Salut! Sunderland:What does it mean to you, as a fan, to have drawn Sunderland away? Better than Boro away, I imagine.

I was made up when I saw the draw, although I was a little cautious about getting ahead of myself as, to be honest, I didn’t think we’d beat Oxford.

Last year was amazing. I’d never thought I’d watch Barrow playing Premier League opposition in a competitive match. It’s the stuff of dreams, so twice in two seasons is just magical.

For me, this year’s draw was definitely bigger than Boro. With no disrespect to Boro, Sunderland is a bigger club with a better following. I’m very much looking forward my first trip to the Stadium of Light

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Eugene, from ESPN, came knocking again at Salut! Sunderland‘s door.What he got in response was the Pete and Dud show. I’m the dud, Pete’s Pete Sixsmith. Here are our answers to his questions – both of us giving our responses without knowing the other had been asked, too …

Up to this point in the season, what is the best / worst your club can achieve this coming season?

Pete:
The best we can achieve is a top 8 placing, putting us in the second tier of the Premier League, alongside Fulham, Liverpool and Blackburn. The worst we can achieve is yet another relegation struggle; bit I think we are too good for that.

Dud:
The owner set top 10 as his aim for this season. On the face of it, we’re roughly on target, but the recent bad run has undone some of the good achieved earlier in the season. Realistically I’d make eighth and a decent cup run our best hope, being sucked into a relegation battle the worst possibility, though I cannot believe we will be in trouble come May.

Who is your key player and why?

Pete:

The key player is Darren Bent – you don’t have to have a UEFA A badge to work that one out. He has 13 goals already and without him, we would be struggling. He is an excellent striker and takes a good proportion of his chances. Not as good as Sandra Redknapp though!!

Dud:
Lorik Cana. He’s a strong, committed leader, the sort of player Sunderland fans have always admired, though he must do something to curb the excesses of tackling enthusiasm that have cost him so many cards.

Who is the unsung hero in your team and why?

Pete:

The wages they are on, I don’t think there are any unsung heroes. Jordan Henderson has beavered away all season and Paolo Da Silva has looked quality when he has played. He has a quiet, authoritative manner about him.

Dud: Andy Reid continues to get some stick from fans who remain unconvinced, largely because of his generally weak dead balls and a tendency to drift out of games. But study most of our matches and you see that most of the creativity and spark comes from him.

Which new signing has impressed you most? Which one the least?

Pete:
Darren Bent, for obvious reasons, closely followed by Lee Cattermole; Frazier Campbell has not impressed yet, but he hasn’t really had a run in the team. John Mensah has looked good, but has suffered with injuries.

Dud:
Lee Cattermole was an inspiration before his injury layoff but Darren Bent has to get my vote for the simple reason that he has scored goals, usually only one in a game but so often vital to the outcome. I am afraid that Fraizer Campbell has not impressed me at all so far.

Which area do you think your team needs strengthening in January?

Pete:

We desperately need two full backs who can tackle, pass and link up with the wide players. This is a top priority. Another forward would be useful and maybe a winger to supply Jones and Bent, but minor surgery rather than a full scale, life saving operation. Not many good players available in January.

Dud:
We are woefully weak at full back, I would like to see another striker if rumours about Kenwyne Jones being on his way out prove correct. And the speculation about Robert Green shows Bruce may be unhappy, as I am, about our goalkeeping.

What has Steve Bruce done to impress/infuriate you lately?

Pete:

Jordan Henderson has played most of the season and has made one or two sit up and take notice. David Meyler played at Blackburn and confirmed what we dedicated reserve team watchers have been saying; he has the ability to make an impression.

Dud:
To be honest, there has been nothing during our lamentable recent run to impress me, except perhaps the honesty of his public response to poor performances. His substitutions when 1-0 up against Portsmouth showed a desperation to cling on to the lead (which we didn’t) when we should have been trying, for once, to kill off feeble opposition. If it was his decision to appeal against Michael Turner’s red card at Man City, the sheer inevitability of the verdict (a four-match ban instead of three) made that infuriating, too.

