Another Sixer study by Jake

Pete Sixsmith casts an eye over the turmoil at Villa Park and Anfield …

No sooner has the dust settled on the most exciting Premier League finish since the last most exciting Premier League finish, than we have two managers given the old heave-ho by their clubs.

Alex McLeish was out of the door at Villa Park before the ink was dry on the morning papers and the legend that is Kenny Dalglish joined him on Wednesday after what was probably an acrimonious meeting in Boston.

McLeish’s dismissal came as no surprise. The Villa fans had never taken to him and the vitriol poured from the terraces as they just avoided relegation in their penultimate game. Apparently, the final day’s performance at Carrow Road didn’t so much hammer nails into his coffin as weld them in with an indestructible flux.

His was a poor appointment, as bizarre as if we’d taken Joe Kinnear after the Mags went down. His football was boring and one wonders whether the number of “injuries” Villa suffered was political rather than medical. Charles N’Zogbia was his marquee signing last summer; he looked more like a threadbare Millett’s pop-up tent by May.

Dalglish is a different matter. He was, and still is, a revered figure among Liverpool fans. He was a sublime player, one of the best I have ever seen, and in his first spell as manager he showed intelligence and integrity. He represented the club, the city and the fans with real dignity over Hillsborough and emerged as much more than a football manager.

At Blackburn, he had more or less unlimited funds and won the title, but he had a poor time at Newcastle and few of their fans have fond memories of him. Ten years out of the game and back he came to Liverpool to rescue the club from a relegation struggle.

Having said that, Dalglish should be a hero in the North East, principally for giving our two PL clubs £55m. Steve Bruce used the Jordan Henderson £20m to bring in the bulk of his summer signings, while Ashley allowed Pardew to spend some of the £35m he got for Kevin-Kyle-with-a-ponytail on Ba, Cabaye and, eventually Cissé. No arguments about that deal among the Tyneside faithful.

See the Salut! Sunderland ‘Who are You?” awards: Villa fan takes first prize, Liverpool supporter is second … http://salutsunderland.com/2012/05/and-the-winners-are-in-no-particular-order-liverpool-wolves-aston-villa/

The constant referrals to Dalglish as “King Kenny” irritated me, and, as those who know me will tell you, I am not easily irritated (yes you are – Ed). He made a series of catastrophic blunders over the Suarez case and it is likely that he will be haunted forever by those crass t-shirts that were worn at Wigan.

The end came after an insipid defeat at Swansea, meaning that the once mighty Reds finished below Everton for the first time since Adam was a lad, 17 points light of the mythical fourth place and CL qualification and a staggering 37 points behind the top two.

What do both Villa and the Fading Reds have in common? American owners. Which other club has an American owner? We do.

How much do they really understand the football culture in this country? Randy Lerner is getting some stick from Villa fans now, but when he came in and bought the club, he was hailed a hero. He read his Villa history, restored the derelict Holte Hotel and was seen as a model owner. Two disastrous managerial appointments later, he is no longer seen as a saviour, more a stumbler.

The Fenway Sports Group prevented Liverpool from a possible administration when they bought out the Abbott and Costello look-alikes who previously owned the club. They had a plan which said CL football, a new ground and a bright future under a club legend. All those dreams have crumbled.

Lerner and FSG have backgrounds in sports ownership. Lernerowns the Cleveland Browns NFL team, inherited from his father and with a fairly dismal recent record. FSG own the iconic Boston Red Sox who play at the even more iconic Fenway Park. Generally, they have been good owners and restored the old stadium to its former glories – but they had a poor season last year and are having a shocker so far this.

The other American owners in the league don’t sack managers, but they have neutered the buying power of Manchester United considerably over the years and it is only the strength of SAF that keeps United together. When he goes, I can foresee a major collapse at Old Trafford. We await that day with undisguised glee.

Ellis Short has been a quiet owner so far. He appointed and sacked a manager who promised much but achieved little. He replaced him with a man the vast majority of Sunderland fans had wanted as manager for years. He has put money into the club and seen a fair bit of it wasted by the previous two managers.

This coming season may well be the one where Short looks carefully at his emotional and financial investment in Sunderland AFC. We may have to accept that our club will never again win the league title, despite its long and glorious history. Will he be prepared to settle for adequate season after adequate season? Or will he lose interest as Lerner appears to have done or be overwhelmed by the experience of running a PL club, which is as FSG appear to behave?

The Quiet American is a Graham Greene novel where the eponymous figure advocates a third way for smaller, less powerful countries. Maybe Ellis Short sees a different way ahead for us: get it right on the field and wait for the Fair Play ruling to knock out the likes of City and Chelsea, whose owners’ buying power is distorting the competitive element of the Premier League.

Of course, it could all go wrong if Liverpool take a fancy to O’Neill. Here’s hoping they don’t.

