SEE ALSO: guess-who-was-our-star

In praise of a footballer who has had to triumph over doubt – and done so in style …

More years ago than Salut! Sunderland would willingly own up to to remembering, an away game took us to Huddersfield, where Sunderland won 3-0 in a game that began with a blitz on our goal.

The reason we weren’t left with an uphill struggle before scoring ourselves was simple: Jimmy Montgomery’s form that day was not so much outstanding as extraordinary.


He made a series of saves that told me – a would-be keeper on my own account, admittedly at a somewhat lower (school!) level – he was utter class. I can still conjure, just about, mental images of Monty’s outstretched palm pushing a header to safety, or diving a mile high to grab a shot.

Other fans of a certain age will recall different games where he excelled. Everyone knows about 1973 and Wembley, even if they weren’t yet born.

And today, from Craig Gordon, we witnessed a display between Sunderland goalposts of Montyesque quality and skill.

At half-time I wrote that despite Darren Bent’s goals – great strikes, incidentally – our star was Craig Gordon. And so it continued as Birmingham mounted a wave of attacks that, in all honesty, merited a point.

Was it, overall, seven or eight or nine quite brilliant saves that Gordon made? Three crackers in the first half, when we were actually the better side, and several more after the break when the Blues were in the ascendancy.

It was a performance that took me back not only to Monty’s various heroics but to the night I first became aware of Craig Gordon’s goalkeeping prowess.

Sitting at home, which was then in Paris, I turned the television to the France v Scotland game that the records will always show was decided by an incredible strike from James McFadden – also present today, for Birmingham – but was in fact won by one wonder save after another by Gordon. The French press drooled about how good he was.

He has taken a while to reproduce that match-winning or match-saving form for Sunderland. But it has come this season: suddenly more commanding in his territory (probably because the defenders at last command confidence), and suddenly pulling off decisive saves.

He was, as Steve Bruce has said, doiing well until a red card (but unpunished) challenge by Defoe at Spurs forced a long layoff. He has come back as an absolute star.

Mancini was full of praise after the Man City game, I haven’t yet seen Alec McLeish’s quotes* but cannot imagine him being less effusive.

Salut! Sunderland will not be hypocritical enough to suggest it has never harboured doubts about Gordon in a Sunderland shirt, and at such a price (in itself not his fault).

Those doubts would have been swept away in any case by the general standard of his goalkeeping this season. The events of last Sunday and today tell us the doubts should not really have existed inthe first place.

Colin Randall

* Alex McLeish has spoken: “Craig Gordon has saved them from losing, he was magnificent. That was an international class performance from him.

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A great match, after which Birmingham City will feel aggrieved to have lost by two goals, and a great result for us. That completes our run of four home games and we emerge from it unbeaten with eight points, a very decent haul. And this Craig Gordon clip is now in serious need of updating …

Even with halftime approaching, we knew that since this was Sunderland, we could take nothing for granted.

The Blues goal, from Jerome, earlyish in the second half – and the arrival of SuperKev – proved that well enough before fabulous work by Jordan Henderson down the right led to Fraizer Campbell’s well-taken goal towards the end to clinch the win.

But what an early scoreline. Sunderland 2 Birmingham 0…

Sixer’s texts from the East Stand – “Bent”, then “Bent again” – arrived at 3.04pm and 3.09pm, at least according to my battered old mobile, the “again” obviously intended to ensure I didn’t think he’d sent the first one twice by mistake.

Thanks to a well-known website, being in the south of France has not stopped me following the action (the uselessness of my old PC – no sound – and uselessness of whoever provide the radio commentary – doesn’t like Macs – rule out using the official club site’s audio option).

But our star? Craig Gordon. Three absolutely wonderful saves, each of the second and third better than the last, were the reason we went in with the two goal lead. And several more in the second half before the Blues halved the deficit.

Thanks Craig. And thanks, Lads, for taking us a huge stride towards not only safety but respectability.

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Sixer’s Sevens is Pete Sixsmith’s pithy summing up of each Sunderland game. Sixer does not mince his words; his seven-word verdict has not always made for pretty reading. Let’s hope for a run of upbeat Sevens inspired by Steve Bruce’s much strengthened squad. The verdict is posted as soon as possible, but be tolerant of any delay. An asterisk denotes a “holding” preview/verdict pending arrival of Sixer’s own or one from a supersub (Colin Randall or Malcolm Dawson). …

Mar 20 2010 Sunderland (2) 3 Birmingham City (0) 1 Magnificent Gordon’s heroics ensure three vital points

Mar 14 2010 Sunderland (1) 1 Man City (0) 1 Very frustrating: this performance deserved a win

Mar 9 2010 Sunderland 4 (1) Bolton 0 (0) Comfortable in the end – what a relief

Feb 28 2010 Sunderland (0) 0 Fulham (0) 0 Well, at least we got a point

Feb 20 2010 Arsenal (1) 2 Sunderland (0) 0 Seen worse, but the slide goes on
 
Feb 09 2010 Portsmouth (0) 1 Sunderland (1) 1 Self destructive challenges mean still no win*

Feb 06 2010 Sunderland (0) 1 Wigan Athletic (1) 1  More endeavour still fails to conjure win*

Feb 01 2010 Sunderland (0) 0 Stoke City (0) 0  A game that defines the word ‘turgid’

Jan 27 2010 Everton (2) 2 Sunderland (0) 0 Hard to find the good in Goodison

Jan 23 2010 FA Cup 4th round: Portsmouth (1) 2 Sunderland (1) 1 Defensive clangers set off the Pompey chimes

