The Sixer's Soapbox

The world saw Pete Sixsmith shaking his head in disbelief, or rather all too familiar belief, at Molineux. If you thought that made for dodgy television, wait until you read what Pete makes of having been present at the chilling reality of one more Sunderland collapse …

Martin O’Neill started to follow Sunderland at about the same time as M Salut and I.

We all worshipped Charlie Hurley, Jimmy McNab, George Mulhall and others of that generation. That side was a good one that failed to establish itself in the top flight because of a dithering board of directors. Our current custodian of the club has acted quickly and has appointed a manager renowned for being successful. What on earth did he make of Sunday?

He must have been impressed with the two Kierans and Sessegnon: all three did well. For 70 minutes, he must have nodded his head in approval as Brown and O’Shea strode through the game and looked like the players we expect them to be.

Larsson, Bardsley and Colback would probably have him thinking that they were competent, if limited Premier League players. He saw the best and worst of Cattermole – a great through ball to Bendtner in the build up to the goal, preceded by a needless booking when he attempted to hold up a Wolves player. He won’t be starting next Sunday as it was his fifth yellow of the season. Not a captain who leads by example.

I don’t think he would have been impressed with Ji Dong-won or Bendtner. The Korean looked way, way out of his depth, while the Dane did not seem to have a great deal of, shall we say, “personal motivation”.

As Larsson lined up to take the penalty, O’Neill could well have been thinking that we had won it and it relieved the pressure. Twenty minutes later, he would have been thinking that he and his coaching staff have an awful lot of work to do between now and next Sunday if we are to stay out of the bottom three.

This was a four game stretch that was supposed to start our season off, four winnable games against teams in the same category as us: strugglers. From three games, we have taken one point – and that came courtesy of a glaring Clint Dempsey miss.

We have taken the lead in the last two and have proved incapable of holding on to it. This week, we contrived to let Steve Fletcher loose in the box on two occasions so that he could score. That’s what Fletcher does – put him in the box and he scores. Presumably, neither Brown nor O’Shea realised this and so left him unmarked.

But the main problem came in the centre of midfield, where our two limited members, Cattermole and Colback, were pushed back by their two limited members, Edwards and O’Hara. Four similar players, neat and tidy, good ball winners, lacking in imagination, but the Wolves pair seized the opportunity to push us back. Plus, they have an outlet in Jarvis that we do not. Width and pace are sadly lacking in O’Neill’s inherited team.

The first half was distinctly average, with a great save from Westwood and a Sessegnon shot cleared off the line being the only notable incidents. Wolves concentrated on getting the ball to Jarvis, but Bardsley handled him well and Fletcher and Doyle did little to trouble the centre backs.

Richardson’s excellent goal gave us hope and when Larsson tumbled over Craddock’s outstretched leg for the penalty, it looked all over. He made the most of it, but Craddock did have his leg in the way and there was minimal contact. Phil Dowd was perfectly positioned and was right to give it (Salut! Sunderland split shock – ed).

Whether Larsson was right to take it was another matter. Sessegnon took the last one we got and stroked it in nicely. Larsson appeared to be intimidated by the unhappy crowd and the giant figure of Hennessey and took a penalty that I could have saved. Poor stuff!!

I turned to Ronnie McDonald and said: “We’ll lose this now.” That was based on 50 years of watching Sunderland and I know when we are about to fall to pieces. Had we scored, the crowd would have been quietened and may well have turned on McCarthy and we would have coasted home.

Instead, they perceived that a wrong had been righted and went up and scored. Wolves fans can be a miserable bunch (QPR and Swansea at home show that), but when they get the bit between their teeth, they can lift players. Which is exactly what they did.

The previously unruffled Brown and O’Shea now found themselves under intense pressure and could not handle it. Jarvis skinned Bardsley, O’Hara might have handled it in the build up to the winner but Brown lost Fletcher and that was it. From a position of dominance, we were now in deficit and never looked like levelling.

The new management team have this week to instil some confidence in a bunch of players who are severely lacking it at the moment. Goalscoring is a problem as there is nobody we can rely on to get us one when we are under pressure. The midfield does not impose itself and it will be interesting to see who gets in on Sunday. There are rumours that Gardner has not settled and may be off to Wolves in January. O’Neill has already sold him once.

