ALS: SAFC Fanzine

17/12/2024

Thanks to for showing his support for The MACKEM CEWKBEWK, which is available from the ALS shop or online. All the proceeds from the book will go to the Soup Kitchen, which provides hot meals and more four times a week to Wearside’s most in need.

A Love Supreme online store. Your one stop shop for away coaches, t-shirts and other Sunderland related merchandise. 01915654422 - [email protected]

17/12/2024

16/12/2024

We’re now taking bookings for Burnley…

16/12/2024

If you are travelling on the ALS buses to Blackburn and getting on at the SOL and don’t have your coach ticket yet, could you please try and collect it from the ALS shop before the day of travel? This will make boarding quicker on Boxing Day 🙏

16/12/2024

Thanks to Wilson Isidor for showing his support for The MACKEM CEWKBEWK, which is available from the ALS shop or online. All the proceeds from the book will go to the Soup Kitchen, which provides hot meals and more four times a week to Wearside’s most in need.

16/12/2024

CALL THAT A COMEBACK!
BY GARY DOBSON

Fatha said he was setting off at 5am, but did that stop him sending me his usual Friday video of the band he was watching at 11pm? Nope. They don't make 'em like him anymore.

Can we put the first 20 mins down to jetlag/coachlag? Survey says- nope. Conceding early on from a set piece. Sound familiar?

Swansea's form wasn't far off our own, although they hadn't won at home since November, whereas we... had. Ballard's attempt to head it clear led to a pretty difficult deflection to read and much like the goal we conceded mid-week, we had a handful of players looking at the ball with no plan what to do. During the aforementioned free kick set-up, Jobe was left marking their number 9. As history has taught us, If you're marking a striker and you let them see the back of your shirt - you're done for. So they scored.

Despite him not scoring at home since August, the home team's commentary said Swans' number 9, Vipotnic, Sonic the Hedgehog's nemesis, was 'as sharp as ever'. Who's our number 9? - '404 not found'. That's genuinely what SAFC's website says when you google 'Sunderland number 9'. Google it. Or don't. Can we have one, please?

Next up we conceded a foul on the edge of our box. Fair enough, but an identical foul had been committed on us moments earlier at the other end of the pitch, and that one didn't get a free kick, though. That's consistency for you. Anyway - 2-0. Did the wall jump? No. Was it a good free kick? Yes. Am i just enjoying answering my own questions because we won? No comment.

The Swans still looked as if they knew just how lucky they'd been as their energy seemed to dissipate. However, although the majority of the Lads may be young, they have daftness on their side as well as deftness... and with daftness comes resilience. I think that's off Spiderman - 'With great daftness comes great resilience.'

Last week I heard some pundits criticising Jobe for running into players with his head down whilst going forward. This is often because he has three players closing him down. While he has chosen to bear the moniker of 'Jobe', I think our opposition's pre- match team talk will probably still mention the fact that there's a 'Bellingham' on the pitch. Another lesson for the 6ft 3 whippersnapper, but thankfully he's a fast learner. While Swansea has its own mining history, we Mackems also know how to dig deep. So, like my ancestors beneath our stadium, we did.

I don't think I'd be alone in saying even at two nil down I still fancied us to get something out of the match. The chants of 'Ha'way the Lads' from our travelling menagerie suggested they had more than just a coffee for their 5am breakfast, and that they believed as well. After all, this ain't our first rodeo. Cue a set piece and Dan Ballard brilliantly fell head-first into the ball from a simple Hume cross to make things more respectable. Nice.

Cabango also caused us problems, not just because he had a name I bet commentators love. It sounds like a car - The Citroen Cabango. Or a disinfectant - 'Cabango! and the dirt is gone'. Anyway, enough nonsense.

The second half arrived and we continued to do what we'd been doing for the latter part of the first. Even though we'd made mistakes in that first 45, we didn't seem phased.