Jake says: get up in lights at Salut with your own season's review. See contact link at the top of the page

With apologies for the laboured pun – and M Salut promises not to add, ”Or Well, what did you expect?” – we present the third of Luke Harvey’s series of defining moments in the season just ended. We’ve had Signing of the Season and Opponents of the Season. Here is Luke’s Game of the Season …

Having gushed praise on Everton for their performance in the FA Cup 5th Round replay at the Stadium of Light – and they fully deserved the plaudits – it would make sense to get back on the straight and narrow and gravitate towards some more Sunderlandcentric awards.

The best match of the season is an interesting category because of its subjective nature. One man’s total football is another man’s tippy-tappy, fun-free keep-ball routine; one man’s 0-0 bore draw is another man’s absorbing tactical battle in a war of attrition.

Taking these differing outlooks into consideration, there were quite a few choices vying for honours in this category:

* the 3-0 win over Norwich where every goal exuded class

* the 2-0 victory against Swansea where we refused to allow our opponents to implement their game plan

* the 1-0 win over the eventual champions Manchester City was an obvious possibility with determination and belief trumping megabucks opponents thanks to the unlikeliest of heroes

Jake imagines MON's summer homework

However, for my best match of the season we have to leave the cosy confines of home and take to the road, where winning has always been a relatively difficult process.

Yet on this cold, wet Tuesday night at the DW Stadium in Wigan we came good, and in some fashion too.

We were approaching a month of Martin O’Neill at the helm and 10 points from five matches obviously meant we had been good boys. Form may have dropped off in recent times but the initial success MON brought to the club after his appointment simply cannot be overlooked.

Wigan Athletic v Sunderland was never going to be a classic in the conventional sense. Football fans around the world were unlikely to be salivating at the prospect. The rain was pouring and the wind was swirling in ominous fashion from early in the day; it had all the makings of a game that would produce exactly what you would expect – not a lot.

Luke rips the shirt from Bardo's back

Having arrived for the 7.45pm kick off at the marginally early time of 9.30 in the morning, we set about doing what all sensible young men would do and enjoyeded full English breakfast and many drinks as we set up camp in a familiar chain pub. By the time kick off arrived the rain hadn’t relented at all – if anything it was worse – and the wind was still blowing in every direction imaginable. So after some early to-ing and fro-ing in the match it looked like the first half would end in a rather dull stalemate, and we’d all catch a cold in the process.

That was until Craig Gardner’s free kick flew into the top corner on the stroke of the half with the ball moving through the air reminiscent of one of those plastic blow away balls you used to have when you were younger that didn’t move in a straight line. The ball rose, dipped, went left and then probably right but eventually wormed its way into the top corner.

Having spent half time with my hands under the warm water tap trying to restore sensation – as I had wrongly judged that a jumper would be satisfactory – it was soon time to return to our seats for what would be an exceptional 45 minutes. First James McClean, my signing of the season as mentioned previously, showed some good awareness to time his run after Nicklas Bendtner had initially won the ball back. McClean’s initial header may have been saved but he was first to react and he made no mistake from the second headed attempt.

Rodallega pulled a goal back for Wigan but Stéphane Sessegnon soon restored the two goal advantage with a close range finish from yet more good work from Bendtner, who displayed good strength to get away with from Figueroa before playing a nicely weighted pass that found Sessegnon. David Vaughan rounded off the match by once again trying to burst the net with his shot.

The 4-1 win was well deserved with everyone playing an important role in the game, and the maligned Nicklas Bendtner arguably having his best game in a Sunderland shirt.

The night was spent sampling a couple of other pubs in Wigan where we found the locals to be warm and welcoming. With Wigan now safe for one more year, a return to the DW Stadium is highly likely next season, and hopefully four goals will be on the cards too.

Jake brightens up the site again

Jinksy and MON: best of pals really?

With renewed gratitude to our sponsors – http://www.soccerpro.com/ and When Saturday Comes, we can announce the winners in our annual ‘Who are You?’ awards …

Here it is, the moment at least some of you have been waiting for. Thanks to all who took part in the feature during the 2011-2012 season, the judges who chose the best of themm and the readers who made it, in numerical terms, a highly popular feature.

I left you yesterday with one set of votes – our star writer Pete Sixsmith’s – still to come. The leaders on the basis of counting up to then were Stuart Jinks (Villa) on 12 points, Keith Conneely (Liverpool) on 11 and Steve Bishop (Wolves) on 10.

Here, then, are Pete’s nominations. He wants his winners to feel desirable so appmlies Miss Wolrd-style reverse order:

3) and therefore two points, Stoke City … Richard Hulme:

I think as much of Stoke City as you do of Ken Livingstone (a reference to Monsieur Salut’s eccentric decision to depart from the site’s party line and prefer Boris to Ken). But this was a cracking piece which summed up City and their fans; loud, opinionated and couldn’t give a flying f*** about anyone else. Also funny, loved the quip about Peter Crouch’s girlfriend fancying an oatcake or five. Shame we took six points off them.

2) with three points, Middlesbrough … Iain Lazenby:

A really good piece, very similar to the Stoke City one – unfashionable club, honest, down to earth fans and a real twinge of self deprecating humour. Pity we put them out of the cup.