As for Wolves, they worked hard throughout and personify Mick McCarthy: gritty, determined and reliable, a hard side to beat if you allow them to come back at you. It was a huge win for them and gives them hope for the future. That’s the third season running they have come from behind to beat us at Molineux. They must love playing Sunderland.

Next Sunday is now a real six-pointer and a serious test for the new manager. Expectations of a 17th place finish are all that we are interested in at the moment, but a resurgent Rovers team may well dump us in the bottom three. Martin O’Neill must be thinking wistfully of the Hurleys and Crossans of another world as he looks at the collection of odds and ends that make up the squad he has inherited.

This is where Pete Sixsmith captures the glory and shame, hope and despair, excitement and ennui of the Sunderland matchday experience. When, rarely, Pete is absent or delayed, a supersub does it for him and the seven-word verdict is preceded by an asterisk. Pete’s full analysis of the game will usually appear within a day or two.

Today, our new manager Martin O’Neill sat in the directors’ box and watched as Eric Black led the team on the eve of his certain departure from SAFC. Eric knows the score and will probably find work whenever Steve Bruce does, too. Martin knows the score: he has his work cut out to turn a promising if incomplete bunch of players into a team that can build on or defend a lead. OK, the penalty was fortunate but Larsson should have converted it; instead of 2-0, it was 1-1 less than a minute later, and 1-2 soon afterwards as Fletcher returned from an offside position to blast home when set up by O’Hara (who had blatantly handled). Phil Dowd’s way of evening things out; our way, however, of defending appallingly.

The full Sixer’s Sevens archive – see link below – sums up what all Sunderland supporters feel, from darkest gloom to sublime elation, in the words one who is usually there …

Dec 4 2011 Wolverhampton Wanderers (0) 2 SAFC (0) 1 More points sacrificed through weak, sloppy defending

Nov 26 2011 SAFC (1) 1 Wigan Athletic (1) 2 *Bruce’s reign surely over after this debacle. That was M Salut’s verdict, followed by these from Mr Sixsmith: “Shambolic defending spells end for Bruce now”, “He must go after another clueless performance”, “Got what we deserved after brainless display”, “Pressed the self destruct button yet again”, “Second half shocker means Bruce’s time’s up” and finally “Print them all”.

Nov 19 2011 SAFC (0) 0 Fulham (0) 0 Truly appalling game lacking pace, creativity, threat

Nov 5 2011 Manchester United (1) 1 SAFC (0) 0 Decent performance but slipshod defending cost us

Oct 29 2011 SAFC 2 (1) Aston Villa 2 (1) … Determination and effort produced a fair result

Oct 22 2011 Bolton Wanderers (0) 0 SAFC (0) 2 … Team selection vindicated in impressive second half

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 …

It is not quite official. But all the signs are that Martin O’Neill, famously a boyhood supporter of Sunderland, will soon be confirmed – and not for the first time of asking – as our manager. Pete Sixsmith climbs on to his soapbox to offer a hearty, if premature welcome; Salut! Sunderland readers will probably beat M Salut to the news when it formally comes ..

So it looks as if the heart has won and we are going to appoint Martin O’Neill as the 28th Sunderland manager (including “caretakers”) in my 50 years as a supporter. He joins an auspicious group alongside the likes of Bob Stokoe, Peter Reid and Alan Brown – and also those who had less auspicious times in the Roker/SoL hot seat in Mick Buxton, Ian McColl and Howard Wilkinson.

For many Sunderland fans, it is an appointment made in heaven. Pete Horan texted “I can feel the buzz coming back” while friends at the Brandon v Thornaby game last night were enthusiastic about bringing a top class manager into the club for the first time since 1985 and Lawr .. well, let’s forget that one.

What are we going to get for Ellis Short’s money? O’Neill is a motivator, a man with European experience and a man who has won trophies and guided his teams to the upper echelons of the Premier League. He has a reputation for being animated, for being touchy with journalists and TV reporters and for not suffering fools gladly – so bang go my chances of an interview with him.

