At last, our judges have delivered their verdicts.
The search for winners of Salut! Sunderland‘s great Who Are You? competition is over.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Soapbox: how not to keep Wolves from the door
What are we to make of Sunderland? How long ago does that barnstorming 3-1 win over Spurs seem now? Lee Mason, referee at both games, was so incensed at how bad we’d become again that he decided to send off all our players, and failed in this mission only because time ran out.
Pete Sixsmith laments the bitter let-down of our final game …
So, that’s another season over. Seems only a short while ago that Salut! Sunderland‘s esteemed editor and proprietor and his faithful sidekick were running down from Durham station to pick up a Football Echo and enjoy a cup of frothy coffee and a pie in the original Bimbis after clinching promotion against Charlton Athletic.
The end of this season saw Proprietor and Faithful Sidekick together again, this time in the sanitised atmosphere of an over policed, over stewarded and distinctly overpriced Molineux.
Come on Aston Villa, Arsenal, and Man Utd
In 13th place this morning, Sunderland cannot finish lower. That’s a relief, but hardly an outstanding end to the season.
Racing for glory: Wolves, Hull and Birmingham’s dark horses
A late contender has surfaced in our Who Are you? awards. He supports Birmingham City but was not on the original shortlist. So he could be either Kevin Ball
– their Kevin Ball (left), not ours, and living in Devon – or he could be Leigh Bosworth
from the Yorkshire Bluenoses. Or, in the spirit of the age, someone could get most of the votes but still not win anything …
Jody Craddock on caps, cheats and Wolves chants
Try even harder to forget politics, delve deeper into Jody Craddock’s world of painting and you meet some interesting people (Ricky Hatton, the boxer, is shown here with Jody’s portrait of him). Take a look at his gallery*. In the first part of the last – and rather special – Who Are You? of the season, we heard about Jody’s time at Sunderland. Click here if you missed it. Now let’s see what he thinks about diving, his own preferences in art and the likely outcome of Sunday’s game. And what about the World Cup and the absence of England caps in Jody’s cv? …
Salut! Sunderland: Do you look out for our results?
Jody:
I look out for everyone’s results, even more so those that have a direct effect on Wolves also.
Who are you? We’re Wolves – Jody Craddock speaks (1)
Colin Randall writes: election day and we probably all deserve a break. Let us turn away from Brown, Cameron and Clegg, think about Sunday’s last game of the Premier League season …. and welcome Jody Craddock*.
** **
Jody served Sunderland well, earning the lasting affection of our supporters before moving on. At Wolverhampton Wanderers he has been a pivotal figure in getting the club up and keeping them up and won effusive praise recently for a man-of-the-match display against Stoke. He has also continued to develop his gift for painting. Salut! Sunderland was honoured that he was willing to answer questions – set by Pete Sixsmith, me and subscribers to the Blackcats e-mail list – ahead of that final game: Wolves v SAFC. Here’s part one …
PART ONE
Salut! Sunderland: What is your view of the reasons for things going wrong after Sunderland’s two seventh place finishes under Peter Reid?
When safc finished 7th twice I feel it was all about balance with the majority of the team being British and a scattering of quality foreign players. The following seasons before we got relegated I feel the balance wasn’t quite right. Vague I know, but we were all to blame as we didn’t play well enough.
From Arsenal via Hull to Wolves: our honours shortlist
Who are you? The winners, that is, in Salut! Sunderland‘s grand Who Are You? competition. Could it be Fatima al Shamsi (pictured with reading matter prescribed by us to cure her of supporting Arsenal)? Or the others shown below? The results won’t be known until the season ends. Read on to see if your contribution – or your club if you don’t support Sunderland – made our awards shortlist …
Judging has now begun. The famously half-decent football magazine When Saturday Comes is on board among prize donors. And some time soon, just after the end of the Premier League season, we will announce who has been chosen in first, second and third places for the wit, warmth or wisdom of their replies to the questionnaires we present to at least one opposing fan before each Sunderland game.
Soapbox: keeping the Wolves from the door
Debate? What debate? Pete Sixsmith watches Sunderland score five without quite performing as if about to storm into the top four. But one thing that did please him (apart from reaching a points tally that leave us just 28 short of safety) was goal number three. It prompted Pete to give short shrift to doubts about Kenwyne Jones …
The great Kenwyne Jones debate was surely shelved at 5.35 when he moved across the front of the goal, left two defenders for dead and whipped a 20 yard shot past the Wolves keeper. It put us 3-2 up, and as Mick McCarthy’s men s legs were beginning to wobble, set up what looks, on paper, like a comfortable 5-2 win.
Mick McCarthy: top bloke, shame about the Ls
As Sunderland prepare to entertain Wolves, Salut! Sunderland extends a hearty welcome to Mick McCarthy for what we hope will …
Who are you? We’re Wolves (2)
If Andy Nicholls played the long ball, with a few elegant runs here and there, our second Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter, Garry Dingley*, found via the Wolves-Mad fan site, prefers it short and sweet. And he grows in confidence as he goes on: an unknown third slot for relegation is filled, a few questions later, by Stoke City. Read on to see who else he reckons will go down, and who he thinks will win on Sunday. Salut! Sunderland thanks all Wolves fans for their interest – plus Jody Craddock for permission to showcase his art …
Salut! Sunderland: A lot of our fans wondered how Mick McCarthy might have done with the money available to Keane and Bruce. Has he had enough at Wolves and has he spent it wisely?
I think he could of done with a little bit more so we could get one or two players in with Premier experience. He does seem to rely on players who have played for him before thought.
On that note, Greg Halford seems to be picking up a lot of five out of tens in newspaper player ratings. He was a great disappointment at our place. Still not up to it? What about other signings from Sunderland eg Neil Collins and Jody Craddock?
Halford as been moved to full back now and as played well there. I never liked Collins but Jody isn’t a bad player at all now.