Monsieur Salut writes: the series is here. I know I said at Salut! Sunderland, and at ESPN, that it would wait until after the final game. But that was because the two contributions I’d so far received were negative, one more than the other. It did not seem right, after so astonishing an escape won on merit, to precede what is now a relaxed end-of-season party with gloomy recriminations about what went on before. Salut! Sunderland‘s erudite deputy editor, Malcolm Dawson, has changed my mind. His piece is realistic but upbeat, difficult as any Sunderland fan could be the latter about events from August to mid-April apart from the cup runs and derby wins.
There’s plenty of room for criticism and the next instalment will prove it. But for now, the last game still awaited, let us hear how Malcolm approached the season’s denouement …
“I was blue, just blue as can be
Every day was a cloudy day for me.
Then good luck came a knocking at my door,
Now those grey skies aren’t grey anymore.
Blue skies smiling at me, nothing but blue skies do I see.”
– Irving Berlin
Emotions are funny things.
You turn up at the match and take your seat in the stand. The game kicks off – a throw in – a couple of slick passes and suddenly you’re one nil up. From then on your team dominates, the opposition hardly gets a touch but through good fortune, an inspired ‘keeper and profligacy in front of goal you can’t extend the lead. Then with the ref’s whistle poised a speculative shot from 35 yards deflects off your centre back’s backside, wrong footing the man between the sticks and suddenly it’s one all. You go home sick as the proverbial.
But suppose you support the other team. You see them outplayed for 94+ minutes and scramble a draw via a fortuitous deflection. You go home over the whatsit. Same result but in a strange way you take more pleasure in the latter than the former. At least I do though I don’t know why exactly. Snatching a point from the jaws of victory is in no way as uplifting as the reverse.
Generally in life I am a pragmatist (note I said pragmatist not pessimist.) If after seven games you’d asked me would I settle for 12th spot and a visit to Wembley for a Cup Final I’d have bitten your hand off. A win against Swansea could see that become a reality (this written before the match) and we’ll have done it in a way that leaves me more with a feeling of euphoria than had we ticked along in mid table for the whole season.
You see I never stopped believing this season. Until the Tottenham drubbing I believed that we had a better squad than many of the teams around us and that there was no way we would go down. I have often left Roker Park and the SOL depressed by the team’s performance but after the Everton loss I actually thought they had played quite well and despite still losing had shown enough to enable me to keep that belief. After the Spurs game I still believed a win over West Ham at the Stadium of Light would be the start of the resurgence. When we lost that one, as I sat in the car waiting for Pete Sixsmith to do his media bit for BBC North East I firmly believed (as did he) that we were doomed.
The way we almost beat Manchester City but didn’t, epitomised the season up to then. Individual errors had cost us games we might have won. That and some dire football against dire teams.
I was at a wedding reception on the day of the Chelsea game. Someone’s smart phone alerted us (predominantly Sunderland fans in East Durham) to the fact we had gone behind. As the speeches ended the whisper came that Wickham had equalised and as I tucked into my piece of wedding cake the news of an unlikely win raised the spirits and suddenly we began to believe again. The defeat of Cardiff, probably more unexpected than the win at Stamford Bridge, a win at Old Trafford, refereeing decisions going for us rather than against, defensive clearances going for corners instead of own goals meant the mood last Wednesday around the ground was as positive as I have experienced for a long time. We left with smiles on our faces, not just because of the result, not just because of the knowledge we had another year in the top flight but because in the month of April the players had shown the grit, the determination and the fight we want to see from those in a Sunderland shirt as well as quality possession and creative football. What more can we ask for?
Well more of the same next year please. It won’t be easy. Loan players leaving. Out of contract players leaving. Loan players returning. Contracted players that have little to contribute. It’s going to be tough but then who said supporting Sunderland was ever straightforward? The horrors of the first 85 per cent of the season (Cup runs apart) are behind us. Next year won’t be easy but for now, like Gus, I’m enjoying the moment and as I sit here on Saturday morning, despite the drizzle and the 100 per cent cloud cover, the sky is blue.
Some of the criticism, even of Poyet, is fair. There was indeed something odd about starting a home game against West Ham with a massed defence. Perhaps he has been wrong to persevere with the consistently underachieving Jozy Altidore. But Poyet more than compensated for errors with inspired, game-changing substitutions, success in drawing one rock-solid performance after another from his old troupers in central defence, John O’Shea and Wes Brown, and encouragement of the often gaffe-prone Lee Cattermole. Cattermole’s form has been outstanding in recent weeks.
And any manager who can take a team from bottom-place misery to the prospect of mid-table respectability, all the while fitting in a cup run all the way to Wembley, must be doing something right. The cup exploits and the last lap of the Premier League have provided some of the most thrilling moments many have experienced as Sunderland supporters… I stick by a strong belief that finding significant fault with Poyet after such a magnificent escape from relegation is as both mean-spirited and naive as it is wrong.