He has principles as his walk outs from Norwich City and Aston Villa show. Short may well find him pricklier than Bruce, who came across as a manager who knew what was good for him in potential conflict with the owner. Would O’Neill have let Gyan go at the last minute? I doubt it. Would O’Neill have really pushed for the money to bring in a winger? I think he would.

He now has Bruce’s squad to work with until January. The always reliable Pat Murphy (who must double as O’Neill’s agent) has said a number of times that O’Neill does not need a shed load of money and will work within reasonable financial parameters; something which he felt was missing with Randy Lerner at Villa Park.

There are some decent players to work with, but there is an imbalance. There are too many hard working midfield players; we have insufficient flair. No out and out wingers to get the ball across to the one genuine forward we seem to possess.

The defence seems solid, although O’Shea will need to get out of the comfort zone he appears to inhabit. He has been the most disappointing of the summer signings as I expected a lot more from him both in terms of ability and leadership. I am as sure as I can be that there will be no comfort zones under O’Neill.

He has a chance to assess the squad on Sunday. They need to impress. Keith Scott reminded me of the situation when Keane was appointed after the Southend/Bury debacles. Players who had been disinterested and offhand suddenly gave themselves a shake and beat a team that were near the top of the league. Keith said that they had been cheating Quinn and that if they could play as well as that when a new manager was watching, why hadn’t they done it previously?

Should we perform at Wolves, Steve Bruce may well be asking the same question.

Pete Sixsmith mulls over the two most-mentioned candidates for the managerial seat left vacant by Steve Bruce’s dismissal …

So, the inevitable has happened and Steve Bruce has left the club. I was in no doubt after Saturday that he was as close as close could be to the sack; when it didn’t come on Monday, I thought he had been thrown a lifeline, but once again, I was wrong.

The owner has done the correct thing as there was little possibility of Bruce retrieving his relationship with the crowd. Three lengthy periods of turgid football and poor results, interspersed with the odd sparkling display, had done for him and it was better to put this horse out of its misery now.

It has been suggested that the sacking was delayed as a mark of respect to Gary Speed and this may well have played a part in it. It is more likely that the club were sounding out potential candidates before dispensing with his services. The last thing we wanted was to be scrambling around for a manager with two vital games coming up.

The fact that Eric Black has stayed indicates to me that an appointment is imminent. He will probably leave as soon as the new man arrives, the unfortunate thing being that we will also probably lose the excellent Keith Bertschin, who has been a real pleasure to watch as reserve team boss. He is the antithesis of Bruce – calm, thoughtful and full of encouragement.

The two prime candidates are Martin O’Neill and Mark Hughes. Both are available and both would probably relish managing an established Premier League club with strong support and strong potential. Had we retained Bruce and our Premier League status at the end of the season, I would have gone for a younger manager, but this is no time to be taking steps into the unknown, so the likes of Adkins, Lambert and Poyet have missed their opportunity to manage the greatest club in the world.

So, which one do we choose? It’s a bit like Nursey in Blackadder 2 offering Pony Club Queen Elizabeth “right breasty dumpling or left breasty dumpling”. Both are attractive propositions, but there is little real difference between the two.

As I drove home from a postponed game at Bedlington last night, my thoughts fluctuated between the two. Both have a good record in management, both have managed more successful clubs than we have been for umpty dozen years and both are available.

Michael Gray gave a glowing testimonial for Hughes, saying that he would be an ideal fit, while the always excellent and totally reliable Radio 5Live journo Pat Murphy said O’Neill would be very, very interested in taking over and would not necessarily want a huge pot of money to spend on players.

My pal Pete Horan plumps for O’Neill arguing that he is the living embodiment of Brian Clough and a man who is “a perfect fit for Sunderland. No doubt there are others out there who would speak as well for Hughes.

A new era begins. The manager has left, welcome to the new one. We must hope that we will not be echoing The Who’s words “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

In an ideal world, bright SAFC publicity people would have told Pete Sixsmith: “Get yourself along to the Reserves; someone’s due a hammering.” Instead, the 7-0 demolition of Scunthorpe was out of bounds to Salut! Sunderland and practically everyone else. So Pete joined Steve Bruce and others at an FA Youth Cup game – and saw us beaten…

Away from the brouhaha surrounding the continued employment of Steve Bruce and the sadness surrounding the tragic demise of Gary Speed, there has been some football played.