Then O'9 came on and we seemed to switch to a back three, which is when Wearside's Pirlo stepped up...

Dan's had a funny season. He's become a bit of a Marmite player. Today, though, his strength and awareness got him into a great position to fire home something worthy of any training ground. When it comes to football, at the end of the day you talk with your feet. And for the record I like Marmite.

2-2.

At this point we were making the Swans look like cygnets. Yes, I said it, and that's what you get for having a naff nickname. I wasn't surprised when we scored the third and I don't think I was alone in that feeling either. Pressure and that - it generally works.

Paddy held up the ball and set Rigg away for a cross to Jobe with Issy making a great run to make space for the muscular poke home. Seamless.

It was probably my favourite celebration of recent years. Three teenagers and the rest of the team immediately stormed over to our fans and let them know how much it meant to them. They celebrated like they'd never celebrated before. Did they deserve to be two nil down in the first place? Well, perhaps, but we spanked them in the end. Beautiful.

O'9 dropped into defence/midfield/attack and spent ample time checking his boots and his watch, and pointing out a particularly interesting blade of grass he'd seen. Sh*thousery at its finest, and nowt the ref could find wrong about it.

Two 'proper' crosses and two proper goals? More of that please. Can you hear me RLB?

15/12/2024

Amad
Made in Sunderland x

15/12/2024

Thanks to Nick Barnes for showing his support for The MACKEM CEWKBEWK, which is available from the ALS shop or online. All the proceeds from the book will go to the Soup Kitchen, which provides hot meals and more four times a week to Wearside’s most in need.

15/12/2024

We are open today from 11-3... and online 24/7 https://www.a-love-supreme.com/shop

14/12/2024

RLB POST SWANSEA

Regis Le Bris praised his sides performance after their fantastic comeback in Wales, but says they need to learn from such a slow start to the game.

GREAT CHARACTER
“Happy! I think in the end we deserved to win this afternoon even if we started in the worst way possible. We conceded two goals on set pieces very quickly during this game but I was confident because I thought that we had good qualities, a good game plan and it was a question of character and belief in our way of playing. It was a good sign because in the last seven games sometimes we were dominant but we didn’t score or didn’t win. Today we showed that this character is something we have in our team and it’s important for our future.”

FOUNDATIONS
“I think we are building the foundations. Football is still unpredictable and sometimes you deserve to win but you have a lack of clinical finishing for example. It is like a new house, you have to build the foundations. With such a young team it is not easy to build against teams who are able to create many problems. So it was Bristol, it was Stoke and now it was Swansea with a specific style of play. We need to have a well-rounded team to manage different problems and with a young team you need time. It is like a new process. Today I think against their specific style of play we deserved to win and we did well in many phases, but not the defensive set plays for example and we have to manage that part. On the opposite side we showed many good qualities on the pitch and until the end we showed that we wanted to win.”

SLOW START/FATIGUE
“It is still difficult to assess the reasons and explain why we started so slowly. I hope it will be a lesson for us, but we will see. It is a question of energy and ambition I think, and with a young team like that you have to pay attention to every detail. Probably during the week before, if you are a little bit more tired you have to manage your body a little bit differently. For example, how to pay more attention to your warm up. So, many small details can make the difference at the end. We are learning.”

FANS
“It is crazy! They were very impressive and they deserved this victory away again. Probably we struggled last week and it was difficult for them. We like and we enjoy their support, it is very important for us, especially with such a young team like ours. It is a gift for them and I hope we will have other wins to come soon.”

SCHEDULE
“We have two or three strong weeks to go so it is step-by-step. Now, it is a question of recovery. We will prepare with accuracy for the next game and with pleasure as well because we can feel our team is improving. You can have low points in the curve, that can happen, but the energy is positive.”

14/12/2024

SWANSEA PLAYER RATINGS

Sunderland came back from going 2-0 down after 20 minutes to win 3-2 in South Wales. Two wins from our last three keeps us firmly in the race for automatic promotion.