1) with a whopping five points, Aston Villa and Stuart Jinks, aka Jinksy:

Loved this one. A whiff of controversy (he criticised Saint Martin), a couple of earthy comments about the now former manager and the owner and Jinksy’s portrayal the overwhelming misery and of all West Midlanders. Most enjoyable. Shame we didn’t relegate them. Read Jinksy’s interview at

Jake urges you to make your views known

So there we have it, a clear winner with five more points. Arise Sir Jinksy. As the only one of yesterday’s leaders to pick up marks from the other Sir (Pete, inevitably, is back in the classroom after succumbing the the post-retirement lure of supply teaching), Stuart Jinks is so far ahead that even complaints about the distribution of Malcolm Dawson’s votes – he named three joint winners and I interpreted that as five points apiece – are academic. On my dodgy maths, the final standings are as follows.

Stuart Jinks (Villa) … 17
Keith Conneely (Liverpool) … 11
Steve Bishop (Wolves) … 10
Clelency Burton-Hill (Arsenal) … 8
Michael Hudson (Newcastle) … 7
Mike Delap (Blackburn), Owen Amos (Arselan), Jim White (Swansea), Rick Haswell-Cohen (Man City), Richard Hulme (Stoke) … all 5
Andy and Jo Nicholls (Wolves) … 4
Iain Lazenby (Middlesbrough) … 3

Aston Villa and Sunderland fans, it is probably uncontroversial to say, do not always get along. We are similar sorts of clubs in many ways with long, proud histories and long spells in the doldrums. Villans like to brag about being the bigger club; why else, they want to know, would Darren Bent would choose Villa Park over the Stadium of Light.

We retort that recent records and attendances scarcely bear out the claim; they point to their seven top-flight championships against our six, seven FA Cup wins (we’ve done it all of twice) and five League Cup wins (no comment), plus somewhat more successful European exploits.

But today, all that sparring can be put aside. Well done Jinksy. Enjoy your glory and your prize, gear to the value of $200 from http://www.soccerpro.com/**. Likewise Keith Conneely, in second place, who chooses between the When Saturday Comes** Euro 2012 top or a year’s sub to the magazine and third-placed Steve Bishop, who wins whichever WSC prize is left after Keith’s choice.

See Keith Conneely’s interview here: Liverpool and ”the debt we owe Sunderland fans” … and Steve Bishop’s here: Wolverhampton Wanderers.

** These were Pete Sixsmith’s honourable mentions: Jim White from Swansea City, Michael Hudson from the Dark Side , Steve Bishop from Wolves and Leo Osborn from Villa. Really enjoyed them and look forward to reading more next season = hopefully we can get Jimmy Armfield again …

Jake has prizes for the best answers

*** SPONSORS AND PRIZES

The US sportswear people http://www.soccerpro.com/ kindly agreed to stump up $200 worth of gear as the first prize and the excellent folk at When Saturday Comeschipped in again with further prizes, a subscription to the magazine and one of the Euro 2012 tops they’re selling this summer. To both sponsors go our warmest thanks.

The

Monsieur Salut, by Matt

Jake imagines MON's summer homework

Perhaps we’ve heard too many bleatings from Sunderland fans that we were the most boring team in the Premier, finished three places lower than the maligned Steve Bruce managed and really just slipped back into old ways. In our latest review of the 2011-2012 season, Bill Taylor strikes a much more positive note …

This is the way the world ends – not with a bang but a whimper.

The world, maybe, but not Sunderland’s season, though it was on a downhill slope for a while.

But this is no longer, as it used to be, a team of losers or players-for-safety who were single-point happy. Not so much interested in scoring as stopping the other side from getting through. Nil-nil was an acceptable default.

It’s simply a squad that has worn itself out through five months of yeoman service since Martin O’Neill took over. A squad that could hardly put a foot right under Steve Bruce but, as often as not, has hardly put a foot wrong under O’Neill.

That couldn’t reasonably be expected to last. To use a military analogy, the Black Cats were like a beaten army led by a self-doubting time-server and retreating in confusion toward the final defeat, the Championship. Until a charismatic, tactical mastermind took over and inspired them to turn, fix bayonets and charge.

Jake gets controversial

They didn’t have to better or even match last year’s 10th place finish, under O’Neill they’ve won a famous victory. Over themselves.

It was inevitable that battle fatigue would set in. As I’ve remarked before, it’s not so much the individual players who were tired, it’s the team as a team. The cracks that were papered over were beginning to show through.

Had MON been brought in earlier (if only!), we’d almost certainly have finished closer to the Mags. Had he splashed more money around in January, we might – but only might – have been in a better position.

I think he did exactly the right thing.

If O’Neill had made wholesale changes, he’d have confirmed in the team’s mind what they must already have been thinking: “Not good enough.” What little confidence remained would have drained away and negated whatever benefits the expensive – and they would have been – new blood brought to the club.