Jan 16 2010 Chelsea 7 (4) Sunderland (2 (0) Embarrassing? Not quite as good as that*

Jan 02 2010  Sunderland (1) 3  Barrow (0) 0  A competent performance but lacking clinical finishing  

Dec 28 2009 Blackburn Rovers (0) 2 Sunderland (0) 2 Brilliant Bent should be furious with defenders

Dec 26 2009 Sunderland (1) 1 Everton (0) 1 Incapable – again – of closing a game down

Dec 19 2009 Man City (3) 4 Sunderland (2) 3 Third rate defending leads to dismal defeat

Dec 15 2009 Sunderland (0) 0 Aston Villa (1) 2 Competed, but well beaten by superior opponents

Dec 12 2009 Sunderland (1) 1 Portsmouth (0) 1 A horrible game that exposed our weaknesses

Dec 6 2009 Fulham 1 (0) Sunderland 0 (0) Blustering fightback insufficient after wretched first half

Nov 28 2009 Wigan 1 (0) Sunderland (0) 0 Complete failure to show last week’s qualities

Nov 21 2009 Sunderland 1 (0) Arsenal 0 (0) A compelling, absorbing and absolutely wonderful win

Nov 7 2009 Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland Ref’s inability to apply rules costs dear

Oct 31 2009 Sunderland (1) 2 West Ham (2) 2 Fabulous fightback foils Hammers and rotten ref

Oct 27 2009 Carling Cup: Penalty shootout: Sunderland (0) 1 Aston Villa (0) 3 Two glorious chances spurned equals penalty misery

Oct 24 2009 Birmingham (1) 2 Sunderland (0) 1 Not even beachballs would have helped today

Oct 17 2009 Sunderland v Liverpool :Fabulous team performance personified by superb Cana

Oct 3 2009 Manchester United (0) 2 v Sunderland (1) 2 Take your pick:Feels like a defeat but it shouldn’t or Jammy, jammy Manchester United in injury time

Sept 27 2009 Sunderland 5 (1) v Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 (0)Not as easy as the scoreline suggests

Sept 22 2009 Carling Cup: Sunderland (2) 2 Birmingham City (0) Ninety minutes for once free of stress

Sept 19 2009 Burnley (1) 3 v Sunderland (1) 1 Outfought and out-thought in dismal second half

Sept 12 2009 Sunderland (1) 4 Hull City (1) 1 Slick second half show as sun shines

Aug 29 2009 Stoke City 1 (1) Sunderland (0) 0 Squeezed out too easily by determined opponents

Aug 24 2009 Norwich City (0) 1 Sunderland (3) 4 Pleasant day out followed by comfortable win

Aug 22 2009 Sunderland (1) 2 Blackburn Rovers (1) 1 Hard game, deserved win: Jones, Cana outstanding

Aug 18 2009: Sunderland (1) 1 Chelsea (0) 3 Started well but outclassed by superior opponents

Aug 15 2009 : Bolton Wanderers (0) 0 Sunderland (1) 1 Deserved victory with many positives to take

How it looked in season 2008-2009

May 24 2009 Sunderland 2 (0) Chelsea 3 (0) Better performance but Villa are the heroes

May 18 2009 Portsmouth (0) 3 Sunderland (0) 1 Another defensive horror show threatens another relegation

May 9 2009 Bolton (0) O Sunderland (0) O Effort and commitment but still need point

May 3 2009 Sunderland (0) 0 Everton (0) 2 Another defensive shambles, another nail in coffin

April 25 2009 West Bromwich Albion (1) 3 Sunderland (0) 0 A performance so bad it defies description

April 18 2009 Sunderland (1) 1 v Hull City (0) 0 Vital win in a truly awful game

April 11 2009 Sunderland (0) 1 v Man United (1) 2 Better performance than result gives some hope

April 04 2009 West Ham United 2 (1) v Sunderland (0) 0 Dreadful result and performance enhances relegation credentials

March 22 2009 Man City 1 (0) v Sunderland (0) 0 Battled away bravely. Just not sharp enough

March 14 2009 Sunderland (1) 1 v Wigan Athletic (2) 2 Clueless, brainless, disorganised, pathetic, pitiful equals relegation

March 7 2009 Sunderland 1 (1) v Tottenham Hotspur 1 (0) Robbed of vital points by shocking referreeing

March 3 2009 Liverpool (0) 2 v Sunderland (0) 0 Predictable defeat. Makes a Saturday win essential

Feb 21 2009 Arsenal (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 0 Outstanding performances from Fulop through to Jones

Feb 7 2009 Sunderland (0) 2 Stoke City (0) 0 Stoke make us work for crucial win

Feb 4 2009 FA Cup 4th round replay: Blackburn Rovers 2 (1) Sunderland 1 (1) AET Good performance, but again we lack punch

Feb 1 2009 Newcastle Unitd 1 (0) Sunderland (1) 1 Another poor decision, but disappointing second half

Jan 27 2009 Sunderland(0) 1 1 Fulham (0) 0 Three vital points. Now for the Mags

Jan 24 2009 Sunderland (0) 0 Blackburn Rovers (0) 0 No cup magic in this dismal offering

Jan 17 2009 Sunderland (1) 1 Aston Villa (& Mike Dean) (0) 2 Total frustration as valuable points slip away

Jan 10 2009 Middlesbrough (1) 1 v Sunderland (0) 1 A game we clearly should have won