In the afternoon, the reserves demolished Scunthorpe United 7-0 at the Academy (but we’re not allowed in to watch) with Ryan Noble getting a hat trick in four minutes. Pity he couldn’t have done that against Fulham. He must be in line for a place on Sunday and if on the bench, and will with any luck be given longer than last time on the field.

Last night at a cold and draughty Eppleton, our beleaguered manager watched the Under 18s take on their Nottingham Forest counterparts in the 3rd round of the FA Youth Cup.

Like the Carling Cup and, presumably, the FA Cup, our interest ended at this, the first hurdle, as Forest ran out deserved 2-1 winners.

It was an entertaining game settled by two strikes from a very impressive Forest centre forward called Patrick Bamford. His first, to level after George Honeyman had put us ahead, was a rasping shot, his second a very impressive header. No careless penalties or schoolboy defending here!

Honeyman had taken his goal well after some impressive approach work from Mikael Mandron, a tall and bulky French striker and winger Glen Lane. But we looked uncomfortable against the probing of Jack Blake and Wilfred Gnahore and never got to grips with Bamford.

His movement off the ball was excellent and Jordan Lavender and Thomas McNamee, our two central defenders, struggled against him all night. He has a touch of cockiness about him as well; his goal celebrations at the corner flag were clearly designed for future TV coverage.

Bally was disappointed with some of his players and his voice could be heard ringing out as he told them to help each other out and get tighter. Bruce, guarded by Nigel Spink, watched from the main stand and was, as far as I could tell, left alone by those stood or sat nearby.

He now has the three most important days of his professional life as he prepares a team for the game at Molineux. The midfield must be more positive, the attack more concentrated. Whether he wants to throw a youngster like Noble in to what could be a real snarl of a match, is a difficult decision. He is handsomely paid for doing that – though his recent decisions have not been good.

We shall see …

Pete Sixsmith, with apologies to Bon Jovi (or was it a band called Europe?) for his headline choice, is fed up. From Bardsley’s impersonation of Jonny Wilkinson (can conversions be that high in rugby?) to the kamikaze defending, yesterday was no day for faint hearts; Sixer’s nearly gave up the ghost …

At 4.49 on Saturday, the usually reliable Wes Brown made an elementary error to hand Wigan Athletic their first away win of the season and, in all probability, start the process that brings down the curtain on Steve Bruce’s 30 months in charge at the Stadium of Light.

Brown’s error was inexplicable, on a day that featured hapless central defenders in Wesley, the manager and David Corner, dragged from well deserved obscurity to do the half time draw to applause that was so muted as to be almost sepulchral. However his error at Wembley did not lead to howls of derision coming down from the stands. Brown’s did.

I have never heard Sunderland fans turn on a manager like this. From all four stands came “Bruce Out” and it got louder as the final whistle went. Reid got some of it, Wilkinson was booed, Keane was grumbled at, while poor Mick McCarthy was given oodles of sympathy because he had nothing to spend.

This was a full scale mutiny from fans who love the club, who want it to succeed, who have sat and suffered for 11 months and have been rewarded with two home wins. These are fans who pay £400 for season tickets, who come every game and, like Peter Finch in Network are “as mad as hell and ain’t going to take it any more” The clear feeling was that enough was enough.

And yet, it started so well. The passing was crisp and sharp and for 35 minutes, it looked like a game between a side on the up and a side stuck at the bottom. Bendtner held the ball up well, Sessegnon ran at the defenders and was kicked for his pains, Richardson looked dangerous and the defence was untroubled. When the impressive Larsson took advantage of an error by Al-Habsi, we sat back and awaited the oft promised kick start.

It failed to materialise. The keeper made up for his mistake with good saves from Richardson and Brown, but the turning point came when Phil Bardsley missed an absolute sitter in front of goal. From that moment on, the confidence drained away and Wigan began to believe that there was something in this game for them

Moses began to run at the permanently disappointing O’Shea and when Larsson clumsily nudged him in the box, Gomez put away the penalty to level up a minute before half time. Had we gone in 1 up, it would have eased the pressure. The crowd would have applauded them off. Bruce could have emphasised the positives. But we didn’t.