ANTHONY PATTERSON: 5/10
No clue what he was thinking for their first goal and didn’t have enough to do after his mistake to push his rating any higher than straight down the middle.

TRAI HUME: 6.5/10
Struggled massively in the first half but he did assist the first goal in our comeback and ended up creating the joint-most chances today.

CHRIS MEPHAM: 6.5/10
I think he coped the best out of all of our defenders in that first half, though he wasn’t exactly brilliant. Obviously much better in the second 45.

DAN BALLARD: 7/10
He was all over the place in the first half but grew into the game and scored the first of our three.

DENNIS CIRKIN: 6/10
Probably the worst I’ve seen from him in a Sunderland shirt for quite a while at the start of the game. Seemingly couldn’t stop any crosses and was positioned incorrectly far too often. A much steadier performance following the break saves his rating.

DAN NEIL: 7.5/10
I don’t think he was too bad before the break and he scored a fantastic goal for the equaliser. Looked very composed after the restart.

JOBE BELLINGHAM: 8/10
Hugely shaky to start off with. Looked like a completely different player when things got back under way. Got the assist for the equaliser, scored the winner, drew the most fouls and created the joint-most chances.

PATRICK ROBERTS: 7/10
Roberts was unlucky today. It looked like he was cutting inside less often and actually looking for the pass. On a different day one of those low balls into the box gets tapped home.

CHRIS RIGG: 7/10
An assist for the third goal. Looked rather depleted before we got back into the match though. Our second definitely sprung him back into life. Needs a rest.

ELIEZER MAYENDA: 6.5/10
I’m not sure he was too great physically and he tended to be good at receiving the ball but struggled to create much with it after getting it. I’m taking into account the fact he was being played out of position and he got unlucky once or twice.

WILSON ISIDOR: 6.5/10
Another night and day performance from one of our players today. Hold up play was poor in the first half, much better in the second. Missed a great chance to score not long into the second 45 but he never stopped running.

SUBS:
LUKE O’NIEN: 6/10
Came on in the midst of us reversing the scoreline so not a massive amount of defensive work for him to do. He looked good at winning headers to stop them getting up the pitch though.

14/12/2024

LINES FROM LONDON: SWANSEA CITY
BY IAN MOLE

This was a great victory and after looking like we were going to get hammered after twenty minutes, we fought our way back into the game and put on a powerful second-half performance to which Swansea had no answer. I think we’ve definitely turned a corner and with Leeds dropping two points the battle for an automatic promotion spot is back on.

BEFORE
Losing Watson was a big blow but it's looking like O'Nien will be back for today's match and it's always good to have him in the side. After the way they combined to get our equaliser on Tuesday I'd be happy to see both Roberts and Aouchiche starting too. There's been a lot of debate about whether Isidor should start and I'm all for giving him another go but if he's not succeeding, then we should get Connolly on earlier than we've been making substitutions of late. Some are even suggesting that Abdullahi will be in the starting eleven. Swansea are on the fringes of the play-off spots and are on a good run so it's going to be a tough game. I'm on the train at the moment heading west from Paddington to Swansea, having managed to get a ticket from the London Branch, and I'm really looking forward to the match. There are plenty more of our fans travelling on the same train. Match prediction: 2-1 to us.

After meeting an old workmate who lives in Swansea I got the bus to the stadium and checked the team-news on the way. Cirkin and Roberts were starting in place of Alese and Watson. O’Nien was on the bench. Swansea had made three changes from the side they started with on Tuesday. I was in my seat around 2.45 and I spotted Sobs a few rows in front of me which I of course took as a good omen. There was a minute’s applause for Vic Gomersall, ex-Swansea player who recently died, and both sets of fans joined in.