So instead of splashing around silly money, he bought very conservatively. He played the hand he was dealt and boxed clever (Salut: Sunderland – the blog that shamelessly mixes its metaphors!), thus giving himself a chance to see exactly what he’d inherited and what it was capable of.

He transformed tight – or, more accurately, uptight – defensive play into a means of getting forward and scoring goals. This is a squad that can fall back, close the door then turn on a sixpence and move the ball forward.

Lee Cattermole has become less of a loose cannon. Even Nicklas Bendtner discovered a work ethnic he may never have known he had. James McClean started getting games – and goals – the way he never did under Bruce. Asamoah Gyan went from being “the one that got away and took our hopes with him” to “Asamoah who?”

And the team as a whole realised it wasn’t just borderline Premiership/Championship material after all but belonged without any doubt at the top end of the top tier.

Jake says: if you don't agree, submit your own end of term review

There’s a lot of work to be done. But O’Neill now knows well what he has, what he doesn’t have and what he needs.

Forgive me for speaking very generally. I haven’t been able to see enough games this season to pronounce on individual players; who should stay, who should be loaned out, who should be moved on.

(Okay, if a decent offer comes in from a garden-gnome shop, Kyrgiakos can go. And I hope Ji is kept on. He has tons of potential.)

Clearly, the team needs more speed and tenacity up front. Stéphane Sessegnon needs a lot more support. That, of course, is if he stays at the SoL. I have a feeling he might. But he’s been a one-man band for too long and he’s by no means infallible.

So there are changes to be made and a need for rebuilding. That was the case this time last year, too, and it didn’t happen.

As O’Neill said at the end of his note after the Bolton game: “We have got lots to learn.”

He’s already learned a lot. I suspect that five minutes after the final whistle blew against Brandchester United he was spitting on his hands, figuratively if not literally, and getting stuck in.

Come August, he’ll have assembled a team to reckon with; fit to set its sights on Europe. An aspiration that this time last year didn’t even qualify as a dream.

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Jake has prizes for the best answers

Part one of our report on the judges’ decision in our annual ”Who are You?” awards, in which Salut! Sunderland rewards supporters of opposing sides who offered the best entertainment, insight or wisdom in their responses to the pre-match questionnaire, ended with the leaders lining up like this:

Stuart Jinks (aka Jinksy, Aston Villa fan) 10pts; Michael Hudson (Newcastle) and Jim White (Swansea) five; Richard Hulme (Stoke City) and Clemency Burton-Hill (Arsenal) three and Andy and Jo Nicholls (Wolves) and Keith Conneely (Liverpool) two. See part one by clicking here

But as we approach the finishing line, nails can be heard being bitten the country over. Here is the next group of judges’ marks and comments …

Malcolm Dawson, co-founder and former chairman of the SAFC Supporters’ Association Heart of England branch, now back in the North East after long years of East Midlands exile and deputy editor of this site:

1) Blackburn Rovers
… Mike Delap

Joint 1) Wolverhampton Wanderers … Steve Bishop

Joint 1) Arsenal
… Owen Amos.

They are in that order because that’s the order I read them in; there’s not much between them in my opinion. All were all well written, knowledgeable pieces which I could read all the way through. Not true of every contributor, I’m afraid.

Thanks Jake for your graphical flair

Jeremy Robson is another exile in Canada but spent a big slice of his younger life offering warmth, guidance and encouragement to players passing his spot in the Clock Stand Paddock at Roker Park on their way to or from the dressing rooms:

1) Wolves … Steve Bishop
How can you deny a prize to a man who hasn’t missed a game his team has played for 35 years? In my mind you can’t, especially when the article is as balanced and knowledgeable as Steve Bishop’s contribution on his dearly beloved Wolves. Salut regards itself as a site for the thinking football supporter and Steve’s piece really epitomises those values as well as any article in this thread over the course of the season. Sorry to see your team go down Steve. Had you stuck with Mick then it may not have happened. It will be a very important summer and getting off to a good start will be vital for you next season.

2) Liverpool …Keith Conneely
Liverpool … I just loved Keith Conneely’s piece, mainly because it came direct from the heart and just made me laugh so much. The idea of refusing to let his mate back into his own living room especially helped me direct a vote to this piece. Plus “Yes. 100%. He was never worth that much and he never WILL be worth that much. Unfortunately, all the money we could conceivably have spent on psychiatric treatment for the guilty party has all been spent on Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson.” Christian Poulsen, I agree, was a pretty horrible player to watch and probably makes Keith cringe in the same sort of way Steve Hetzke’s name would make the Sixer wince. At least they didn’t have to start Poulsen up with jump leads ant five minutes to three! This one would have been the winner for me. But … I can accept a Liverpool supporter from Dublin, but Barcelona? Come on Keith!

3) Newcastle United …Michael Hudson:
Refreshing and knowledgeable contribution; he is clearly a proper football fan. I loved his views on Mike Ashley (how come they aren’t wanting a boycoutt these days?) and his idea that clubs should be owned by the fans. A great read this one. Michael has apparently lived in several different countries. They do say that “travel broadens the mind”. That is evident from reading this most considered contribution. Even though he’s a Mag, Michael is clearly a good ‘un!