Where will your club finish this season?

Pete: answer in the post?

Dud:

I do not think we will reach my target of eighth as described above, but I will keep the faith and say 10th.

Can you also give me a short description of your site and it’s achievements so that I can help highlight it on our site?

Pete:
Our site, www.salutsunderland.com is a fans’ site which seeks to be supportive of the team and to reflect what fans see.. It was founded by Colin Randall, a journalist of 35 years experience and a Sunderland fan of 45 years experience, so he knows how to write and organise and he knows how to deal with the constant disappointment that is Sunderland AFC. He lives in London and France and has a season ticket; I live in Shildon, County Durham., have a season ticket and spend hours sat on coaches following the dream of seeing a succesful Sunderland team.We try to make the writing interesting, erudite and witty. We sometimes succeed.

Dud:

Salut! Sunderland is easily the most successful of my Salut! group of sites. It aims to be as literate and entertaining as possible. triying to appeal not only to Sunderland supporters but to anyone who appreciates good writing about the game.

Colin Randall

Having led Blackburn 1-0 and 2-1, the loss of two more points could be seen as another example of the sloppy, wasteful ways into which Sunderland have fallen. Sloppy yes, but Pete Sixsmith recognises the draw as a fair result and finds scope to take heart for the new year – and to salute a couple of touches from Daryl Murphy ….

The “typical family Christmas”, I assume, includes a phase where someone in the “family” with whom you have had a fall out over the past year turns up at your house, plonks down in a comfy chair and proceeds to spoil the whole bloody day by drinking your best Egyptian brandy and smoking your finest Manikin cigars.

For “typical family Christmas”, read “holiday trip to Ewood Park”. For awful relatives, read Pascal Chimbonda and El Hadj Diouf. It would not be controversial to say that neither was a huge success in a red and white shirt or that season tickets were sent back by the sackful when they were moved on by Ricky Sbragia.

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Ewood Park, for Blackburn v Sunderland on a bitterly cold Monday, requires dedication. Pete Sixsmith has it in abundance and will be there. He even warmed up for the challenge, if that is the right description, by subjecting himself to a blast of wintry Scottish weather, catching a Hibs v Rangers game that enabled him to see how a couple of our old boys are faring …

So, what to do the day after the day after Christmas? The Chocolate Fudge has been eaten from the last selection box, the DVD of Hilarious Footballing Gaffes Presented By DJ Spoony has been watched and proved to be as funny as a performance by Sting on his lute and the last of the relatives is still hanging around, desperately hoping for a New Years invite before they go back to the Salvation Army Hostel.

The prospect of “going to the sales” is about as enticing as an afternoon in the Strawberry with Ant and Dec, while the cinemas are showing nothing but rubbish – and American rubbish at that. What’s wrong with British rubbish? Where is Sex Lives Of The Potato Men when you need it?

A glance at the fixture list throws up Arsenal v Villa (too far away), Hull City v Manchester United (no chance of a ticket) and Hibernian v Rangers. Why not? Edinburgh’s not that far and it should be easy enough to get in, so let’s go, and leave the elderly relative on the doorstep for the Sally Bash to collect.

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The Observer should be paying Pete Sixsmith a salary. As well as writing the half-term report, he summed up yesterday’s match for them. Here, plus the same exercise involving an Everton fan, is his fan’s view of the match …

THE FANS’ PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT

Pete Sixsmith, salutsunderland.com

Once again we failed to close down a game after going one up. Darren Bent scored a great goal that showed what we are capable of when we go forward. But we cannot control the midfield. Fellaini ran the show and, to be honest, we didn’t have anyone to compare to him. If you are defending in the penalty box then you are always going to concede. John Mensah was excellent, while Steed Malbranque looked like he is on his way out of the club.