Jan 3 2009 FA Cup 3rd Round: Sunderland 2 (0) v Bolton Wanderers (0) 1 Decent showing puts us on Wembley trail

Dec 28 2008 Everton 3 (2) Sunderland (0) 0 Pathetic, against a team with no forwards

Dec 26 2008 Sunderland (0) 0 v Blackburn Rovers (0) 0 No Christmas cracker as Blackburn sit tight

Dec 20 2008 Hull City (1) 1 Sunderland (1) 4 Brilliant second half show to tame Tigers

Dec 13 2008 Sunderland (3) 4 West Bromwich Albion (0) 0 Comfortable win puts smiles on our faces

Dec 6 2008 Man Utd (0) 1 Sunderland (0) 0 Cruel defeat after disciplined if negative performance

Nov 29 2008 Sunderland (1) 1 v Bolton Wanderers (3) 4 Embarrassing and humiliating. Major changes needed now

Nov 23 2008 Sunderland (0) 0 v West Ham (1) 1 One-dimensional approach cannot break down opposition

Nov 15 2008 Blackburn (1) 1 v Sunderland (0) 2 Great second half brings end to slump

Nov 12 2008 Carling Cup: Sunderland (0) 1 Blackburn (0) 2 Shoddy defending has those bells really clanging

Nov 8 2008 Sunderland (1) 1 Portsmouth (0) 2 Alarm bells ringing after woeful second half

Nov 01 2008 Chelsea 5 (3) v SAFC 0 (0) Never has a bubble burst so quickly

Oct 29 2008 Stoke City 1 (0) v SAFC 0 (0) Not one chance created against limited opposition

Oct 25 2008 SAFC 2 (1) Newcastle 1 (1) Absolutely bloody marvellous. Mags beaten at last

Oct 18 2008 Fulham (0) 0 v SAFC (0) 0 Foiled by woodwork and bewildering referee’s decision

Oct 4 2008 SAFC (0) 1 v Arsenal (0) 1 Disciplined performance that deserved a famous win

Sept 27 2008 Aston Villa (2) 2 v SAFC (1) 1 Played well but couldn’t force deserved draw

Sept 23 2008 Carling Cup: SAFC (4-3 on penalties) (0) 2 Northampton (1) 2 Thoroughly undeserved, after a truly shocking display

Sept 20 2008 SAFC (0) 2 v Middlesbrough (0) 0 Old boys win well in second half

Sept 13 2008 Wigan (0) 1 SAFC (1) 1 Little pleasure in watching this scrappy showing

Aug 31 2008 SAFC 0 v Manchester City 3 Suicidal defending gives us harsh reality check

Aug 27 2008 Notts Forest 1 v SAFC 2 Embarrassment avoided, but not a great performance

Aug 23 2008 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 v SAFC (0) 2 Strength and determination laced with real quality

Aug 16 2008 SAFC 0 v Liverpool 1 Cruel, but couldn’t sustain great first half display

* Sometimes there is a delay at Pete’s end and an emergency substitute is pressed into service. Sometimes there are technical difficulties. Sometimes Salut! Sunderland is caught napping. Preview seven-worders are also usually mine, not Pete’s. Between us, we do our best………

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Such nights don’t come along too often. We’d won promotion and clinched the title, the team were out celebrating with their wives (two of whom got on spectacularly badly as the night wore on). Pete Sixsmith looks back, taking his hat off to Roy Hodgson along the way

As we move into the closing phase of the season, we once again welcome Birmingham City to Sunderland. In recent years they have been regular visitors at this stage and there have been some memorable clashes between the alleged “second” clubs of their respective cities/regions.

In Reidy’s first promotion season, they were absolutely butchered at a noisy Roker Park. We were on the up and they were on the way down. They were in such a poor run of form that even Paul Stewart scored against them and we were spared the sight of the rotund Barry Fry doing his EasyJet impersonation in front of the main stand.

A couple of years (and a relegation for us and a promotion for Blues) later, we grabbed a point against them at the Stadium of Light in a tense and fraught game as we tracked Forest and the Smoggies. That game sticks in my memory because of a stupendous performance from Dele Adebola, who looked the perfect centre forward that night, and far better than a rather pedestrian Danny Dichio.

We missed out that year, but the year after, Reidy produced a wonderful side that romped away with the Nationwide Championship. Blues were our final visitors as we kissed goodbye to the Football League for ever, confident in the knowledge that we were a club destined to challenge the European aristocracy sooner rather than later; that, at least, was how we imagined it.

Blues were an improving side and took the lead in the first half. A full Stadium roared the Lads home as SuperKev sand Niall Quinn slotted home two goals, both of which looked offside, and we won 2-1.

Colin had driven up form London for the game and we had scrounged a lift through.

On the way home, we stopped off at the Dun Cow in Durham and ended up staying as our lift went home. Several pints of Castle Eden later, we were about to set off for the bus, when a couple of lads came in and said that the team were in O’Neills, the Irish bar in Claypath.

Scoop Randall sniffed a story out and we set off for aforementioned bar. On our arrival we came across the entire first team squad in the middle of a real hooley. Alex Rae was in charge of orders, running around with trays full of drinks while quaffing orange juice.

Andy Melville was looking morose as he had been told that he was being released, Mickey Gray and Martin Smith were buzzing and Chris Makin and Nicky Summerbee were propping up the bar supping Guinness and Blackcurrant – ugh!!