THE GAME
It was mainly Swansea pressure in the opening stages and then we conceded a free-kick in a dangerous spot on our right in the fourth minute. Jobe cleared it but the ball soon came back into our box and Vipotnik hit a low shot that Patto looked to have covered, but it slid beneath him and we were 1-0 down. We conceded a corner in the eighth when a Cullen shot was deflected and we dealt with it comfortably enough. A few minutes later Ballard made a strong headed clearance as Swansea threatened again. A bloke in front of me said, “It’s not very good, is it?” We conceded another free-kick in a dangerous spot, this time on our left, and Roberts hoofed it clear. Next thing Jobe was yellow-carded for a foul just on the edge of our box and when Cullen took it, the ball it looked to be going over but it dipped in off the crossbar and we were 2-0 down after eighteen minutes. This was looking like a good hiding unless we did something quickly. There was a yellow for Cabango for a blatant foul on Isidor (I think) but as usual we failed to create anything from the resultant free-kick.

We enjoyed a decent period of attacking play as we entered the second quarter of the game but still hadn’t had a real shot on target. We were awarded a free-kick near the right angle of their box in the twenty seventh and I was thinking that we’d just waste it, when Ballard powered a low header into the net and we’d pulled one back.

We started to play with more spirit and the game was flowing more end to end instead of just towards our end. Grimes was down injured for a while and the players had a break. Half-time wasn’t too far away and the game seemed a lot more salvageable than it had fifteen minutes earlier. Play was overshadowed for a short while in our area of the ground while a load of stewards and a cop (Heddlu in Welsh) dealt with some incident over to my left. It was tantalisingly out of view so I couldn’t get to the bottom of it but a lot of people were smiling.

Anyway, back to the football and Swansea had begun to put more pressure on, though now our defence was looking more solid. Swansea won another corner in the forty-third and a low Cabango shot went narrowly wide of our left post. Unsurprisingly three minutes of added-time were announced and I had an ALS summit meeting with Sobs to ask him what all the kerfuffle had been about. He said it had involved a bunch of pi**ed young lads swearing at all and sundry, lighting f**s etc. The Heddlu had caught a lot of it on camera. Patto had to make a diving save in the dying seconds and then the half-time whistle went to muted booing from our end. Actually a lot of fans near me had buggered off downstairs long before the whistle.

I thought the Swansea mascots, a pair of swans of course, were morphing into turkeys till I realised that they were wearing drooping Santa Claus hats. My seat wasn’t much above pitch-level so I was looking forward to seeing the box in front of me being flooded with our attacks in the second-half. I still hoped to see Aouchiche and Connolly on sooner rather than later.

The opening minutes of the second period were even enough and then we won a corner in the fiftieth. Hume took it and a Cirkin header was just over; not too good but better. Shortly afterwards Isidor burst into the box but his shot was well wide. A chorus of, “Sundland till I die” broke out and spirits were improving. In the fifty-seventh Isidor hit the deck clutching his head and the game stopped for a while. He was able to continue. A chorus of, “Shearer is a wanker” filled the gap nicely. Just after the hour-mark Mayenda was fouled near the left angle of their box but the free-kick was easily cleared. Roberts got a couple of good low crosses in from the left and if he could keep managing that, I felt that we’d soon equalise. He had a good shot himself that Vigouroux in goal managed to grab. The momentum was with us.

As we entered the final quarter an equaliser seemed more than possible and we soon won another corner but it was easily headed away at the near post. Next thing we replaced Cirkin with O’Nien. In the seventieth a promising break resulted in Mayenda skying the ball to a cry of, “Get the c**t off!” Perhaps a change was indeed required. Neil answered his detractors in great style by powering into the middle of their box and lashing a great shot into the roof of the net to put us level. I fancied us to get the winner.

Soon enough, a low cross came in from the right and Jobe was steaming in to blast it into the net and we were ahead. Our end went mental and the stand was shaking. Ten minutes to go and we were doing most of the pressing. A few minutes later Mayenda controlled a pass down the left with his head before hitting a low shot that Vigouroux managed to block. Three minutes to go and I dared to dream.