We started the second half well, but it soon began to fall away. Bendtner kept out of the Wigan box, allowing Caldwell and Stam (hardly world class central defenders) to organise and clear their lines. Al-Habsi was not forced into one worthwhile save in the second half as crosses whizzed along the line and defenders blocked shots.

The substitutions smacked of panic. Off came Cattermole and Bardsley to be replaced by a new central midfield combination in Gardner and Vaughan. They had 25 minutes to try and change the course of the game and they failed. Then, O’Shea went off to be replaced by Ji and Larsson went to right back rather than slinging in centres at the still to convince Korean.

This decision probably sums up Steve Bruce. Here was a game we had to win – a draw was as bad as a defeat – and he cannot/will not trust his defenders to hold out while the kitchen sink (or in our case, the kitchen washing up bowl|) is thrown at the opposition. Safety first all the time; so little spark and imagination.

Then came the blunder that will be talked about for weeks and it was all over. Wigan had not forced Westwood into a single save, yet they had won. Players slumped to the ground prostrate and the jeering cranked up.

Martinez took over at Wigan at the same time as Bruce took over at Sunderland. He has had considerably less money to spend and cannot lure players to the DW Stadium with promises of a passionate crowd and immortality.

But what he can do is organise a side. Whoever he picks, they will know exactly what they have to do. They will be well prepared, well briefed and will play to a pattern. The midfield pushes forward, they have pace and although they are lightweight up front, they have willing runners who do not drift in and out of the game.

We far too often appear to be 11 men in Red and White shirts who are told to go out and play. Midfield sits deep. Sessegnon is told to be tricky. Bendtner is told to put himself about. But there does not appear to be any plan or any coherent approach to the game. It’s all about “rolling the sleeves up on the training ground”. I can hear Martinez and the young breed of managers coming through (Adkins, Lambert, Rogers), having a wee chuckle at that.

What now? Bruce handled the press conference with dignity and a degree of honesty – although he was not publicly prepared to admit to any shortcomings. He said he is not a quitter and that he is sure he can “sort this out”. I wonder.

He will have an awful week. There are many who would happily drop him off the Wearmouth Bridge and few who would throw him a lifebelt. He will probably remain in charge for the Wolves game and, if we win that, the Blackburn one. Lose either and he will be gone.

Ellis Short is from Missouri and Missourians are known to be sceptical. It is known as “The Show Me State”, indicating that, for those from Independence Mo, actions speak louder than words. His actions over the next two weeks will show us if Short can follow in the footsteps of Harry Truman and make a very difficult decision and cut loose a manager he has backed. 40,000 people wait expectantly, Ellis.

This is where Pete Sixsmith captures the glory and shame, hope and despair, excitement and ennui of the Sunderland matchday experience. When, rarely, Pete is absent or delayed, a supersub does it for him and the seven-word verdict is preceded by an asterisk. Pete’s full analysis of the game will usually appear within a day or two.

Today was a day that brought some ennui, a little shame and lots of despair.

Sunderland’s owner Ellis Short wrote in his debut matchday programme notes that there was no need for panic though “the performances and results on the pitch are our number one concern and we are all looking for improvement there”. After a storming start, one goal and several missed chances, we might at least have expected something resembling that improvement to be visible once we reached 10 to five this evening.

How predictable that we should then concede a daft penalty and, as Gary Bennett put it in radio commentary, “run out of ideas” before letting Wigan win. The October and November’s games – the run M Salut gave Steve Bruce to turn things around – are up. So, with the greatest of respect, is Steve Bruce’s number. Panic or not, the results (which include a quite scandalous three points from home games versus WBA, Villa, Fulham and Wigan) remove any vestige of understanding, patience and support for the manager’s position.

Much more will be said on this in the coming days, days Bruce will surely be extremely fortunate to survive with his job. But in truth, he should not need to be told; he should solemnly recognise his duty and do the professional equivalent of retreating with brandy and revolver to the study.