We ended up slaughtered and The Daily Telegraph ended up funding a taxi home – I think (it may have been my hope, Pete, but sadly I couldn’t come up with an excuse – ed). I took the next morning off work with a colossal hangover while Colin staggered through the morning before heading home.

Next day we heard that there had been a sharp exchange of views between the wives of two of the players in O’Neills (Martin Smith’s and Paul Butler’s: one local headline had it as “Wives Let Premier Passions Boil Over”). We missed it. It took place in the front bar while we were schmoozing with Makin and Buzzer in the back. Colin missed a scoop and I missed a few thousand brain cells.

In October when we played at St Andrews, I expected at least a point. We had beaten the plastic Scousers with the aid of a beach ball, while Blues were struggling to score goals and win games. They beat us 2-1 and have never looked back.

That they have had a very good season is down to good fortune with injuries, a settled side and an excellent manager in Alex McLeish. He took them down, got them up and has now made sure that they have comfortably retained their place for next season. He has signed some good players in Dann and Johnson, reformed a couple of nasties in Bowyer and Ferguson and made a great call in taking Joe Hart on loan.

His job was under pressure last season as they limped towards promotion, but quality counts. He has a good pedigree – Motherwell and Aberdeen are good clubs, Rangers are as big as most and he has worked with a national side even if it was only Scotland. And Birmingham have stuck with him. Good sides are built, not created.

Big Hec might have been in the running for Manager Of The Year. But for me, there is only one candidate: Roy Hodgson.

Fulham 4 Juventus 1 is the score line of the century. I saw Fulham at Feethams, not that many years ago, in a Fourth level game. Darlington beat them.

Thanks to Harrods money, and the work of Mickey Adams, Messiah Keegan and Super Brace, they climbed up the leagues into the top division. Under Laurie Sanchez they were on their way back to whence they came. Sanchez went, Hodgson (a man even older than me and Colin) came in and saved them from visits to Scunthorpe, Doncaster and Newcastle.

We beat them at Craven Cottage 3-1 and they were useless. Hodgson appeared on the radio afterwards and complimented Sunderland and Kenwyne Jones in particular. He accepted that it would be hard work to stop up. I wrote them off as did most people. They won five out of their last six games to stop up.

Since then, they have gone from strength to strength, are now an established Premier League club and are successful in Europe. Would that we were there. We need the patience with our management team that Fulham fans have shown to theirs.

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In the case of Rafa’s boys (as in Rafa’s for now), whom we play on March 28, I always have the fallback of having failed dismally as a father in not ordering my younger daughter to support Sunderland. Some inexplicable childhood fixation with John Barnes made her a Liverpool fan.

And I have a colleague in the UAE who would do it, and the editor of a fine Scouse blog. But it would be nice to find someone new.

I have had bouncebacks from some of the contacts given by the official supporters’ club. I have had complete silence from others, including the New York branch.

I haven’t even tried any of the following celebs, and some of them even I’ve heard of, who follow the Reds (or did so when alive), according to the website where I found them:

* Curtly Ambrose
* Johnny Ball
* Cilla Black
* Cherie Blair
* Ian Broudie
* Mel C
* Craig Charles
* Darren Clarke
* Elvis Costello
* Laura Davies
* Chris De Burgh
* Les Dennis
* Dr Dre
* Kirsty Gallacher
* Adam Gilchrist
* Michael Howard
* Samuel L. Jackson
* Martin Johnson
* Sue Johnston
* Angelina Jolie
* Ian McCulloch
* Mark Owen
* Urs Meier
* Pope John Paul II
* John Peel
* DJ Spooney
* Rod Stewart
* Joss Stone
* Jimmy Tarbuck
* Billy Bob Thornton
* Ricky Tomlinson
* Adam Woodyatt

But I am sure the joy of European success, and the expectation of beating us in the Premier to avenge a certain stray Liverpudlian beachball, will encourage that warm, witty or wise fan (I always aim high) to come forward and volunteer.

Just leave a message below, using a real e-mail address (which is visible only to me) and I will get in touch. And this is how Gerry Ormonde, from kopblog.com, did it earlier in the season.

Fulham? You can come too to stake a claim for the same exercise next season, provided we stay up.

Colin Randall

* Picture of the Kop, with all those empty seats reflecting our hapless search for a Liverpool fan, from Jonathan Gills’s Flickr pages.

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We’re on a mini-run, they’ve never had it so good in living memory. Saturday sees Sunderland v Birmingham City, and only a home win would have us seriously believing in revivalist terms. Leigh Bosworth*, pictured with a spoof front page presented to him on his recent 50th birthday, is co-founder of the newly relaunched Yorkshire Bluenoses (a branch of the BCFC supporters’ club until now divided into parts of the county) and rises to the Salut! Sunderland challenge with some great thoughts on Monty, SuperKev, money, cheating, Wayne Bridge v John Terry and his “best season” as a Bluenose …

Salut! Sunderland: So, completely useless against us in the Carling Cup and you haven’t looked back much since. Even Villa fans must be taking you seriously. Explain your great season so far …

The Carling Cup was not going to be a serious competition for us this season and even the £10 a head entry that night was too much for the lack of spectacle dished up by both teams. At least it was easy to get a beer or two beforehand and to get away from the ground afterwards.

