Just when we’re all down in the dumps, Pete Sixsmith rides along on his white steer to cheer us up a little. A wave of nostalgia swept over Sixsmith Towers after Salut! Sunderland‘s associate editor John McCormick alerted him to a showing of the 1973 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough. Sixer revelled in the reminder […]
Sunderland’s transfer window: bring on Coleman’s cavalry charge or fear the worst

Monsieur Salut writes: I asked Pete Sixsmith to cast a critical eye over the ins and outs now that the transfer window has slammed shut – shattered? – on us. I did not expect to find him absent from duty running in sheer joy up and down Busty Bank (which takes the envious souls of […]
Sixer Says: if beating Stockton’s easy, can we now win at Middlesbrough?

Pete Sixsmith‘s search for a regular football fix takes him to some odd games and odder places. But at least joining a crowd in small three figures to watch Sunderland Under 23s at Stockton in the Durham Challenge Cup brought him the spectacle of a Sunderland win … (more…)
Sixer Says: Duncan Watmore’s injury a cruel setback for a top bloke

Monsieur Salut, locked into a West End cinema after the Oxford Circus ‘incident’, writes: at my great age, the threat posed by leaden legs and dodgy knees to continued enjoyment of badminton may be disappointing but is neither surprising nor tragic. For Duncan Watmore, just back from one eight-month layoff with a rupture to the […]
Sixer Says: McNair stars, Talbot assured as Sunderland overcome Hertha Berlin

Pete Sixsmith is beginning to see some Sunderland wins. Sadly, they are not so far in the Championship. Maybe that will change on Saturday when proper football returns after the tedious international break. The Under 23s overcame a strong challenge from Hertha Berlin and a returning Paddy McNair caught Sixer’s eye, as did Duncan Watmore […]
Sixer Says: if Leeds Rhinos can rise to the occasion, why not Sunderland too?

Pete Sixsmith gets back to roots with a trip to Old Trafford, not to see Seb Larsson score an unlikely winner or Vito Mannone make the penalty shoot out saves from Adnan Januzaj and Rafael to earn a Wembley appearance but to savour a great day out for a man fond of the oval ball […]
Sixer Says: two cheers for Watmore as Under 23s lose to West Ham

Monsieur Salut writes: in fact there were many more cheers for a decent 70-minute outing for Duncan. The crowd watching the Sunderland Under 23s against West Ham appreciated his running, his passion and the mere fact that he’s back. If Pete Sixsmith offers two cheers not three, it is because he also noticed a […]
Sixer says: Look through any window and see Sunderland’s changing squad

John McCormick writes: Pete Sixsmith is a man of action. As soon as the deadline passed he sprang to work, with the result that this arrived early on Friday. We held it back a day to give our readers time to reflect on the goings-on at this club of ours. By now you’ll have had time […]
Thanks for the memories, Tommy Sorensen. Stoke, Aston Villa fans may agree

Pete Sixsmith bids a fond farewell to Thomas Sorensen, a great Sunderland goalkeeper of recent times, as he puts away his gloves and enters retirement (from playing at any rate) … Thomas Sorensen announced his retirement today, ending a distinguished career that has taken him from Denmark via Wearside, Birmingham, the Potteries and Australia’s second […]
Sunderland’s headlong fall and the unconditional love that makes us keep faith
Monsieur Salut, aka Colin Randall, writes: in my brief time in Abu Dhabi, I saw more of Sunderland live than […]