Who Are You?

Swansea City v SAFC Who are You?: ‘we love an in-form Ki’

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Unanimity: from the Facebook page of a previous Swansea interviewee, Jim White
Unanimity: we never tire of using this photo of Swansea fans, taken at a Wembley playoff, originally found on Jim White’s Facebook page

Jim White*, vice-chairman of the Swans Trust and the man behind www.scfc2.co.uk and https://twitter.com/swansinfo, is one of Salut! Sunderland‘s established friends. This is not his first visit to the Who are You? chair. But his thoughts are always fresh and always appreciated, even when – as now – he foresees the worst for us. Ahead of Swansea v Sunderland, Jim detects similarities between our clubs and is happy to declare a soft spot for SAFC. There’s some kiss and tell, too: he reveals why Mrs White No 1 is no longer Mrs White. And you can come back tomorrow to see what our own Pete Sixsmith told Jim’s site …

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Sixer’s Arsenal Who are You?: ‘sorry dad, sorry uncle, I’m a Gooner’

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Jake: 'should I be booking my flight from Spain for the final?'
Jake: ‘if we beat them 3-2 away in a cup match under Howard Wilkinson, surely we can …’

The allegiance of our second Arsenal ‘Who are You?’ interviewee of the season is the product of boyhood rebellion. With a name like Sixsmith, you’d naturally expect him to grow up Sunderland through and through. But Andy Sixsmith*, sports presenter for Made in Tyne and Wear TV, is not made of the same stuff as Uncle Pete, Uncle Phil or his old dad, Michael (not to mention a maternal Mag). Peering into a crystal ball as a lad, he clearly saw it coming and wanted nowt to do with our chronic misery. Uncle Pete nominated him for this slot so let’s see what he makes of the questions …

A slimline Sixer
A slimline Sixer

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Manchester City v SAFC Who are You?: ‘Touré’s king, Sam gives hope’

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David Mooney
David Mooney in the quiet end, March 2014

David Mooney, one of Monsieur Salut’s confrères at ESPN FC and also in the day job (news editor of news editor at Imagine FM), is a lifelong Manchster City fan. He is a published author on City and the creator of the Blue Moon Podcast. Fittingly, after we saw that sensational strike at the Emirates the other night, not to mention the other one against us at Wembley, he names Yaya Touré as the finest player he has seen in sky blue. He likes the success Abu Dhabi gold has brought his club, misses Maine Road a bit, likes Sunderland well enough whe we’re not winning 1-0 and thinks we may just about escape under Big Sam …

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SAFC v Watford Who are You?: ‘your garden shed may be bigger than this, but …’

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Ben with Danny Graham
Ben Clarke with Danny Graham

OK, he didn’t exactly anticipate the song our supporters will be singing at Vicarage Road later in the season. But our Watford ‘Who are You?’ interviewee Ben Clarke makes it clear that for him, stadium size doesn’t matter. And he has good cause to be happy with what he, among the regular 21,000 sell-out attendances, has seen so far. They have not only been getting some decent results, taking them to 10th place, they’ve also been easy on the eye. Ben doubts the club can maintain such a lofty position for any newly promotion side, but nor does he expect a serious relegation threat. Here are his answers to our questions. Ben expresses his views on football succinctly but he is a home-and-away regular so his opinions count. As for SAFC, he likes the club and feels Big Sam will save us, but only just …

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Arsenal Who are You?: ‘you’ll survive with Big Sam, Arsène should go’

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Dave Seager's book
Dave Seager’s book: get it at the Salut! Sunderland Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1906796548/salusund-21


Dave Seager* is the man behind the popular Arsenal fan site Gunners Town, a column for Shoot and a biography of the Hebburn-born Highbury hero, Geordie Armstrong, a star of the 1971 double-winning team. He kindly agreed to sit in the Who are You? chair and tells us we deserve so much better than we’ve had to put up with over the years. Mind, he thinks the same about Arsenal and feels it’s high time Wenger stepped aside gracefully (Monsieur Salut, of course, remains firmly in the Arsène fan club – if only we’d had to endure his brand of failure) …

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SAFC v Stoke Who Are You: ‘Sir Stan, Walters, Whelan, Bardo. Oops’

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Jake: 'three wins by November 28 cannot be too much to ask'
Jake: ‘three wins by November 28 cannot be too much to ask’

It’s been a while since we heard from Richard Hulme*, on his own account a veteran of more than half a century as a Stoke City supporter. The wait was worth it. These are cracking replies, rich in insight, history and anecdote – even if he does think our number may be up. He could even be a Potteries incarnation of own Pete Sixsmith, Malcolm Dawson or John McCormick. Richard’s seen and heard it all – Sir Stan, stories of a young Shilton stretching himself from the banister when he feared he’d be too short for a goalie .. even an angelic side to Ryan Shawcross. But if you ever rated Kenwyne or Phil Bardsley, you might want to skip the references to them …

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Southampton ‘Who are You?’: Sunderland are in his blood but ‘need’ relegation

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Jake: 'another win's sorely needed, Sam'
Jake: ‘another win’s sorely needed, Sam’

Connor Armstrong* passionately supports Southampton but, as his surname might suggest, has North-Eastern family roots. An uncle supports SAFC and his father is also from County Durham though he appears to have become a Saints man whatever his footballing allegiance in earlier life. Connor, a football writer who also dabbles in media duties for Southend United (catch him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ConnorArmstrong), was convinced SAFC were heading for relegation until a couple of weeks ago and still wonders whether it might be the best outcome even for us. It’s a fascinating set of replies. Read on …

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The Newcastle United ‘Who are You?’: love and despair across the divide

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Jake: 'let the Lads give us hope'
Jake: ‘let the Lads give us hope’

Paul McMillan* has lots going from him. He’s a smashing lad – Monsieur Salut and he once worked together in Abu Dhabi – and comes from Washington. His wife Georgia, though an Aussie, supports Sunderland and once told on these pages the story, a mixture of joy, tragedy and love, of how she and Paul got together. We even covered the wedding, at a distance. But Paul is a Mag, black and white through and through. He returns to Salut! Sunderland for the first time in almost seven years for a look at Sunday’s derby, at the respective woes of both clubs and the prospects for Sunderland survival under Big Sam …

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