As for our journey this season, we’ve had many a regaled cliché (no, not Gael Cliché) with the ‘professional’ pundits: we have had the expected struggle because we were simply not good enough without any proven players, then punched above our weight, dug in and ground out results, ridden our luck, been over the moon, this season’s surprise package and so on…

In brief though, it has been achieved without so-called megastars – who can be quite divisive – but rather with a bunch of honest players, a collective desire that is greater when they are thrown together, giving a fairly formidable team spirit, plus improving football as they have got used to each other, though without the goals the build up play has deserved at times. All in all, a cohesive group of technically competent footballers playing as a TEAM. Johnson & Dann, as the new central defensive partnership have been a wonder to behold, as they were untried at Premier league level, although Big Eck (Alex McLeish) as a former central defender himself, is a good judge of a stopper – possibly better than the fella we used to have at the managerial helm.

Interestingly, a month after we capitulated at the Stadium of Light in the Carling Cup, we beat you comfortably at our place and that was the first in our 15 game unbeaten run that took us into the top half of the table. This coincided with the new owners taking full control of the club and settling things down, which has helped enormously.

And there should be better to come, with new money coming into the club. What are your wildest ambitions – and your realistic expectations?

Better to come? There could well be and it does not take a brain scientist or a rocket surgeon to spot that we need a true finisher up front – a genetic clone of Kevin Phillips’s finishing ability and Cameron Jerome’s pace and strength would be ideal, though that person would probably want to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona instead of us. £40 million does not guarantee a 30 goals a season return on investment, of course, nor the badge-kissing attraction to star footballers of the cosmopolitan delights of Brum, so our final League position will be important in making us look like a viable proposition for players who are hungry for the prospect of (I’m not sure I can say this without laughing to myself) European football (I couldn’t do it).

I want to see us finish 6th or above in the next 2 or 3 seasons, as that is our best ever top flight finish (1956 – even before my time) and to get into Europe would be marvellous, though a logistical nightmare, as there would be 40,000 Bluenoses after tickets to whoever they are and wherever our opponents are based. Probably Scotland knowing our luck. That’s the realistic view, tinged with a dab of hope that this does not prove to be a one season event – wildest ambitions are FA Cup winners and Champions League appearance in the next decade.

Steve Bruce, Kevin Phillips, Teemu Taino and plenty more, not least Jimmy Montgomery. Any thoughts on the players and staff lined to both our clubs?

“Jim Montgomery, What A Goalie, What A Goalie” was great to watch in action and Kevin Phillips is easy to wax lyrical about. I’ll raise you Colin Todd, Frank Worthington, Tony Coton, Mick Harford and Howard Gayle from the 80s, too. Bumping into those on a night out would have been a good laugh, and while Colin and Frank would have been mild-mannered, if you spilled the drink of the other three, it would have quickly become a night to forget!

Any memories, good or bad, of past games between us?

I remember coming up in the “good old days” at Easter in 1981, going to a Hartlepool v Darlington local derby one day (3,000 crowd, all of whom were intent on fighting) staying overnight and doing Sunderland v Blues the next day. We lost 3-0 and when we asked where best to park, the PC told us “Newcastle”. It wasn’t just a man’s game on the pitch in those days.

Lately, we’ve got on well as fans I feel, probably as we’re neither of us much good usually! Our first Premiership campaign in 2002/3 was a great experience for us, as we doubled you, plus we got to see plenty of top flight grounds – yours still comes out pretty good in comparison to most.

Be honest: what were your expectations at the start of the season and where did you think we’d finish? Have you been surprised at our poor form?

Start of the season, I thought we had it in us to finish clear of at least Hull, Burnley, Wolves and Pompey and those
four have performed largely as expected. In all honesty, I would have expected you to kick on better than you have to date, though we know from our own experience that Brucey is somewhat limited in his vision: say no more.

Who will be this season’s top four, in order, and the bottom three? And where will each of our clubs finish off this season?

Top four: Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and… and… a horrible feeling it might be Vill…. no, Man City, it will be Man City.
Bottom three:
Pompey, Hull, Burnley, Wolves just escaping. A few of our lot want Wet Spam to slide out of the League, to rub David Sullivan’s face in it, but I just can’t be bothered wasting my breath on him.

We are 8th at present and I think there or 9th will be our finish. You will be 12th, I reckon.

Who are the greatest Birmingham City figures you’ve ever seen, the signings you’d like to see next and the players, past or present, who were a waste of space?

Trevor Francis as a player, without a doubt – if there had been the TV cameras about in his day that we enjoy now, he would have been subject of a video special every season. Bob Latchford as one of the last traditional centre forwards, though he would only last 10 minutes a game these days before the red card was out. In recent times, Christophe Dugarry had so much skill and the vision to see a pass to a team mate – brilliant to watch, sad to see his injuries drag his standards down towards the end of his time with us.

Signings: I’m too wary of the really big names after our let downs in the past with some of the supposed messiahs we brought in; so unless you could capture a youngster with Rooney’s passion for the game, I’m happy to see where Big Eck wants to go with his team approach (as long as that goal hungry striker arrives soon, of course).

Club vs country: will you be rooting for England in S Africa or too concerned about the Blues?

It’s always been Blues first, England second for me: it’s a good job the World Cup falls out of season, but I’ll definitely be a big screen armchair fan for England when it comes around. Mind you, we do have the Blues’ China pre-season tour to get fully organised for later in July, which is not to be missed.

Was Wayne Bridge right to exclude himself from international selection and to refuse to shake John Terry’s hand?

Plenty of people will tell you that when if full back leaves a hole, it is the centre half’s job to plug that gap, which only illustrates you can find (a small amount of) humour in any situation. However, anyone with a shred of decency will be on Bridge’s side. For him to exclude himself from a World Cup squad shows the depth of feeling he has about the situation and that must have been a VERY tough call to make. Terry has demonstrated his singular ego time and again in his career and while that may help him on the football pitch, he isn’t much of a man. I’m surprised Bridge didn’t shake him by the throat.

