opposition in the form of a team needing a morale-boosting win from anywhere. Not starting with Darren Bent would not seem to do much good to our chances of stopping that win coming tonight – unless Asamoah Gyan is now fully matchfit and raring to get at them. Sam the Hammer (aka Sam H) is our Hammers previewer and this is a repeat of his interview for those who missed it (we are beset with technical problems just now).
Sam is a regular enough visitor to Salut! Sunderland. He’s a techie wizard, genial company over a pint and lord of the manor over at the West Ham Process, one our constant rivals for top spot among the FootballUnited.com hit parade of footie sites. Sam is also one of life optimists, a condition that helps when you support certain clubs (don’t we know it?), but feels this is one Sunderland will win. So, Sam, Who Are You? …
West Ham
Sunderland v West Ham: the Hammer’s guide to friendly Mackems
Image: Mrs Logic Did I speak too soon in welcoming Steve Bruce’s promise to put out a full strength side? …
West Ham United: we’re taking them seriously
Image: The world has gone mad. A Hammer comes to Salut! Sunderland and promises to buy drinks for all our readers (later modified, wisely, to “a select few of our favourite commenters”) and a Premier manager talks about the importance of the Carling Cup. Luckily, it was our manager and some drinks, at least, are still on Sam the Hammer …
Hammers fans: go straight here
We must welcome Steve Bruce’s promise to put out a strong side to play West Ham in the Carling Cup tonight/tomorrow night (depending on when and where you’re reading this). And news that Asamoah Gyan will make his first start since arriving for £13m from Rennes, should give all Sunderland fans a great buzz.
SAFC, it is safe to predict, will not win the Premier League title just yet. We have every right to expect a distinct improvement on last season’s 13th place finish, but 12 places higher may still be out of our reach.
Soapbox: Hammers wanted it more than we did
Yet another failure to build on a good home performance as we visit the tackiest stadium in the Premier League – at least until SJP makes an unwelcome return. Pete Sixsmith accepts that Zola’s Boys wanted it more than we did and is entertained by Neil Warnock on a long journey home.
The old maxim goes “After the Lord Mayor’s Show comes the dustcarts”. Presumably the dustcarts are there to pick up the rubbish left – and there was plenty to pick up after this apology of a Premier League game.
Last Saturday, we warmed to two teams who appeared to be able to make passes, create chances and right royally entertain a big crowd.
This Saturday we had to endure two teams who had difficulty in making accurate passes, created a handful of chances and drove a full house at Mockney Castle Park to frustration and boredom.
West Ham deserved to win the game because they wanted it a lot more than we did. Never mind the fact that Sunderland had sold their ticket allocation and that fans had had to make early starts to get there, there was the feeling amongst the travelling support that our players knew they were safe from relegation and that the gravy train would continue to call at their stations next year.
West Ham 1 (0) Sunderland 0 (0). Lacklustre performance punished
Colin Randall switches between radio commentary and stuttering streams to follow Sunderland to a disappointing end to our little run …
For 50 minutes, this was a nothing sort of game, despite how much was at stake, especially for West Ham but, we’d argue, for Sunderland too given the need to make up ground lost earlier in the season.
Then Ilan scored for West Ham after a needlessly conceded free kick led to an unconvincing attempt to defend a hopeful long punt into our box.
HT West Ham 0 Sunderland 0
Colin Randall listens, watches, hopes from his bunker in France as the Lads go in at half time level after a steady but hardly exceptional first 45 minutes …
Latest: West Ham 1 SAFC – see footnote
Would it be entirely unfair to say that this has so far been a game for fans who find the minute-by-minute growth of grass interesting?
West Ham v Sunderland: masses to play for
Does Sunderland’s recent good form suggest a real revival?
Can we really win two games on the trot?
Or was West Ham’s creditable point at Everton, despite claims elsewhere that they didn’t play well (I didn”t see it but would cheerfully take a draw at Goodison most seasons), the start of a run of their own?
Fish on Friday. And tomorrow night after Upton Park?
There’s a plaice for us. It is at Wetherby and is therefore, or can be, on the way back from all the clubs we’ve played in the Premier this season, which will tomorrow include West Ham. To hear some people – our Pete Sixsmith among them – drool about it, you might even take a long detour on the way home from St James’ Park next season …
No more fish jokes for cod’s sake. But the mind wanders towards the winter of 2007, and the back and back-but-one rows of a bus in Jaipur, when two people of similar age got talking.
It wasn’t such a huge coincidence that both of us came from the North East because we were part of a tour group on a holiday in India booked through Hays Travel, Sunderland-based with branches all over the region.
Who are you? We’re West Ham (2) – with long memories
The build-up to Saturday’s game at Upton Park – can Sunderland actually win two in a row? – continues. Our guest Hammer, Gordon Thrower*, from the admirable West Ham site, Knees Up Mother Brown, has one personality defect: he cannot get October 19 1968 out of his mind. Sunderland fans of a nervous disposition should skip his recollections of the day our players felt such a sense of injustice at an opening goal from the hand of Geoff Hurst (correction: he said it was his fist) that they thought “why not concede a whole lot more?”. Gordon – some impertinent Hammers are speculating on which of the characters in the photo he might be – predicts another, more modest Hammers victory on Saturday …
Salut! Sunderland: Which West Ham greats did you watch play, and which do you regret being too young to have seen?
I’m lucky enough to have started during the Moore, Hurst and Peters era so I’ve pretty much seen all of our greatest players. There was an incredibly unlucky player called George Foreman who played for us well before I was born. Few would have heard of him, though he scored 154 goals in 156 games. Unfortunately his tenure at the club lasted from 1939-1946 and I believe that the country was a bit preoccupied with non-football matters for most of that time.
Who are you? We’re West Ham (1)
Gordon Thrower*, known as Gnome at Knees Up Mother Brown, the West Ham fan site he co-edits, has his hair cut by the same barber used by our own Michael Turner. We’re sure his hairdresser is careful with the scissors, but Gordon should have had a sore head when answering our questions: it was the day after his own leaving do.
Any chance he’ll be wanting to drown his sorrows again on Saturday night after West Ham v Sunderland? Whatever the outcome, Gordon is mightily welcome back here after his epic contribution a couple of seasons ago, Great answers so we’ll spread them over two days …
Salut! Sunderland: What on earth has gone wrong at your place?
How long have you got!? Lack of money meant a lack of squad depth which cost us dearly when the inevitable injuries happened. Then, once the club finally got sold, or half sold anyway, a lot of players showed an alarming loss of form all at the same time. Worryingly, this includes those players charged with the responsibility of creating and scoring goals.