Courtesy: A Love Supreme

Steve Bruce had every right to rub the noses of media pundits in the mess of Stoke City’s collapse at the Stadium of Light.

Football, as Plymouth Argyle said in a club statement justifying the sacking of one of Bruce’s Sunderland predecessors, Peter Reid, is a results business.

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I may be proved wrong. The Liverpool supporter who faithfully promised to produce answers by yesterday may still resurface (he’s been silent for a week). We don’t even know yet whether the match will be on. But Salut! Sunderland cannot start the season on a blank, so turned to a disloyally Red, as opposed to Red and White, fan in the family. Lets hear from Nathalie Randall* , a terrific little footballer herself …

Salut! Sunderland:
As I write, Kenny Dalglish has spent an estimated £100m in an attempt to get Liverpool back into the top four. More can be expected before we kick off but is he on the right track?

After our recent track record under Hicks and Gillette with spending millions and getting nowhere but in severe debt, I am a little sceptical of the amount we have spent on players like Downing, Carroll and Henderson. However I think the players we have bought is a promising sign for the future. I just wish we hadn’t spent so much to get them!

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Image: addick-tedKevin

Periodically, Pete Sixsmith offers the Manchester United fans’ site Stretford End Arising an update on how Danny Welbeck is doing for Sunderland. Perhaps he should aid our chances of getting Danny permanently by always replying that he’s absolute garbage. Here, though, is his latest mid-term report …

So, after a long lay off in Manchester, we got Danny back into action. He came on as a second half sub at Ashburton Grove and almost scored a cracking goal. Had it gone in, Arsene’s face would have been a picture; not only beaten by one of the “little teams”, but through a goal by a Manchester United player. I think he would have ended up like any Spinal Tap drummer and spontaneously combusted.

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It’s often said that being a Sunderland supporter is never dull.  Just when we might have thought we were heading for a straightforward, mid-table finish, we have the low of Newcastle followed by the high of Chelsea.  Luke Harvey reflects on an amazing fortnight, and applauds our players’ resilience in bouncing back.  

I could write reams and reams on my emotions and thoughts after the amazing destruction of league leaders Chelsea. None would truly convey all my feelings and none would be as good as Sixer’s succinct seven word round up, but the victory over Chelsea is easily as amazing as the Newcastle result was terrible.

The focus and commitment from the team was second to none. From beginning to end we looked in control of the situation, and even with a slender 1-0 lead Chelsea never looked like mounting a serious comeback – although I didn’t rule out the possibility until Welbeck made it three.

As already said elsewhere on this site: we were magnificent from front to back – and all without our talisman Darren Bent, proving we weren’t just a one-man team. With results since the Newcastle debacle looking very promising, it seems like Gyan and Welbeck have quickly formed an understanding up front – although surely Bent’s place in the team won’t be in jeopardy when fit.

While the £13m Ghanaian may be taking most of the plaudits up front – although I’m unsure where I stand on his dancing skills (I won’t complain to seeing them a few more times this season) – the rest of the team are deserving of equal praise.

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Jeremy Robson takes a look at the pros and cons of the Academy system.

It’s easy to say that football academies just don’t work. However, the whole issue is far more complex than do they or don’t they.

Do you remember the excitement surrounding the signing of Claudio Marangoni some thirty years ago? An Argentine signing for Sunderland. He might as well have been from outer space. It was virtually unheard of in living memory at the time to sign a foreigner, ie non British player. Everyone can remember Claudio, because of the stir he caused. His performances were in stark contrast to the fanfare of his arrival. Everyone remembers him. Can anyone immediately recall the identity of the second overseas player or indeed the third? Moreover can anyone recall how many overseas players there have been at Sunderland in the intervening years. A countless number, yet Sunderland have probably had far less than the average number of imports.

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Image: Pperreijn

In the end, it was a more comfortable victory than the late Uruguay flourish suggested. A wicked sort of justice had been served by the hint of van Persie being offside at the moment Wesley Sneijder hit his shot to make it 2-1.
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Yet another failure to build on a good home performance as we visit the tackiest stadium in the Premier League – at least until SJP makes an unwelcome return. Pete Sixsmith accepts that Zola’s Boys wanted it more than we did and is entertained by Neil Warnock on a long journey home.

The old maxim goes “After the Lord Mayor’s Show comes the dustcarts”. Presumably the dustcarts are there to pick up the rubbish left – and there was plenty to pick up after this apology of a Premier League game.

Last Saturday, we warmed to two teams who appeared to be able to make passes, create chances and right royally entertain a big crowd.

This Saturday we had to endure two teams who had difficulty in making accurate passes, created a handful of chances and drove a full house at Mockney Castle Park to frustration and boredom.

West Ham deserved to win the game because they wanted it a lot more than we did. Never mind the fact that Sunderland had sold their ticket allocation and that fans had had to make early starts to get there, there was the feeling amongst the travelling support that our players knew they were safe from relegation and that the gravy train would continue to call at their stations next year.

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A raw Monday night and a match of spectacular mediocrity at The Stadium of Light has Pete Sixsmith wishing he could have been occupied with more mundane matters

Monday night at Sixsmith Towers is usually a time for domestic duties or for popping over to Darlington to see an art house film like Pan’s Labyrinth, I’ve Loved You So Long and Sex Lives of the Potato Men, all classy movies with intense acting performances from the likes of Kristin Scott Thomas, Marion Cottillard and Johnny Vegas. I like a bit of culture, me.

Domestic duties usually mean doing the ironing, listening to Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on Radio 2. Shirts are neatly folded, trousers are pressed and socks are correctly matched up, as the contents of the basket are transformed from a tangled mess into a tidy pile, ready for the airing cupboard. Ironing is a kind of therapy for me; you get to see the results of your labours, which is a reward in itself.

However, this Monday, the delights of getting a crease in a pair of pants was replaced by watching possibly the worst and almost certainly the most worrying game I have seen at The Stadium Of Light. Thirty five thousand fellow sufferers had to sit through 90 minutes of alleged football from two teams who made any claims that the Premier League is the best in the world look as risible as a promise from John Terry to keep an eye on the Missus while you are away.

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No Saturday game at The Stadium since January 3^rd, leaves Pete Sixsmith plenty of time to think about all kinds of things and even dream of Wembley…..

The last time I saw Sunderland’s first team play was 28 days ago on January 3^rd when we swamped the Heroes of Holker Street 3-0. Since then, due to weather, long and unwanted away trips and ESPN, I have had to get my football fix elsewhere, and I have thoroughly enjoyed switching from one type of football narcotic to another.

 This enforced absence from watching the red and whites while gritting my teeth and shaking my head has coincided with the flowering of Shildon into potential FA Vase winners. Last week they won at Roker Park, Stotfold to go into the last 16, next week they play at St Ives in Cambridgeshire (of which more later), while yesterday they had a convincing 3-1 win over the current Vase holders, Whitley Bay.

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OK Father Christmas, père Noël, Papá Noel, 英国、法国的圣诞老人, Άγιος Βασίλης – this completes Salut! Sunderland’s Christmas wishlist. We’ll leave your usual bottle of beer and cigar by the Christmas tree …

R is for Roker Park. We wake from the dream to find ourselves back on/in the (much modernised) Fulwell, Clock Stand Paddock, Roker End, wherever it was we used to stand (or, for those who already did in those days, sit). The Stadium of Light’s great and all that, but can you actually fall in love with the East Stand?
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