Despite Birmingham;s share of it, is there too much money sloshing around in football and will it ruin the game?

Yes and yes.

The Eduardo question: a blatant dive, unseen by the referee, wins you the penalty and the winner in the last second of the last game of the season and you’ve clinched a place in Europe. You take it gladly, you take it guiltily or you feel so ashamed you almost wish you hadn’t won?

Take it, though it would be with slightly less unadulterated joy than if it was an open play goal or a nailed on spot kick. History books do not qualify results with “blatant dive” in the margin, so it would be forgotten by most fans fairly quickly, plus we then have those 40,000 lifelong fans clamouring to get a European ticket to some tiny Maltese team they’ve never heard of.

Bear in mind, we are Blues and we don’t get awarded the nailed on penalties very often, so anything a ref gives us that are not yellow or red cards, should be accepted with gratefulness.

You’re going to our match. What are your plans for the day out, and what will be the score?

A pal is getting the train to Leeds in the morning, I’m picking him up, then we’re off up to a cricket club near-ish the ground that I’ve been invited to (if we find it) for a beer or two and a bite to eat. Park up as near the ground as we can, saunter off to meet a couple of his work pals who are Sunderland fans, another beer or two, then a stroll to the ground. Unfortunately, the rest of our usual Yorkshire tribe are unable to make it this weekend, though this could be a blessing for the wallet. As I have to use the car this time, it won’t be one of our classic days out, as those taken by train are the stuff of legend, but I am 50 now, so it is time to become the sage chap who always does the right thing, so the good lady implores me at any rate (a-hem).

I’m interested to see if we can keep the impetus going now we are safe from relegation, or if we will not be as determined as you will be, as you still need those few points to make certain you are secure. I’d love to see a rip-roaring game and a 5-4 win for us, but I think you might just nick it 2-1.

Leigh Bosworth on Leigh Bosworth: Brummie by birth (we do not tend to attract glory hunters for some reason) from the Blue two-thirds of the city, though I’ve lived and worked in Leeds since 1985. Celebrated my 50th birthday this very month and this is looking like the being the best Blues season of my life.

Fellow supporters in the region should note that the two separate branches have amalgamated to re-launch the Yorkshire Bluenose Society, which can be reached via:

Leigh Bosworth: blueboz@hotmail.com

Derek Bradley: janddonwalkabout@hotmail.com

Rob Smitten: smittenrp@btinternet.com

I’m a pensions consultant to large company schemes, though at the football season’s end, to the very day, I will become unemployed. It might be nice to have a break, but the mortgage needs to be paid somehow, so I suppose I’ll be looking harder by the end of April to find a new role. Not a position I’ll ever be in as far as my team’s support is concerned – I wonder if there’s a need for fully professional fans?

I’ve been going to the Blues since the 1960s – so that spans six decades now, which sounds almost as long as it feels. Blues have been the cause of most of my heartaches in life, which I’m sure is an emotion with which many fans empathise, but believe me, our lot find amazing ways to whip your legs out from under you, then kick you when you’re down. I always get back up though.

http://www.brumsnumberone.com is the site I use most, though I’ve been less of a presence this season than usual, as the work/life balance has been crazy and I’m also on a crash course, learning how to be the world’s best granddad (after Salut! Sunderland – ed.). The BN1 site is full of people I’ve known for years and even after an absence of some weeks, I slip back into it like one does with a favourite old Blues shirt from the past, all warm and welcoming.

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This first appeared a couple of days ago, but deserves a bump back to the top because of the quality of the ensuing debate.

Phil Brown is a Mackem, he’s passionate and he led Hull City to heights few of their fans can realistically have expected to see. He has done questionable things – the dressing down for his team on the field at Eastlands was amateurish, Sloop John B on the pitch embarrassing, not talking to local radio absurd – but overall he can hold his head high. Jeremy Robson, a Sunderland fan exiled in Canada, puts in a few words for the man who must now choose between becoming events and entertainments manager of the local WI or using his gardening leave to profitable horticultural effect …

There’s a certain irony, isn’t there, with clubs (and the associated manager) overachieving. Chairmen are rarely happy with a single miracle and want a second (or in Hull’s case a third following promotion and then avoiding the drop). Football managers really ought to be careful what they wish for.

Phil Brown got Hull City somewhere they’ve spent their entire existence dreaming about (see nicksarebi’s Flickr photo of that grand day at Wembley). Now he’s got the sack.

No Jock Stein, or Brian Clough is Phil, but he’s effectively become a victim of his own success.

Personally I think he got dead lucky when they went up. (Our own) Fraizer Campbell looked the business down there on loan.

Allied to Michael Turner and an ageing Barmby and Windass who gave everything for him he managed to get them up against all odds. There’s an argument of course which says that regardless of who the manager may be, come the end of the season there will be three teams go down and three go up.

That’s just the way it is, and the line between success and failure is very thin indeed. The play offs to all intents and purposes mean that line is removed altogether. The ultimate spin of the wheel that turns losers into winners.

Maybe the Hull board should have been grateful and been content with a swashbuckling adventure of a season in the top flight and accepted that they will eventually drop to their normal level sooner rather than later, but no the miracle maker is deposed to tending his allotment while the likes of Brian Horton (previously not considered good enough to manage Hull any longer, together with Steve Parkin; (who was sacked at Rochdale not so long ago) are handed the reins.

