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Dear HTP team,
Just wanted to start by saying how fantastic the pre and post Derby coverage had been.
Having soaked it all in and watched every angle of every joyous moment, I just wanted to point out a few things.
At 58 yrs old I’ve now spent half a century watching the lads.
I’m a veteran of many a Derby having been there in person at wins – draws and defeats, home and away.
The degree of delusional thinking has never left our neighbours despite however much evidence there is to the contrary.
The same set of fans
who before kick off were waxing lyrical about how Liverpool and Chelsea had slipped up ( because they are their rivals this season of course ? ) were then imploding a couple of hours later demanding poor Eddie Howe’s head in a guillotine basket.
They actually think their ‘Geordie banter’ is loved by the nation and beyond, and the world loves hearing them chant ‘Geordies’ in a ‘What about those great fans’ kinda way.
They’re oblivious to how much of a subject of self inflicted ridicule they actually are, as we efficiently, and with dignity and without fuss let the results do the talking.
One thing struck me as our fans sang loud and proud the names of Eliezer Mayenda / Enzo Le Fee / Xhaka / Brobbey / Hume / O9 / Chris Rigg / Talbi — to name but a few. We are all connected – we are all part of the club, and we all feel we have a part to play, and it is with pride we let the players of both sides know.
The Mags cry in their Brown Ale, bemoaning the little cousins down the road who have been to their house and ransacked it once more — Maybe the fact they don’t sing about their players, and merely a moronic ‘Geordies’ chant tells its own story. It shows the difference in bright lights – it spells delusion and a lack of real affinity to those wearing that damn awful strip.
As Regis tells us — it’s about ‘connection’ … Sunday was a day to remember and talk about for years to come. It was helped along the way by what we have, and what they don’t.
The irony is they don’t see it… Long may it continue – It’s just a delusion!!!!
Keep up the brilliant coverage.
Phil Cleugh
Ed’s note [Martin]: Thanks for the kind words Phil – I’m still on cloud 9 after last weekend’s game, and how lucky are we we’ve got three weeks to enjoy it properly! You’re right, the brilliant thing is they don’t see themselves how other people see them…
Hi Haway the Podcast team,
I really appreciate listening to pretty much all of your podcasts. Because I live in Japan, I only get to games at the stadiums once or twice a season.
I especially love listening to ‘On this Week’ and the fantastic recollections, insights and research by Kelvin and Andrew. Makes me feel a bit old, though, as I can remember half of the games (Tony Ford, though.. I never Trevor 🙂
I also went to the Kieron Brady masterclass against West Ham, which you discussed the other day. Think it may have been the week that Bobby Moore died. I only just made it, though, as I was stalked from Seaburn station by some ICF nutter who was bragging that he’d just been let out of ‘Big BarL’ prison in Glasgow.
My first away derby was on the traditional January 1st, 1985. Freezing and piss wet through with sleet and rain in an uncovered and pretty tiny Leazers end. Sunderland lost 3-1, I think. Benno and Howard Gayle both got their marching orders. Think Beardsley scored for them. Can’t even remember our scorer. A quiz question, maybe?
You were asking about favorite derby memories. I was lucky enough to go to the first SOL derby in 2000, just before I came to Japan. If I recall correctly, we were 0-2 down, but managed to get back to 2-2. When Kevin Phillips got the equalizer, it was said that the Match of the Day speakers and recording devices exploded because of the noise of the crowd!!!
I have one question, which can be discussed later or not at all:
Q: Several ‘big’ teams have football schools/academies out here in Tokyo (e.g. Liverpool, Barcelona, Man City, PSG). Do you think there would be any mileage for Sunderland to set up one?
(I was thinking about writing to David Bruce, Chris Waters and Kevin Ball.)
Chris Minton
Ed’s note [Martin]: Thanks for getting in touch Chris – Kelvin and Andrew are brilliant on our On This Week pods and we’re glad you enjoy them! They do have the downside of making you realise just how old you are every single week though. The academy idea in Tokyo is an interesting one and certainly something that should be raised with the club. Thanks again for listening.
PS Colin West!
Dear Roker Report,
Just a quick one on the Brobbey goal, Le Fee was absolutely amazing for the goal mind, looked up had a split second and thought, the only way to get the ball to Brobbey was a double Meg!
Joe in Hedley
Ed’s note [Martin]: Brilliant, wasn’t it. The chaotic defending helped mind, but I think that was Le Bris’s hope with a half-fit Enzo, chuck him on in the closing stages to produce some magic, which he did. We’re lucky to have so many good players at the moment, but Enzo’s my favourite – just love watching him play.
Dear Roker Report,
Is it true Sartori has invited Farage to SOL. If it’s true it is a disgrace and he should leave the club with immediate effect. Do you know if there is a way to protest this decision.
(Just when everything was going so well.)
Ian Hack
Ed’s note [Martin]: It’s a shame this has brought some unnecessary negativity to the club this week. There’s loads of unknowns here – was it a ‘formal’ invitation, or was it an off the cuff ‘you should come and watch a game?’ Who knows. People will spin things for their own benefit. The overarching thing for me is that the club shouldn’t get involved in politics at all. We live in a democracy, and the reality is all of the parties have supporters. Take Farage out of the conversation, whichever political leader it was would cause some division, so we’re far better off staying clear. As for Sartori, he’s still a great unknown in terms of what he does for us, but we know he’s very politically involved and the club simply shouldn’t be used as a political vehicle, whether it’s to shape his ambitions, or for any other reason.
Dear Roker Report,
No-one was more delighted at the weekend than me with our victory over that lot up the road. However, I was a bit confused at some of the talk in the media and among the fanbase in the aftermath about the overall derby record. Taking into account ONLY first class competitions – the league, the FA Cup and the League Cup, not counting friendlies, testimonials or anything like that – I currently make the record as below.
League (including the 2 play off games in 1990)
Played: 146, Sunderland wins: 50, Mag wins: 51, Draws: 45
FA Cup
Played: 9, Sunderland wins: 3, Mag wins: 3, Draws: 3
League Cup
Played: 2, Sunderland wins: 1, Draws: 1
This therefore makes the overall record
Played 157, Sunderland 54, Mags 54, Draws 49
I don’t know how other people are counting but I checked all this meticulously on the Stat Cat and other sources for a couple of hours and am absolutely certain that I’m correct. We are currently tied with the skunks for overall number of wins. Our next meeting is our chance to go ahead overall and, hopefully, draw level in terms of number of league victories where we are currently one behind them. I’d be interested to know other people’s thoughts on this matter and their theories on how they think the media are counting. This might some a waste of time to some but I think historical accuracy in statistics is important.
Best wishes and FTM,
Benj Eckford
Ed’s note [Martin]: Hi Benj – thanks for your email and as a result I’ve also lost an hour looking over results! Couple of things I’ve found. 1. The League Cup games were both officially drawn 2-2 on both occasions. We won on penalties, but that doesn’t count as a win. We’ve also played games against them in two (what are technically) first-class competitions you’ve not included – the Texaco Cup and the Anglo-Scottish Cup, which we won on both occasions. That makes the ‘official’ first class record P159, Sunderland 55, Newcastle 54, Draws 50, which I suspect is what’s been referred to.