NB: see Jeremy’s ”special mentions” – the ones that didn’t quite make it – in the comments below.

Clemency Burton-Hill

Paul Dobson, Sobs to friend who include his admiring readership at A Love Supreme:

1) Manchester City … Rick Haswell-Cohen.

Written with a bit of humility and a sensible take on the oil millions that have come their way. It’s always nice to hear appreciation of one of ours, and when it’s Quinn, it’s no surprise. Good bit of nostalgia in that it was one of their less glamorous former players, and our former manager McCarthy. Anyone who dislikes the glory-hunters is OK with me.

2) Liverpool … Keith Conneely. Interesting to have a non-Scouse fan writing from afar, and one who also ‘supports’ Barcelona. Good information and a reasoned assessment of Dalglish’s second reign, although (naturally enough) just biased enough, and also a sensible summation of the Suarez affair and Liverpool’s (mis)handling of it. In addition, it was nice to read of that little-mentioned Sunderland fans’ support of the appeal for Hillsborough information.

3) Wolves … Andy and Jo Nicholls. Interesting to have two people, inluding one of us, to provide opinion, and it made a fascinating and balanced read. Even their obvious disappointment in McCarthy was discussed without resorting to simple insults (although there is a time and a place, and fans’ reviews are probably that place).

* NB: I had originally settled on Villa, Wolves, City, and Liverpool, although there were a few others that were close to that final group. Then I read them again and decided the Villa fan was just a little too anti-O’Neill. Whether his comments were factually true, or whether it is even fair on my behalf to dismiss the report because of that, it doesn’t matter in the end, as I ended up not really liking the piece after initially picking it as one of my favourites. Just too bitter.

Monsieur Salut, of this parish:

1) Arsenal … Clemency Burton-Hill. A refreshingly honest and unrestrained appraisal of the reign of Arsène Wenger’s reign. She, like me, is a great fan and it clearly pained her to suggest that the time had come for change. Whether she is right or wrong does not matter. As Jeremy suggests above, Clelency rose above the ‘cemleb fan’ waffle cynics might have expected.

2) Liverpool … Keith Conneely. Sobs has explained why this was such a good read. I, too, appreciated his warm acknowledgement of SAFC supporters’ role in demanding information on the Hillsborough disaster.

3) Aston Villa … Jinksy. A hugely enjoyable piece that, but for excessive criticism of O’Neill that sits so uneasily on the pages of Salut! Sunderland, would have topped my list.

* Special mentions: everyone else. I am indebted to fans up and down the country, and often abroad, for giving up their time to answer the call.

Malcolm’s decision to make no distinction among his three choices leaves no reasonable alternative to giving the first-place award of five points to each.

Which gives us a shaken up leadership as the climax nears. Jinksy and Villa are still ahead, on 12 points, closely followed by Liverpool (Keith Conneely) on 11, Steve Bishop (Wolves) on 10: Arsenal’s Clemency Burton-Hill on eight and Michael Hudson (Newcastle) on seven.

The winning line is in sight. One more set of nominations to go (Pete Sixsmith’s) and we’ll be there … watch this space.

*** SPONSORS AND PRIZES

The US sportswear people http://www.soccerpro.com/ kindly agreed to stump up $200 worth of gear as the first prize and the excellent folk at When Saturday Comeschipped in again with further prizes, a subscription to the magazine and one of the Euro 2012 tops they’re selling this summer. To both sponsors go our warmest thanks.

The

Jake has prizes for the best answers

Week in week out, supporters from the teams Sunderland are next due to play rise to the occasion and take part in our ”Who are You?” series.

And once a year, we return the favour and come up with awards for the best sets of replies.

In a fair world, every one of them would win something. An author might get a plug, fan site owners will be given prominent links but it is essentially a labour-of-love exercise.

The US sportswear people http://www.soccerpro.com/ kindly agreed to stump up $200 worth of gear as the first prize and the excellent folk at When Saturday Comes chipped in again with further prizes, a subscription to the magazine and one of the Euro 2012 tops they’re selling this summer. To both sponsors go our warmest thanks.

We had eight judges – the line-up was described at this link – and I am equally grateful to them for agreeeing to plough through my non-binding shortlist and in at least one case, possibly more, go beyond it when choosing their nominations.

The winners have been chosen but, as with the Premier title, it went to the wire with the final nominations making all the difference. So before announcing the honours, I will introduce a little suspense and take you through each judge’s verdicts, bearing in mind that I awarded five, three and two points respectively for first, second and third places:

Tom Lynn, writer on SAFC affairs, former editor of The Wearside Roar:

1 Aston Villa … Stuart Jinks (aka Jinksy):

Villa fan on Darren Bent, Martin O’Neill and who supports the bigger club). Brutal honesty, heartfelt passion, comments on MON sum up the way he seemingly polarised their supporters who seem to really rate/really hate him.