I quite like Phil Brown. He’s one of us. If they were going to sack him it should probably have been earlier in the season or in the summer for my money. I’m not saying that he has done a particularly good job at Hull City during his time in the Premier League, but what exactly did the board expect other than a battle against the drop?

The only players that were prepared to sign for him were those drinking in the PL’s last chance saloon, (McShane, Kilbane, Boateng and the permanently injured Bullard) who weren’t wanted by other top flight clubs or who were comparatively larger fish in other very small ponds such as Cousin and Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The teams that Brown put out were as good as could reasonably be expected.

Bigger names were unlikely to want to sign for a club of Hull’s stature when the statistics against them remaining in the top flight for more than two seasons makes grim reading, not just for Hull City, but any newly promoted club. It’s even worse for the club that gets up via the play offs.

There’s a long list of managers who were considered to be the best thing since sliced bread at the post promotion party. Billy Davies, Owen Coyle, Tony Mowbray, Nigel Worthington, Alan Pardew, Danny Wilson, George Burley, to name a few that ultimately became the victims of their own success in getting unfancied, less wealthy teams promoted against the odds.

Their various moments of glory were fleeting and most of them were relieved of duty when results started to falter. Phil Brown is just the latest name on that list. All of these managers were rather like Icarus. They flew too high and too fast. Owen Coyle’s real mettle will be tested during the run in to the end of the season. In three seasons he will be the manager at Old Trafford if you believe some observers. He’s equally likely to be driving a milk float; truth be told.

There are those who point to Phil’s half time rant at Eastlands and attribute this to Hull’s fall down the table. Results after the Man City game and even in the second half were no worse and no better than those which went before. The depth of Hull City’s problems are yet to be revealed and they have not departed with Phil Brown.

Hull City are in what appears to be a particularly unenviable financial position if various media reports are to be believed.

Maybe sacking him and saving his salary is the long and the short of it. It really doesn’t seem like footballing sense to me.

If I were a Hull fan, I’d be seriously concerned at having Messrs Horton and Parkin in charge as no long term successor appears to have been scouted ahead of time. A kneejerk reaction is one thing, To have little idea why your knee is jerking is a completely different matter.

I will personally miss Phil Brown’s sun tan, microphone and the fact that he always seems to say just what he thinks. That’s what you get with a Mackem.

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Are the suits intent on chipping away at the soul of football until nothing’s left, as I suggested elsewhere in response to SAFC’s new Big Idea, hawking the name of the Stadium of Light? Or does it not matter a jot what the place is called as long as we are given something to appreciate once inside? Colin Randall thought he was sure of the answer …

So there I was, driving through France and feeling happy with life. I’ve just about persuaded myself (perhaps prematurely) that we’re not going down. I love France and shouted as much when I saw the first road sign – Aix-en-Provence/Toulon/Nice – that told me I was on the last leg (Toulon being little more than a Jonny Wilkinson drop kick from where I live).

Then came a succession of noises from the mobile, enough to give me the idea there might be a hot new debate on the Blackcats e-mail loop.

I’d better choose my words carefully here and say that once I’d safely parked the car in the next aire, I nearly hit the roof (not too hard a feat as my Clio is quite small).

The thread began with a question from Damian Kelf. “Just wondering,” he asked, “what are people’s thoughts on the club selling the naming rights to the Stadium? Personally I would hate it – even if it brought a shed load of money in. I hate having to hear a sponsor’s name everytime something like that is mentioned – like ‘Cellnet Riverside Stadium’ or The FA Cup ’sponsored by Eon’.”

This was the first I’d heard of the plan, and the news enraged me. “What will corporate football do to us next?,” I asked out loud, which was fairly pointless as the only other living creature in the car was the cat.

I have to be consistent. Salut! Sunderland mocked Newcastle United when Mike Ashley heaped a ton of salt on open Toon wounds by renaming St James’ Park sportsdirect.com@St James’ Park in the hope of selling the first bit before the @ to someone, anyone.

So why should I be any more lenient on Steve Walton, SAFC chief executive (who may, for all I know, wear Philosophy Football’s Len Shackleton and Against Mod€rn Football T-shirts and read only When Saturday Comes, Salut! Sunderland and A Love Supreme)?

And I knew what my thoughts on auctioning the naming rights to the Stadium of Light were.

Plenty of responses, as my beeping Blackberry proved. But not many fans, or at least not many at Blackcats, seem to care as much. One contributor talked about losing part of our identity, and a few shuddered at the thought of the name changing every so often as sponsors came and went. Most were simply unconcerned, bothered only about what the team did.

“I would have felt that this was sacrilege had it been Roker Park,” said one, and his view was echoed by others. “I care very little for the wet dream for Blue Circle that we currently call home. It’s a lot better than some new stadia but a characterless place compared to the wonderful Roker.”

All of which Mr Walton may take as vindication. He was quoted as saying Sunderland fans would understand the financial benefits of a potential deal and would not be concerned by a change to the name of a stadium that opened only in 1997. “It doesn’t necessarily carry the same emotion” – as it might with Roker Park? St James’ Park? – “because it’s a relatively new stadium.”

He went on: “And it would only be done if it was completely right ….”

Now Steve’s talking. Completely right for the fans, for tradition, for integrity?

Er, not quite. “… completely right for the business.”

