Who Are You?

Who are You?: when Byrne broke Chelsea hearts and Perez defied five Sutton one-on-ones

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Jake: ‘they did it their way’

Last game of the season means last of the 2016-2017 ‘Who are You?’ interviews. We have not one but two from Chelsea supporters (a consequence of Monsieur Salut panicking unnecessarily and fearing we might get none). Mark Williams* comes to us via a Sunderland supporter, his friend and occasional Salut! Sunderland contributor Jim Minton. If you ever need to catch the pair of them and there happens to be an African Cup of Nations tournament on, that’s where to head. They make it each time but be aware the next one is not until January 2019. Book now for Cameroon … and thanks Mark for a splendidly thoughtful set of responses …

Jim Minton and his Chelsea-supporting pal Mark Williams at the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon in January


Chelsea secured the Premier League title by beating West Brom a week ago. On the day of the 38th and final Premier League games for each club, the Blues will meet Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. Several football predictions go with a victory for the home team.

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Arsenal v Sunderland Who are You?: ‘acutely uncomfortable’ Moyes, faltering Wenger

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Jon Ryan: ‘Ozil and Sanchez would have fitted into the Invincibles’

Colin Randall writes: it is beginning to feel like a farewell. People supporting other clubs who have written, or been interviewed, in the past at Salut! Sunderland have been popping up again and this time it’s as we prepare to depart the Premier League. Will we have the stamina to find 46 ‘Who are You?’ candidates, plus fans of teams we meet for probably one round in each cup, next season? We’ll see.

Jon Ryan* is a friend, former colleague and lifelong Arsenal supporter. He misses the great occasions at Highbury, thinks the Emirates a great stadium as new ones go but little more than ‘part of the London entertainment scene’, and is worried about Arsène Wenger having been a great admirer. He’s been sympathetic all season towards SAFC but identified a need for change that hasn’t been forthcoming …

Naomi, a granddaughter already hooked

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The Middlesbrough ‘Who are You?’: on Juninho, Lauren Laverne and two doomed clubs

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Catherine Wilson: never been to the SoL but loves Sunderland-born Lauren Laverne

So Sunderland are effectively two defeats from relegation, one if Hull were to win just one more game and goal differences remained much as now. Middlesbrough are not much better off. In other words, both clubs are doomed to the Championship with only the mathematics left to complete. Dogs in this predicament are usually put out of their misery, but we have to await the formalities of our demise. Catherine Wilson*, our Boro interviewee and bassist/vocalist with ‘North London’s favorite grungey-indie superdupergroup’ Paintings of Ships, has accepted the inevitable, a relegation perhaps sealed by chairman Steve Gibson’s unwise loyalty towards Aitor Karanka …

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West Ham Who are You?: Payet, Big Sam and Defoe as benchwarmer

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Pete May with a former Hammers star Clyde Best

Only seven to go before ‘Who are You?’ researchers have to start turning their attentions to fans of Burton, Barnsley and Brentford. Pete May* is our West Ham guest, a highly respected author of books about the Hammers but also Sunday league football, the ‘joys of Essex’ and Dr Who. He senses Jermain may be due for a return to West Ham but that, unlike at Sunderland, he won’t be an automatic choice for the starting line-up. Read on for Pete’s interesting take on all things Hammers plus a cheeky offer to buy fellow supporter Keira Knightley a pre-match drink …

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Leicester Who are You? defending Sri, acclaiming Defoe, missing Kante a little

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Brian Archie sports his Leicester top in a school photo from 1991

 

Monsieur Salut writes: it goes from bad to worse to boorish. Not content with his share of the blame for leading Sunderland’s downward charge to the Championship, our boss is caught – thinking he is off-air – snapping at a BBC reporter, Vicki Sparks, and threatening to give her ‘a slap even though you’re a woman’. Her crime? Asking an entirely legitimate question after the Burnley goalless draw about any extra pressure Moyes may have felt with the owner Ellis Short present for the game. Reports suggest there was no obvious humour in the remark’s delivery. The manager should add to his apology, already given and accepted, a substantial personal donation to a charity of the reporter’s choosing.

Now on to Leicester. Our ‘Who are You?’ interviewee Brian Archie’s* hope for the game, a 2-1 home win, is unlikely to improve Moyes’s mood. The Watford defeat means we can survive only if we do on Tuesday what Leicester did exactly two years ago and begin a sequence of something like seven wins from nine remaining games …

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Watford Who are You?: fondly remembering SuperKev, Rostron and Colin West’s hairdo

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Del Day: ‘hey love, was thinking we could name our daughters Blissett’

Colin Randall writes: not everyone will share this thought but I needed cheering up on Wednesday. Getting back to sunshine in Marseille helped (as did the cost of the trip, return flight from Stansted at four euros each, the outward journey having been only 14). Then I saw our Watford interviewee Del Day‘s Facebook update: ‘Revolution anyone?’ Sixer would approve of that one. Del, when not feeling political and cross, runs an independent music publicity company, Ark PR, a small booking agency, Big City Lights, and the Maiden Voyage record company. He adored Graham Taylor to the extent that both his daughters have Taylor as middle names, his wife having baulked at calling them Blissett. Over to Del*, with some terrific thoughts on old player links between our clubs and a gloomy prognosis on our current condition …

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Manchester City ‘Who are You?’: Roker Park veteran says our time’s up

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Craig McGinty: fond memories of Benno and Marco

Where would Sunderland fit into a spoof list of films that have won or been nominated for Oscars?

Some fun has been had on this very subject by the people at enhancedbets.com: Leicester’s Gone With the Wins (sadly for us, a sequence than came to a halt earlier this week) and poor Bob Bradley remembered as An American in Swansea.

*******************Enhanced Bets Premier League Oscar Nominations - Ya Ya Land*******************

David Moyes’s Lads might qualify for their own version of this year’s best-film winner  – La La Land, sorry Moonlighting – since they must have been up to something away from work to explain their wretched under-achievement in the day jobs. And then we see that Suicide Squad won best make-up and hair styling (you honestly couldn’t make up some of our play, or Ndong’s hair for that matter).

Which leads us to Craig McGinty*, a Sunderland-educated Manchester City fan without whose expertise on websites Salut! Sunderland would never have been created. Back in 2008, Craig was the fist City supporter to grace our Who are You? series. It seemed about time to ask him back …

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Everton Who are You?: ‘SAFC have all our injury-prone old players!’

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Graeme Holmes at Athletic Bilbao, the Basque club with strong Sunderland links**

Graeme Holmes* is an Everton season ticket holder whose globetrotting, groundhopping activities make our own Pete Sixsmith seem like an armchair supporter. He’s at a match as a neutral most nights to add to those huge number of Everton games he’s seen over the past 38 years. He has obviously come across Sixer on his travels and it is that connection that introduces him to Salut! Sunderland. Welcome, Graeme …

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West Brom vs SAFC: the Boingness of the Long-distance Runner

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Our Baggies interviewee Manish Patel

Manish Patel* is a man on a mission. He has already raised £1.200 of pounds for Children in Need, by running hundreds of miles, and has set his heart on piling on those sorts of pounds for the charity with four full marathons and a total of 1,000 miles this year. See his page at justgiving.com. In between times, he loves sport and is a passionate West Bromwich Albion supporter. We can hardly begrudge him his joy at Albion’s progress underTony Pulis – or blame him for fearing Sunderland haven’t much hope of avoiding the drop (we get the same feeling every season) …

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