2 Newcastle United … Michael Hudson (Salut! Sunderland tracks down a commonsense Newcastle interviewee). Interesting read, some good points made that turned out to be true, eg effectiveness of Cabaye/Tioté partnership and of Ba and Ben Arfa (although the latter’s impact has come late on, but at the right time for them unfortunately; his form and Cissé’s goals have set them alight). God, that’s hard to say.

3 Wolverhampton Wanderers … Andy and Jo Nicholls (Wolves: farewell to the Premier). Proving that football can unite families (he supports Wolves, she’s one of us) and an interesting observation of our old gaffer Mick McCarthy, a real fighter, but who hits a glass ceiling when he reaches the top flight.

Part two has now been published. Read it by clicking here

Bill Taylor, Bishop lad, freelance writer, photographer, exiled in Canada:

1 Swansea City … Jim White (Swansea, in search of a second Premier season). As I commented after his piece appeared, an ‘honest, well-balanced and good-humoured assessment. Jim would be a good guy to have a pint with, before and after the game, even if we didn’t sit together at the match’.

2 Stoke City … Richard Hulme (Stoke City and a certain swagger). Passionate, without being ridiculous about it; partisan, without being a bigot; and a nice writer, too.

3 Newcastle United … Michael Hudson. That rare specimen, a non-rabid Magpie, even where Sunderland are concerned. You have to love someone whose attitude (having suffered the worst excesses of Mike Ashley) toward suddenly acquiring ‘fabulously rich owners’ is: ‘A shudder of despair, definitely. I really don’t see how Manchester City or Chelsea fans can take a genuine delight in their achievements.’

** Unsolicited honourable mention to Steve Bishop, Wolves ( Putting a name and face to the description ”long-suffering fan”): a super-fan with a 35-year record of attendance so he knows his team as well as anyone and better than most. Loves them, good or bad, but is also a realist.

The 'Who are You?' co-sponsors: When Saturday Comes

Martin Emmerson, Sunderland fan and BBC Radio Newcastle host/cricket commentator:

Quite funny that fans of clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool find time to whinge about how bad life is. Imagine if they really had struggled over the years and not simply missed out on the odd cup here and there and a year in Europe?

1 Aston Villa … Jinksy. ‘I think the Villa fan who made the calendar and mug of Bent deserves first spot for his inventive ways of trying to wind up his boss. Even though Bent went to a smaller club and Sunderland have struggled in his absence!’

2 Arsenal … Clemency Burton-Hill (A Wenger-lover who insisted ”Arsène must go”)’who described in great detail the arrival of the unknown Frenchman as manager from Grampus 8 – took me back to the days when Gary Lineker played there’.

3 Liverpool … Keith Conneely ( Liverpool and ”the debt we owe Sunderland fans”); A ‘Liverpool fan in Ireland. Some funny stuff there’.

** I liked the write-up from Wolves (Steve Bishop) but since I’ve never enjoyed a trip there and find the place extremely hostile I just couldn’t find it in myself to vote for him!

So after what we could call round one, the scoring looks like this: Jinksy (Villa) 10pts; Michael Hudson (Newcastle) and Jim White (Swansea) five; Richard Hulme and Clemency Burton-Hill three and Mr and Mrs Nicholls (Wolves) and Keith Conneely (Liverpool) two.

Part two coming soon …

***

The 2012 awards process was introduced at this posting: http://salutsunderland.com/2012/04/winners-from-the-other-side-swansea-arsenal-and-newcastle-shortlisted/

. There you can see mention of the prizes and links to all the shortlisted interviews.

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And follow us on Twitter: @salutsunderland … click along this line

Click anywhere on this sentence for a glance at the home page – and highlights of all the most recent articles …

Click here for the Martin O’Neill ‘Team of all Talents’ mug: £9.50, post-free for UK buyers, from the Salut! Sunderland Shop

Jake: l'artist

In the end I am really quite neutral on the question of the Premier League title.

Yes, Man City have gone out with Abu Dhabi money and bought the trophy. But Man Utd have been doing the same, minus the UAE connection, for years.

I have mentioned before that on the eve of the takeover of City, I fell into conversation with some of their fans in the pathetically ill-stocked Grand Central train buffet heading back to London after they had battered us 3-0 at our own place. They had money already, though there were serious question marks about the then Thai owner, and my travelling companions made appropriate noises about our two clubs being quite similar, having to endure years of underachievement and brattish, uppity neighbours.

Sheikh Mansour’s investment has, of course, revolutionised City. If it hadn’t been this season, it is a fair bet that the title would have been theirs next time.

Let us be honest: Sunderland fans have gratefully accepted another wealthy man’s patronage. Even if he is a pauper by the City owner’s standards, we are badly placed to cry foul.

And so to France and a tale of two great cities.

Paris Saint-Germain were generally expected to romp away with Ligue 1 with all that Qatari gold. They haven’t. Montpellier, who make up for not having the most money by at least having the fattest chairman, Louis Nicollin, need only a point from their final game, at bottom-placed, relegated Auxerre on Sunday night, to be champions for the first time in a history that goes back to 1919. Whatever PSG do at Lorient.