***********
And from our friends at Campo Retro:
With it being the last game of the season we want to promote our Campo team colours range over the weekend. With the Campo shirts offering fantastic quality, value and being timeless it’s a great time to encourage fans to upgrade to a Campo shirt for next season. Could you promote the attached for us? http://www.camporetro.com/Shop-By-Collection
Friday
Your 2013/14 shirt expires this weekend, pick up a timeless classic from Campo Retro from as little as £25 at www.camporetro.com
Saturday
Half the price, double the value, stylish and timeless. Is it time to replace your favourite match day shirt? All made from 100% luxury cotton for when quality matters www.camporetro.com
Sunday
The football season is now over for another year, get set for the new season with a timeless classic from Campo Retro that will last you more than just a year www.camporetro.com
4 thoughts on “Wembley and Safe: (1) skies smiling at me after incredible SAFC season”
Back from the game and the season ends as it began with a disappointing home defeat to a team in white who we should be able to brush aside. (I know Fulham wore their blue kit on the opening day but I like the symmetry!)
Can we expect next season to be as roller coaster as this one? I shouldn’t be surprised. There’s a lot of dead wood to clear out, which is easier said than done and speculation about Poyet’s position. That’s just for starters.
Ellis Short must be looking at his investment and on seeing the names Diakite, Roberge, Dossena, Cabral, N’Diaye, Graham, Celutska, Altidore, Giaccherini, Ba, Mavrias, Scocco be wondering whether or not just chucking dollar bills into the Aga would be more time efficient.
But we have ended the season on the upbeat, unlike another club not a million miles away, whose supporters are revolting and whose run of form in the second half of the season has them calling for the heads of owner and coaching staff.
Bit harsh on Giaccharini who has a few goals and assists to he’s name and possibly N’Diaye who on the surface seems unfairly discarded .The rest? Get what we can and hope the prospect of another years Premiership money pacify s Short enough to keep him interested and also back Poyet for the rebuilding .
Agreed Drummer but my point is that Short must be questioning the return on his investment. N’Diaye was brought in last January then deemed unnecessary in July.
Giaccherini is an Italian international who is being used as an impact sub – when he gets the chance. We had loan players who were ahead of him in the pecking order. I’m not questioning Giach’s ability or commitment but suggesting that the owner might not view him as the best value for money signing we have made.
I could have added Wickham to that list a few weeks ago (there is still time for some of the others to come good) but in purely financial terms Wickham’s goals have been worth tens of millions if not more. Had he been left to finish the season at Leeds and had we gone down then Short would surely consider him a £10 million flop. In the space of three games economists will say he now represents a good return for that investment.
How about this for a statistic? Imagine you had placed a bet of £1 win on all 92 league clubs throughout the season. Which club would have produced the most profit. Man City? Liverpool? Leicester? Wolves? All had brilliant seasons and finished at the top end of their respective leagues. WRONG though. The team with the most profit is…SUNDERLAND. A £1 win bet on all of our games this season would have, according to the Racing Post, produced a totally amazing profit of £24 plus. No doubt helped by big price wins at Chelsea and Man Utd but a tasty profit nonetheless.
Back from the game and the season ends as it began with a disappointing home defeat to a team in white who we should be able to brush aside. (I know Fulham wore their blue kit on the opening day but I like the symmetry!)
Can we expect next season to be as roller coaster as this one? I shouldn’t be surprised. There’s a lot of dead wood to clear out, which is easier said than done and speculation about Poyet’s position. That’s just for starters.
Ellis Short must be looking at his investment and on seeing the names Diakite, Roberge, Dossena, Cabral, N’Diaye, Graham, Celutska, Altidore, Giaccherini, Ba, Mavrias, Scocco be wondering whether or not just chucking dollar bills into the Aga would be more time efficient.
But we have ended the season on the upbeat, unlike another club not a million miles away, whose supporters are revolting and whose run of form in the second half of the season has them calling for the heads of owner and coaching staff.
Bit harsh on Giaccharini who has a few goals and assists to he’s name and possibly N’Diaye who on the surface seems unfairly discarded .The rest? Get what we can and hope the prospect of another years Premiership money pacify s Short enough to keep him interested and also back Poyet for the rebuilding .
Agreed Drummer but my point is that Short must be questioning the return on his investment. N’Diaye was brought in last January then deemed unnecessary in July.
Giaccherini is an Italian international who is being used as an impact sub – when he gets the chance. We had loan players who were ahead of him in the pecking order. I’m not questioning Giach’s ability or commitment but suggesting that the owner might not view him as the best value for money signing we have made.
I could have added Wickham to that list a few weeks ago (there is still time for some of the others to come good) but in purely financial terms Wickham’s goals have been worth tens of millions if not more. Had he been left to finish the season at Leeds and had we gone down then Short would surely consider him a £10 million flop. In the space of three games economists will say he now represents a good return for that investment.
How about this for a statistic? Imagine you had placed a bet of £1 win on all 92 league clubs throughout the season. Which club would have produced the most profit. Man City? Liverpool? Leicester? Wolves? All had brilliant seasons and finished at the top end of their respective leagues. WRONG though. The team with the most profit is…SUNDERLAND. A £1 win bet on all of our games this season would have, according to the Racing Post, produced a totally amazing profit of £24 plus. No doubt helped by big price wins at Chelsea and Man Utd but a tasty profit nonetheless.