The fan’s player ratings Fulop 6; Bardsley 7, Mensah 8 (Nosworthy 71 6), Da Silva 7, McCartney 6; Malbranque 4 (Zenden 58 6) Cana 6, Henderson 5, Reid 6; Jones 6, Bent 7

Steve Jones, BlueKipper.com

We got a good point in the end. But I’m disappointed we didn’t get the three points. They had a good period in the first half, but the second half was all us. That’s our problem this season, we can’t win these sort of games like we did last season. Fellaini was outstanding. This was his best game for us and I think that is because he’s playing in the middle of the park. Pienaar was good, as was Saha, even though he missed a few chances. But we can’t keep using injuries as an excuse.

The fan’s player ratings Howard 7; Hibbert 6, Neill 7, Heitinga 6, Baines 8; Bilyaletdinov 6, Osman 7 (Yakubu 69 7), Fellaini 10, Pienaar 8; Cahill 7; Saha 6 (Vaughan 87 n/a)

The Rovers Returned in the nick of time. We were beginning to fear Dan Clough* – great surname and he runs the Rovers Return site – was not going to get back to us with the answers to the customary Salut! Sunderland questions. It being Christmas, he’d completely forgotten. But here they are, including his thoughts on Sunderland (essentially “none, I’m afraid”) and Alan Shearer (“true Rovers legend”); and given how often we played Blackburn Rovers last season, each time getting a Rovers previewer, it is probably a small wonder that there was anyone left to interview …

Salut! Sunderland: Miserable about your form so far this season or just happy to be out of the relegation zone?

A mixture of the two. Things started reasonably well but recent form has been desperate and, with no signs of our away form improving at the moment, things are starting to look bleak. It’s good not to be in the relegation zone, but after a few bad results we are well and truly in the relegation battle at this moment in time.

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The Observer has been milking us dry again. Today’s edition has a half-term report from a fan of each Premier side.

Here is Pete Sxsmith’s verdict (and click here for his thoughts on the draw against Everton):

Sunderland, 10th, Pete Sixsmith, SalutSunderland.com

August, September, October – really encouraging, good football, good results and a misty dream of breaking into the top six. November and December – the ghosts of McCarthy and Sbragia start to appear, as we begin our annual slide down the table.

Star man and biggest underperformer? Bent, Cana and Cattermole have impressed, Gordon has begun to look like a top-class keeper, and Reid’s weight loss has made him a regular. On the other hand, Campbell has yet to look a top-flight player and McCartney has proved the old maxim: “never go back”.

Happy with the gaffer? Steve Bruce will be a success, but there are times when he’s a little one-dimensional.

Who should he sign? We need two full-backs who can tackle, pass, support the wide midfielders and not get caught out of position.

Latest links: Graham Dorrans (West Brom, winger); Maynor Figueroa (Wigan, defender); Victor Moses (C Palace, winger).

If I wasn’t impressed listening to Sunderland v Everton on TalkSport, imagine what it as like as viewed from my row in the East Stand. Pete Sixsmith was there …

Ah, Christmas. The time of year when friends come together, to eat drink and be merry, to enjoy wonderful hospitality – and to end up at the Stadium of Light, with 46,000 others, watching Sunderland extend the hand of friendship to relegation threatened Everton, by allowing them to do exactly what they wanted to do for an hour.
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Stan Collymore, sharing the TalkSport commentary, thought it a cracking game. He also warmly praised the referee Martin Atkinson for a mature, relatively whistle-free performance that allowed play to flow.

So what!
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Are the fans of Leeds, Norwich City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Bristol City, West Ham, Spurs, Nottingham Forest and Southampton really more passionate than Sunderland’s?

Most of us would put ourselves ahead of at least six of the nine clubs currently placed above Sunderland in the Sky Sports 92 Fans’ League. Some would put us at the top. Even neutrals would eliminate a few of the others.

Today is a good day to show how passionate we are. A big Boxing Day gate – all tickets sold apparently – has a duty to blow the ball out at our end and suck it in at Everton’s.

Imagine it. You support Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United or Liverpool. You’ve followed them for ever, or rather since you were old enough to work out they were quite good and won a lot. You may even have been to the city where they play.
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