They have been consistently better all season – how I wish we could have Olivier Giroud, whose great run and sublime pass created the last-second goal for Ait-Fana to beat Lille, in our team – and deserve to complete the formality. Plus, PSG have always been rather a nasty club and a bit of humility will do them no harm at all.

Sadly Patrice Carteron’s Dijon are stuck at second bottom and need to do better at Rennes than two of the four clubs above them to stay up. I expect tears in the mustard.

So let’s concentrate on M Nicollin’s bravehearts from one of France’s most pleasant cities. Ha’way Montpellier … and your chairman, Monsieur le Président Nicollin, immortalised in this chant honouring his girth sung by his own supporters at PSG’s Parc des Princes:

Vous avez le Qatar, nous avons le gros lard.

Monsieur Salut, by Matt

Luke Harvey

Almost to rival the series of end-of-season reviews just begun – and to which others are free to contribute – Luke Harvey, having described the impact of our signing of the season, James McClean, gives special attention to another specific aspect of the football he saw at the Stadium of Light. Step forward Everton, Luke’s opponents of the season …

It seems a slighthly bizarre notion to want to celebrate an away team’s performance at the Stadium of Light. In fact it is not so much a celebration of a performance but more an acknowledgement that losing will always be part of the game, certainly ours, and that sometimes we just have to hold our hands up and admit we were second best.

I do not suggest we should simply accept that a team can come to our ground and beat us comprehensively. Nor am I implying that we should just sit back and watch it happen or get emotional because someone like Thierry Henry scores a goal for Arsenal in the last match of his return to the club.

However it is the mark of a strong willed fan to grit teeth in the face of defeat and recoognise that you can’t win them all.

Even Brazil, even Barcelona, even Manchester United – all are fallible; they have lost before and they will lose again. We manage it more often, of course, and there was no denying that when the blue half of Merseyside came up for an FA Cup 5th Round Replay, we were well and truly beaten.

Claims have been made that we didn’t show up to the match, that we bottled it, and in some regards this could well be true – part of me definitely thinks there was a nervous disposition among our team before and during the match. Why wouldn’t there be? It is a big night for us as fans and it’s also a big night for the players in our colours down on the pitch.

Jake urges you to have your say

They may not lose sleep over the defeat; they may all still pick up handsome pay cheques at the end of the week and live lives of luxury. But they are where they are today because of their competitive instinct and some of the players who succumbed to Everton that night will have been as torn up as many of us. On top of the pressure and nerves, some knowledge of our long standing tradition of not being able to beat this perpetually annoying opponent will have lingered, too.

Our performance in the match will have led to much disappointment having battled so bravely for a 1-1 draw in the initial match at Goodison Park. A Phil Bardsley special was cancelled out by an either very fluky or very skilful header from Tim Cahill, a man who is no stranger to causing us misery; of course it was Cahill who scored the Millwall goal against us in the FA Cup Semi Final in 2004.

In the replay, however, things never really got started for us, and not for the first – or last – time, Marouane Fellaini cut an imposing figure in the centre of the field for Everton. Seemingly as adept in his defensive duties as he is capable in his attacking ones, Fellaini requires close attention from every opponent whose zone he enters, but the presence of Cahill and Osman, two very talented players in their own right, makes this easier said than done.

The towering Belgian‘s performance also highlighted a problem with our team’s ability, or lack of it, to deal efficiently with powerful yet skilful central midfielders. Later, Stephen N’Zonzi of Blackburn similarly dominated the centre for Rovers’ 2-0 win at Ewood Park.

Another Tony Roffe/Jake collaboration

Everton were even able to double the lead. When David Vaughan inadvertently, and rather comically, managed to put the ball in his own net the 6,000 travelling Evertonians knew they were on their way to the semi finals, and they certainly let us all know.

It was a deserved trip to Wembley whether it is right or wrong that the penultimate matches of the tournament should be held there.

At least we can look back on a fun FA Cup ride and know that one day our Everton hoodoo will end – although the 4-0 drubbing in the league, with the pain of the replay defeat still gnawing at us, gave little reason to hope that day will come soon.

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Jake's last of season before the Soapbox is dismantled

It seems somehow fitting that the Radio Newcastle commentary team, Nick Barnes and Gary Bennett, whose excellent work costs fans money to hear if they’re away from the North East and listen via the SAFC website, had to keep track of events at the Etihad via the reaction of the two sets of supporters at the Stadium of Light. Have the BBC’s cuts bitten that deep? Pete Sixsmith’s masterly summary of the match itself, and what little part Sunderland actually played in it, ought to be read aloud by Messrs Short and O’Neill to the few players they may wish to keep after another fairly hopeless performances confirmed the lacklustre, relegation-form end to the season …

So, that’s another season over. By my calculations that’s the 48th as a regular Sunderland fan and I can’t think of a more eventful final scenario than the one that was played out in front of me.