The full Sixer’s Sevens archive – see link below – sums up what all Sunderland supporters feel, from darkest gloom to sublime elation, in the words one who is usually there …

Nov 26 2011 SAFC (1) 1 Wigan Athletic (1) 2 *Bruce’s reign surely over after this debacle. That was M Salut’s verdict, followed by these from Mr Sixsmith: “Shambolic defending spells end for Bruce now”, “He must go after another clueless performance”, “Got what we deserved after brainless display”, “Pressed the self destruct button yet again”, “Second half shocker means Bruce’s time’s up” and finally “Print them all”.

Nov 19 2011 SAFC (0) 0 Fulham (0) 0 Truly appalling game lacking pace, creativity, threat

Nov 5 2011 Manchester United (1) 1 SAFC (0) 0 Decent performance but slipshod defending cost us

Oct 29 2011 SAFC 2 (1) Aston Villa 2 (1) … Determination and effort produced a fair result

Oct 22 2011 Bolton Wanderers (0) 0 SAFC (0) 2 … Team selection vindicated in impressive second half

Oct 16 2011 Arsenal (1) 2 SAFC (1) 1 Defended bravely but attacking options barely existed

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 …

The Bali idyll is over

M Salut flew back to Heathrow from Bali yesterday, having been well fuelled by Air Malaysia throughout the 7,810-mile slog. Blame that (the fuelling) or the jetlag for any aberrations in this latest backward glance, for the busy or technology-defeated reader of Salut! Sunderland, at our recent coverage of …

What has been going on around these parts with M Salut’s back turned?

The site crashed for much of one day and was disrupted for parts of at least one more – all, I hope, in a good cause since it was linked to work behind the scenes on matters including the forthcoming, long overdue redesign. But apologies all the same, not least because it happened again this morning so that no one could come here for hours on end.

When the site was accessible, plenty of people whinged about yet more dropped points, this time against Fulham, and about Steve Bruce. Others whinged about the whingers.

But some things matter more. In the build-up to today’s rather important game against Wigan Athletic, there was also an article that Salut! Sunderland felt proud to present, Bernard Ramsdale’s heartwarming account of living with – and striving to mitigate – the tragedy of his son’s permanent brain damage, sustained in a road accident. Not mawkish, not sympathy-seeking, just an honest family story told with dignity and hope.

This didn’t silence the whingeing elsewhere and nor, as Bernard would be first to agree, should it. But it did make people reflect on true priorities. Headlined “Sunderland v Wigan ‘Who are You?’: (1) when life means more”, the article can be seen by clicking here.

Bernard, as staunch a Latics fan as you will ever come across, also dealt with some footballing questions. See the results here: even writing from the bottom of the Premier, he felt Roberto Martinez had done a better job for Wigan than Steve Bruce.

Our own latest failure, against Fulham, generated a lot more anti-Bruce sentiment, piling additional pressure on him and his team ahead of the Wigan game. The manager himself admitted – see Bruce’s Banter – that a draw was probably fair while pointing to a spot of bad luck, the woodwork twice stopping us going ahead.

Look back on what Pete Sixsmith made of the match: he feared the dropped points had ushered in the dreaded R word. Read Sixer here – his superb analysis brought in shedloads of responses from readers, much of them of the Bolshie Bruce Out variety.

The hostility to Bruce’s reign will not be affected by today’s result, however good or bad, but Salut! Sunderland has entered its customary immediate pre-match mode of wholehearted supported for the team.

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My deep thanks to Joan Dawson for holding the fort admirably as I gallivanted around Bali, not least because she had to do so in the face of irritating techie hitches. And apologies again for any frustration experienced by readers who found it hard or impossible to visit the site.

More on the new look will follow soon, but for now: Ha’way the Lads against Wigan. Others may see things differently but rest assured that Salut! Sunderland will never, repeat never, wish defeat on SAFC in the hope that this would force the club’s hand on managerial issues, however important.

Monsieur Salut

This is where Pete Sixsmith captures the glory and shame, hope and despair, excitement and ennui of the Sunderland matchday experience. When, rarely, Pete is absent or delayed, a supersub does it for him and the seven-word verdict is preceded by an asterisk. Pete’s full analysis of the game will usually appear within a day or two.