Mayenda had another decent effort that went just wide of the right post and he was duly applauded by many around me. Not a c-word to be heard. Four minutes of added-time were announced. Isidor was yellow-carded and that was about it till the final whistle went and our end exploded with joy.

I was expecting a very long walk back to the city centre but as I left the stadium I spotted a couple of double-deckers hovering in the distance and managed to catch one just before it left. It was one of those days.

Since we won, now is a timely reminder that my book ‘AWY! AWY! AWY! Being a Sunderland Fan 1962-2022’ is available at ALS: https://www.a-love-supreme.com/product-page/awy-awy-awy

14/12/2024

The first time since August 2013 (we’re pretty sure) we’ve come back from two goals down to win a football match.

No clue the last time we’ve managed to do it in a league fixture or away from home

14/12/2024

SOBS ON SWANS

The Lads crossed the border in Wales and did something we've not done since Bishop Auckland was a choirboy - came from two down to win. Actually I think the last time in the league was October 1998 at West Bromwich, 3-2 again. The opening twenty or so minutes were as ragged as we've been in ages, with only the occasional ineffective foray up the field, but a Ballard header before the half hour gave us hope. Can't start a fire without a spark.

Naturally, we were wondering who would be the new Clarke/Mundle/Watson - and probably get injured in the process. That wondering took place after a very early start enlivened by a couple of horses galloping either side of the bus. Only in Bishop. On our breakfast stop we were joined by a solitary fool in a magpie Christmas jumper. Fancy dress, he claimed. A clown, very good, we replied.

I managed to resist the offer of a can from Bob before we hove into our scheduled luxury dinner venue, where we cheered Preston on, ate nachos, and warmed up nicely and selected the music for the return journey. Comfortably at the ground just after 2 there was a catch up with Little Michael (now, more sensibly just plain Mick) and various others to discuss the team...

Patterson
Hume Ballard Mepham Cirkin
Neil (c) Bellingham
Roberts Rigg Mayenda
Isidor.. and a bench of Moore, O'Nien, Aouchiche, Jones, Rusyn, Hjelde, Connolly, Aleksic, and Alese.

We were in the stripes, and after a respectful applause to mark the passing of former Swan Vic Gomersall, we faced the far end and they kicked off.

Barely five minutes in a second cross into the box was knocked into the air, Patto stood firm rather than charge forward a few yards to take the dropping ball, and it was walloped in off his despairing dive. Bu**er - if only he'd shouted I'd have sprinted from row C and got it. A minute later a shot was touched wide for a Swansea corner on our left. We broke down the left from that but there was no card for the foul that crudely ended the move. The ref missed, or chose to ignore, a very obvious pull on Mayenda as we tried to break, but carded Jobe when he lost the ball 25 yards out and they curled it over the wall and in off the underside of the bar. Seventeen minutes gone, and with it looked like the game as well. The 350 mile journey home seemed like much longer than that.

A couple of minutes later Jobe was away through the middle but brought down for a yellow quite central - but they cleared the free kick. That preceded a decent period for us with a couple of scrambles in their box, but the ball always seemed to bounce loose to a home player. Another foul, this time on Roberts, brought a free on the right - and Hume whipped it in for Ballard to dive onto and head home on 28. Brilliant, but not enough to stop a diplomatic incident with polis cameras in our end as tempers remained frayed. At least we were properly back in the game, performance-wise and scoreline-wise.

Three added minutes were announced in which the home side applied some pressure and brought a low save from Patto.

A goal down at the break, but we'd shown enough (just) to hint that we could get/rescue something from the game. Perhaps we should do something simple like switch to 4-4-2, mebbe with O'Nien buzzing in midfield and giving instructions rather than Rigg, who'd looked a bit off. No changes, though, even though we'd opened the proceedings as if the players' Christmas party had been last night.