I have seen us miss out on promotions and be relegated in the final game of the campaign, but I have never seen a Championship won and lost in the space of about 90 seconds as I did yesterday.

As the final whistle went, the United players milled around, waiting for confirmation of their 20th title. Their fans were equally unsure of what the outcome was as they waited for the result from Eastlands. The Sunderland crowd stood and waited to applaud their players at the completion of a strange season.

I had spent the last ten minutes watching Paul Scholes as the clock ran itself down. He looked a bag of nerves, scratching his head, shuffling around and looking as nervous as a man on a blind date, not knowing whether the person he was about to meet was a stunner or a slapper.

United had won the game easily as we played like a side that had no confidence and no idea, particularly in the first half. Scholes and Giggs (combined age not that far off that of mine and the cat) had dominated the midfield, shrugging off the “challenge” of Vaughan, Gardner and Colback with the disdain that only the consistently excellent can show.

The news from “the noisy neighbours” had filtered through in the course of the afternoon. The South West Corner chortled when The Blues went one up, but the Reds celebrated in the second half when Cisse and Mackie put Rangers ahead. Mike Phelan paced the technical area like a bad tempered bear stuck in a cage, while the Grand Old Man sat down, stood up and did not explode when Howard Webb (another shocker, Howie!!) called for 3 minutes added time.

The murmur went round that there was an equaliser at The Etihad, but United still had the title almost in the bag. Then came the news that the winner had gone in and the fans in the South West Corner did a Poznan to antagonise the travelling hordes from Batley, Lincoln and Hartlepool.

What the enormity of the result did was to deflect some attention away from the paucity of our performance, one that was as poor as any we have turned in this season. We were punchless up front, swamped in midfield and defended as if we had put the clubs annual budget on a United title win.

Martin O’Neill must now have a very good idea of the weaknesses that are running through this squad. No creativity in midfield makes it extremely difficult for the few forwards we have to actually do anything.

He attempted to replicate the grit and determination of the epic New Years Day win over the new Champions, but the players no longer have that level of intensity and we were a long way second best to an adequate but not exciting United team.

They scored after twenty minutes to win the game and it was a goal that showed up our weaknesses at the back. To say that Bramble and Turner defended it badly is something of an understatement. To say that it was atrocious and embarrassing is still an understatement.

Whatever the reason, the racehorse owner headed it in and that was the end of the game. There was absolutely no way we were going to score twice. No Bendtner (sulking? injured? on a flight to Copenhagen?) so no strength up front.

Sess played there on his own for a while, then Campbell joined him, then Connor Whickham turned up and Sess went into midfield, where he played down the right with Elmo, who had replaced O’ Shea with Bardsley moving across to left back until he was replaced by Bridge. Confusing, eh.

United could have scored a capful. Apart from the one he scored, Rooney hit the bar, the post and missed a sitter. Mignolet made one fine save from him and an absolute stunner from Giggs. On the other hand, De Gea was unemployed.

It was a disappointing end to the season which, after a wonderful middle has faded away worryingly. As we have been saying for weeks, MON has had a great opportunity to find out what his players are really like. He will not like what he has seen and he now has to sit down with his coaching staff and draw up a list of players that will strengthen and stabilise us next year.

Still, the day was a fascinating one and, in a perverse way, I enjoyed it. I am pleased that City won the title, although we may grow weary of them racking up titles in the future. But they will never, ever win one in such a dramatic way. In our own, small way, we were there to play a part in it.

Last game of the season so Martin O’Neill’s last post-match e-mail to Salut! Sunderland (and a few others). As I awaited its arrival, I thought about what I’d like to find in it: relief that the season’s over, unbridled optimism for the next one, a hint of contrition? Would we have settled for 13th top when Steve Bruce left us in something closely resembling a shambles last November? Maybe. But the MON-inspired revival raised hopes, admittedly too high given what he inherited and had to make do with, and it is difficult for this Sunderland fan – who, incidentally, feels a little sympathy for the United fans, though this rare experience of failure may prove character building – to escape the flattest of feelings tonight. Then the e-mail dropped and this is what the boss had to say …

Dear Colin,

Coming into the game, even though it was at home, we were almost the sideshow.

We had a spell in the game where we could have equalised just before half time, but overall it was a tough afternoon for us.

Simon Mignolet made some great saves for us. We just lack a cutting edge, but overall it’s been a really great effort by the players.

In the next couple of weeks we’ll have time to reflect and time to consider a lot of things.

Overall I’m delighted because naturally I was concerned back in December whether we’d still be in this league.

Jake.'s finale

It’s been a big effort by the players and a big effort by the supporters.

The day was full of drama. Manchester United looked to have won the championship, but suddenly there was news breaking through of the goals at the Etihad Stadium.

It was amazing to be part of it – surreal, really.

Maybe one day we will have something to celebrate on the final day of the season.

On a personal note I would like to say thank you to all the supporters for their backing this season. You have been magnificent and that support is very much appreciated by everyone.

All the best,

Martin O’Neill

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