But then I thought again. What if someone came along and said: “Look, we like Salut! Sunderland. Can we sponsor you and rename your site Salut! Nissan, Arriva Salut!, Salut! National Glass Centre? As long as you and Pete and your pals keep filling the site, you’ll never have to work for anyone else again.”

Put it like that, Mr Walton, and we’re on the horns of a dilemma.

But rest assured it would be done only if it was completely right. For the business.

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He was asked to do it for charity – Sport Relief – and refused point blank. It is not that he’s an especially tight sod who’d never dream of digging into his pockets for a good cause; in fact, he even offered to shower Adrian Chiles, presenter of BBC’s One Show, with cash.

But he drew the line at the shirt. “I would rather give you a lot of money than put that on,” he said. “My life wouldn’t be worth living if I went back to Newcastle after putting that on.”

A good response, Alan, and we’d be delighted to record at Salut! Sunderland how much you ended up giving.

But not quite as good a response as a Sunderland fan gave after starring in a film that required him to wear the black and white stripes of Newcastle United.

As recounted in our old Celebrity Supporters series, young Sean Landless shared top billing with Billy Connolly a few years ago in Gabriel and Me, playing Jimmy Spud, the son of a dysfunctional Mag (there being other, we’re assured).

At the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Sean – just 14 when he got the part – revealed that having to wear a black and white top was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

Surely not as bad as what they made him put on when the script had him trying to turn himself into an angel to save his cancer-stricken father?

Oh yes it was.

“I had to dress up in a sort of feathery dress,” he said. “But having to wear the Newcastle shirt was worse.”

* If you wish to help make Sport Relief a success, visit the site by clicking this link.

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At long last, Sunderland are showing signs of being the useful team we thought Steve Bruce had assembled when we were beating Arsenal and Liverpool and getting so close to victory at Old Trafford. Pete Sixsmith awards warm praise where it’s due, but wishes we could have kept those signs evident for 94 minutes, not just 45 …

If you had been a Martian visiting our planet and been told there was a football match taking place between the richest club on Earth and a team struggling at the wrong end of the table, and the person telling you had forgotten to mention which team was which, you would have assumed yesterday that the one in Red and White stripes represented Croesus and the Blues were the strugglers.

You would have revelled in a performance of the Red and Whites’ centre forward who won everything in the air, caused untold problems for the poor Blues’ centre half (clearly a bargain plucked from the lower divisions) and who scored a quite superb goal.

The two centre halves of the Red and Whites would have astonished you with their ability to think and react quicker than the blues forwards, particularly the one with Mensah written on his back, while the defender called Hutton impressed you with his speed and firm tackling.

In the central areas of the game, that little fellow exhaling a cloud of scented smoke, Malbranque, burrowed his way into the heart of the relegation threatened visitors and the youngster known as Meyler won all the battles he had with his opponents.

As you went to the executive lounge for your three cups of tea and three plates of sandwiches (one for each head), you would have been astonished to hear that it was the Blue team who were rolling in oil money and were looking for a place in the Champions’ League.

Well, that’s how it seemed to me at half time. We produced a 45-minute spell as good as anything seen at the Stadium since Reid’s team were consistent winners in the early days of this century. It was a performance of commitment and intelligence, with the players named above outstanding.

Jones was awesome and if he leaves in the summer, a huge fee needs to be negotiated – which probably rules out Liverpool. Mensah was superb at the back with his ability to think quickly and move into the space where his brain tells him to go. He has a good balance with Turner who captained the side well. His short ball to Meyler, who had hardly had a touch in the opening phase of the game set up the goal.

However, only one goal to show and there was a feeling in the Gents that City had to improve in the second half. Bent and Campbell had spurned decent chances after Jones’s opener and you have to take them.

Mancini had obviously given his side a severe talking-to at half time and they came out with a completely different attitude and approach. Over the 45 minutes, they probably deserved a point, but I was disappointed with them, not just for their play but for their attitude.

Bellamy, Tevez, SWP (surely the only player to have the same initials as a political party, unless I have missed Barry Norman-Pratt) , De Jong, Santa Cruz and Richards all twisted and moaned and tried to put pressure on Chris Foy. Richards could have had a red for a shocking tackle on Steeeed, while SWP showed all the negative character traits passed on by his father and none of the determination he showed when things were going badly.

When he went off and Johnson came on, I thought that this would all end in tears and it did. He took his goal well and he looks a genuine prospect for South Africa. Pity Bruce didn’t sign him.

At the end of the game, there was a feeling we had thrown points away, but as we walked back to the car, that disappointment was tempered with the feeling that we had matched a team that has genuine hopes of Champions’ League football. They spent the equivalent of our last season’s losses on Joleon Lescott, who was not a patch on the excellent Mensah.

Craig Gordon silenced any doubters with as good a display of goalkeeping as you will see. He is a top notch keeper and his calming influence on the back four is very important. Puts to bed for ever the “debate” about whether it should be Gordon or Fulop between the sticks.

What of City? Not quite “Champions’ League, you’re having a laugh” but they don’t look anywhere near the finished article. Mancini is prepared to change things and it was a smart move to replace Bridge with Santa Cruz; it wasn’t the managers fault that Santa Cruz was ineffective.

I was disappointed with their support. They did not sell out their allocation and they were very, very quiet until the closing stages when their team began to turn the screw. Maybe they are not entirely convinced about the direction they are going in. I would be interested to hear their responses.

Birmingham up next and we are without Kenwyne, who looks as if he could be out for a while. Hopefully Benjani will seize his opportunity and fire us up the league. I think we are looking up instead of looking down.

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