Cirkin headed an early corner over, then he got a yellow for a foul on halfway that meant the ref ignored Rigg's dodgy dive in. Just as well, given his bias with the notebook. We set Isidor away, but his first touch wasn't the best and he was forced right and shot wide. Thankfully, we upped the pace and showed that we're far better at passing quickly and at speed than stroking it about carefully. Mayenda mis-controlled in the box but still won a corner - not according to the ref. Dreadful decision, as was the one to believe their keeper was actually in discomfort.

Off went Cirkin for O'Nien on 70, which was a bit of a surprise (Cirkin, not Luke) just before Mayenda got on the end of a decent move only to whoosh a curler/cross way up and harmless. Damn. A minute later Neil picked up a pass from Bellingham, who'd won it back in the middle, strode forward and assessed his options before hitting an absolute belter into the keeper's top right corner from outside the box. Boom! Marvelous, just marvelous, and it made the game very winnable.

Even more winnable two minutes later when a low one in from Rigg on the right after swapping passes with Roberts was slid in at the back post by Bellingham from a yard. Even bloody marvelouser. Fifteen to go - please don't sit back, Lads. Dinnet do a Millwall, please. There was a really late one on Ballard as he hoofed it up from the left with ten to go, but no card was forthcoming. Boo, ref, be fair - 4-1 in Swansea's "favour" in the booking front is far from a fair reflection of the afternoon's physical side.

Mayenda shot off the keeper's foot and it hit Isidor to fly out for a throw, but it was in the final third and that's where we wanted the ball to be. He was through again from the left but the shot flew low past the far post.

We kept pressing and four added minutes were announced as Bellingham was fouled on halfway. High balls were dealt with, then hoofed upfield as we did the right kind of defending - on the front foot and as far away from Patto as possible. We fans chanted the dying, final five seconds and, bless him at last, the ref blew bang on 94.

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to see
Sunlun win away!

Man of the Match? First half it was probably Jobe for the way he carried it about the midfield, but overall it has to be Neil for augmenting that in the second half, scoring that goal, and generally pulling the strings.

Nice one, Lads.

14/12/2024

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to see Sunderland win away…

14/12/2024

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🦢

14/12/2024

HAWAY THE LADS

14/12/2024

GAFFER PRE SWANSEA

Regis Le Bris has spoken about what to expect from a "difficult" Swansea challenge, how he's trying to rectify Sunderland's problems in front of goal and how the team need to manage the packed festive schedule.

STYLE OF PLAY
"Swansea is a different team I think, because they like having the ball, they put high pressure on the ball carrier. It’ll be a tough game again, but with a different style of play, and new problems to solve. I’m really excited by that game, and the Norwich game, and so on. It’s still a new experience. We were dominant with the ball, and probably it will be a little bit different, so we’ll see how we will solve that problem.”

GOALSCORING ISSUES
“I think football is like that. Sometimes you can be very accurate, very clinical, and [then] you don’t know why for a long period maybe – it could last six or eight weeks, we don’t know – it’s different.”

KEEP CREATING CHANCES
“I think stability and consistency is still the key, because if we don’t create chances, I can be worried, and I have many other concerns, but at the minute we are still dominant in many different environments. It was at Millwall, at Sheffield (United), at home twice, and we created many chances without scoring a lot of goals, but the foundations are still strong. It’s always unpredictable, and the most difficult part of the pitch is still the final third, so keep going."

WORK HARD ON IT
"Probably we have to work a little more in this final third during the training sessions, to be more creative, to refine the game model, because if we can create chances, for me it’s the best point for a team.”

BUSY CHRISTMAS PERIOD
"If you want to be a top player in the sport, you know that you will have to manage 50 games per season, 55, even 60 games. Because the team is young, it’s like a new experience probably for many of them, but it’s not a big problem. The way to manage this period properly is always the same. You need to recover properly, so your lifestyle has to be the right one according to your objectives, and on the pitch you have to be efficient.”