Liverpool fans are fuming at the suggestion that blameless young Spearing had anything other than the Corinthian spirit in mind when he tumbled in the box some distance from where his path and Mensah’s crossed. They’ll take some comfort from Pete Sixsmith‘s even-handed analysis, balancing bitter disappointment at a worrying Sunderland performance with some admiration for the Reds’ progress under Dalglish …

Three things to say about yesterday’s game: Liverpool were the better side, the penalty decision was a disgrace and we are beginning to get a wee bit worried.

First things first, Liverpool deserved their win. They defended well with Skrtl and Agger outstanding and Suarez always looked a danger. His goal was very well taken and he caused problems for our defenders, Mensah in particular. In midfield they looked tight and well organized with Kuyt having his usual solid game. He’s a good player – reliable and sound.

(more…)

Image: Ronnie Macdonald (Lovren, right, practises ballet skills in Lyon v Celtic, Emirates Cup)

No complaints about today’s result. Whatever justified grievances we have with the match officials, Liverpool deserved to win and we deserved nowt. And, in the latest from our French Fancies series about football on the other side of the Channel, we identify a much nastier example of the ugly face of football …

In one way Jay Spearing is not a cheat at all. But then nor, in one way, was Gary McAllister. Both were indeed fouled by Sunderland players, so falling over was not an impossible consequence.

Their status as cheats is judged on what happened next. The fouls occurred outside the penalty area and the fouled players proceeded to float though the air (McAllister) or run and plunge (Spearing) to land well inside the box.

(more…)

One or two visitors to Salut! Sunderland have spectacularly misunderstood a headline saying “don’t blame” the officials as meaning do blame them. They also think there was some suggestion here that a strong team was beaten by an ordinary one.

All we’ve said is that we looked to be fielding a strong starting 11. And they played well enough until the penalty but never threatened Liverpool’s goal. I heard one partisan (ie pro-SAFC) commentator say Pepe Reina could have settled down for a cup of tea and sandwich, so underemployed was he. Liverpool looked poor, too, but were the better side. All acknowledged in the reports so far. So what did Steve Bruce, who must bear some responsibility for the awful excuse for football we presented from penalty onwards, make of it? He’s been writing to Monsieur Salut again …

(more…)

We must be consistent. We have mocked, repeatedly, referees who try to “make up” in a second half for an outrageously wrong decision in the first.

So let us hear it for Kevin Friend’s steely resolve.

(more…)

It starts with defeat to Liverpool, with Kevin Friend (referee) and his friend Billy Smallwood (linesman) intent on pleasing their friend Kenny Dalglish by wiping out any legacy of beachball grievance (as if Stuart Attwell hadn’t already, at Anfield!). This is Pete Sixsmith‘s series of incisive seven-word verdicts on just about every Sunderland game. When, rarely, Pete is absent, a supersub does it for him. The full Sixer’s Sevens archive – see link below – encapsulates the matchday experiences, from darkest gloom to sublime elation, of a fan who is usually there …

March 20 2011 SAFC (0) 0 Liverpool (1) 2 Liverpool better, but crucial decisions against us

March 5 2011 Arsenal (0) 0 SAFC (0) 0 Take your pick: A solid performance to be proud of or Better than Barca as we thwart Gunners

Feb 26 2011 Everton (2) SAFC (0) Were never in the game; easily beaten

Feb 12 2011 SAFC (1) 1 Tottenham Hotspur (1) 2 Beaten by side one step above us

Feb 5 2011 Stoke City (1) 3 SAFC (1) 2 Take your pick: Horrible result against a truly horrible team or A refereeing performance that defies reasonable analysis

Feb 1 2011 SAFC (2) 2 Chelsea (2) 4 Cracking game deservedly won by arrogant Blues

To see Sixer’s Sevens in full, click here. If an asterisk precedes the comment, the words that follow are the work of someone else because Pete is for once absent from the game or his verdict has been delayed …

On the train back home

And so the series ambles to a halt with a final collection of stories, this time from those who put down roots away from the North East but – with one exception – not overseas. Sunderland supporters who live or have lived the world over have contributed, via the excellent Blackcats e-mail loop and reproduced here, some fascinating accounts of how they ended up where they are, how they maintain their passion for SAFC and much more besides. I may slot additional potted memoirs into any of the four instalments or even add a fifth if necessary. Thanks to all who have given permission for their thoughts to be shared with Salut! Sunderland readers …

Check out also:

* Part one: from Murton to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

* Part two: born in Newcastle, supporting Sunderland

* Part three: ladies stockings, REM and other exotica

* The Blackcats Google map

(more…)

Salut! Sunderland casts its net far and wide in search of interesting candidates for the Who are You? series. For today’s return to Premier action – Sunderland v Liverpool – we found Mick Quinn, who grew up on the Kop but had to play his football at downtrodden stadiums in places like Newcastle and Portsmouth. Mick has fully recovered from such adversity and now works for TalkSport, covering football and horseracing. And he was a cracking interviewee. The full Q&A can be seen here but , for those in a hurry who missed it first time round, one or two extracts follow …

Salut! Sunderland In the end, was it right – for Liverpool too – that Torres went?

Yes, I think so. Don’t get me wrong: he is a top quality striker who on the top of his game is the best in the world for me. Just look at some of the goals he has scored. And I have never changed my opinion on that. But for one reason or another, and there were those three ops in 18 months, he was sulking like a big kid because he felt he’d been promised quite a bit by Hodgson on the players he’d bring in but then didn’t. But we’ve brought in two quality strikers so that is a good bit of business in the end.

(more…)

Three down and, as things stand, one to go. My first thought about the “Mackem diaspora” thread started by Jeremy Robson at the Blackcats list was that it was a fabulous idea, and stories like these reinforce that view. The choice of images will become clear as you read on. And the reminiscences of Sunderland supporters taking part in the exercise speak for themselves …

See parts one or two by clicking on:

* From Murton to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

* Born in Newcastle, supporting Sunderland

* And the the Google world map initiated by Neil Chandler has now clocked 3,600+ hits. Join it here

(more…)

Image: Mrs Logic

Last weekend was another one without football, at any rate for Sunderland supporters. But there have still been plenty of talking points, plus the build-up to tomorrow’s Sunderland v Liverpool match, to keep Salut! Sunderland busy, as the latest digest of the past week shows …

The Lads had a break but the Lasses had work to do. Sunderland Women’s Football Club produced a strong second-half performance to beat Lincoln City, from the Super League to which Sunderland were disgracefully denied entry, for a place if the FA Women’s Cup quarter-finals.

They face an even tougher task in the 6th round a week tomorrow – Arsenal at home – and possibly a tougher one still in persuading the official SAFC website to take a blind bit of notice in their admirable achievements. Perhaps someone can explain why safc.com studiously ignores the girls, or direct us to some well-hidden corner of the site, overlooked by me, where their cup and Premier League progress is properly recorded.

For those who missed our week, or parts of it, here is a quick guide to what we’ve been doing. If anything takes your fancy, click on the sub-heading to see the item in full:

(more…)

Where are the Mackem wild geese, and what are the stories of their lives away from the North East? It is a fascinating subject – for those of us who care – and since Jeremy Robson got it going again, it’s not touched ground. Look at the Google map – 3,300+ hits last time I looked – and you’ll see that whether exiles read Salut! Sunderland, ALS, Ready To Go , Roker Report or anything else, their thoughts are never too far from home …

For the first part of this mini-series, please go to this link: The Mackem diaspora (1): from Murton to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

(more…)