The full Sixer’s Sevens archive – see link below – sums up what all Sunderland supporters feel, from darkest gloom to sublime elation, in the words one who is usually there …

Nov 19 2011 SAFC (0) 0 Fulham (0) 0 Truly appalling game lacking pace, creativity, threat

Nov 5 2011 Manchester United (1) 1 SAFC (0) 0 Decent performance but slipshod defending cost us

Oct 29 2011 SAFC 2 (1) Aston Villa 2 (1) … Determination and effort produced a fair result

Oct 22 2011 Bolton Wanderers (0) 0 SAFC (0) 2 … Team selection vindicated in impressive second half

Oct 16 2011 Arsenal (1) 2 SAFC (1) 1 Defended bravely but attacking options barely existed

Oct 1 2011 SAFC (2) 2 West Bromwich Albion (2) 2 Deserved point after a truly horrendous start

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 …

OK, it was only a reserve game, but it’s always nice to rub their noses in the dirt, and 

A cold night at the unsponsored, unsullied Stadium of Light, but the cockles of the heart were warmed by Ryan Noble’s hat trick to see off a previously unbeaten Mags second string. Premier Reserve League it may be, but after our recent dismal run against the representatives of The Great Satan, it’s good to put them in their place.

He scored them in eight minutes as well. The first one was a strong shot which Jak Alnwick, brother of wannabe porn star Ben, should have saved. For the second, he picked up a rebound from the keeper who had failed to hold a strong Jordan Cook shot, but the third was an absolute cracker.

The impressive James McClean played in Michael Liddle with a very clever back heel and his through ball set Noble loose in the box and he crashed it past Alnwick to earn a standing ovation.

He knows how to celebrate as well. After his opener, he took off to the area where the Mags were standing with his arms outstretched and jumped around in front of them. Oh to see him do that at St James, sorry, The Sports Direct Arena in March!!

He will get all the headlines tomorrow in The Reserve League Express, but there were other valuable contributions from a strong Sunderland side.

David Meyler ran and ran and ran. He looked supremely fit and must be a candidate for Larsson’s place on Saturday. One tremendous lung burster in the second half would have been a goal had Noble’s pass been better weighted.

It’s very easy to imagine him as a Gaelic footballer. They are like sharks, cruising around all the time and they never stop. Having witnessed a couple of games at Croke Park in the days when Sunderland and Ireland were synonymous, I honestly believe that the levels of fitness for this game are even greater than those of top level Rugby League players. Meyler plays his football in the same way. Great to see him back.

Another Irishman, James McClean did well, particularly in the first half, when he ran at his full back and put in some dangerous crosses. The more I see of him, the more I like him and he must be close to a first team game, possibly in this season’s FA Cup tie.

Louis Laing played at full back so that Matt Kilgallon (remember him) could be scouted by a gaggle of Championship clubs. Both did well as did Kilgallon’s partner, John Egan. He was on the bench at Old Trafford and is another one who will be looking for a first team start before the end of the season.

To be fair to Newcastle (difficult I know, but it has to be done), they turned out a much younger and far less experienced side than ours, with most of their players having gained first team experience at Gateshead (Alnwick, Tavernier and the wonderfully named Norwegian, Joan Edmunddson). They contributed to an entertaining game and they had one or two players who looked as if they could make a career in lower league football – preferably with Newcastle.

They brought a number of raucous fans with them, some of who managed to get themselves ejected – at a Reserve game. They were singing a song about a tailor and a wall – possibly some old Tyneside Music Hall ditty written by Ridley Geordie or some such character. However, there were no painted bed sheets. Shame.

Earlier in the day, I had revelled in my status as a retiree, by taking in an equally competitive Reserve game between Hartlepool United and Hull City. City had a Frazier Campbell look-alike playing called Cameron Stewart, who scored a very good goal and then fell down a lot.

Pools equalized in the second half and former Sunderland player Nathan Luscombe almost grabbed a winner just before the end.

So, a good day out and a win over the old enemy. Let’s see if the first team can produce a repeat performance next time round.