Benwell Lad

First game this year he's been at. Enthusiastically clapping the players off like a fan at the end and posing for photos with punters. Sadly for most, nobody wearing a dish dash or a ten gallon Stetson sitting next to him though. What's gannin on like ?

Looks like Gus's decision to throw an easy route to European football in the Hull game was a good one. Resting all his superstars has turned out nicely.

This bloke is brilliant. Genuinely makes me at times. http://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/me-weekend-coupon-23-10-draw.894497/

not quite sure- mind if your reply was to me , you've misunderstood, I was talking about scoring goals.

From February onwards it was ridiculously good fun. Several reasons seemed to combine to make it such an enjoyable season once the depression of relegation and the horrible season which had preceded it lifted. The post match beer definitely tastes better when your team has won - no matter who they are playing against - and more often than not we'd scored quite a few in the process. Different away trips and the emergence of a - legend in the making - Geordie centre forward all added to the enjoyment (in tha faymas Newcassel numbah nine short - for any stereotypical mackems who may be reading) Most of all, I thought the football was better to watch. Of course you do not have the quality of the Premier League but that was what made it better. Defenders who make mistakes and teams knowing they're not good enough to kill a game off at 1-0 just made it a more exciting spectacle. I stand to be corrected a year from now if they go down and they're running away with the league but I think for Sunderland circa 2014 it will be very different.

You can't expect them to understand how you get into Europe man

Canny idea all the same.

Did he really throw the chance to play a third division team for a guaranteed place in Europe, in order to get a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace ? Tosser

Morning all. Did anything happen in Sunderland overnight ?

Tut tut, using language like that about our dear neighbours. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum will be on in a minute telling you how nice they are and how we should all be kind to each other.

Fro the Northern League's website blog. "From the moment that we started thinking about the 125 celebration –about 18 months ago, though it seems like about five minutes – the hope was that the final piece in the season-long jigsaw would be to play the League Cup final at Newcastle United. Today – great news – the club has agreed. The match will be on Tuesday May 6 and, of course, it couldn’t be more appropriate. St James’ Park was a Northern League ground in 1892 when Newcastle East End took over the liabilities of Newcastle West End – both were founder members – and moved in. Who knows, the ground may have changed a little since then. We are, in any case, hugely grateful to Mike Ashley and his directors. It will be a fitting end to a memorable 125 th anniversary season."

Pretty spot on that. The prosperity of a town cannot be shored up by public money, eventually the citizens and planners have to make it happen themselves and in that respect Newcastle and Sunderland have gone in very different directions in recent decades. There is no better illustration of the difference in the two cities than that provided by the high paid employees of Sunderland Football Club themselves. While none of them would live or spend any time voluntarily in Sunderland itself, their management and players often live in Newcastle and are regularly seen socialising in and around the city. This extends even to Sunderland born "mackem icons" who, as soon as they become successful or wealthy, flee the place to set up home in Newcastle's more affluent neighbourhoods.

I don't think most Sunderland supporters think we're different from anyone else. I've seen our fans behave amazingly well, and at times absolutely terribly, as I have with fans of every other football club. where has the Classy label come from then? The latest mackem missionaries on here are certainly the blandest we've ever had, therefore probably the least offensive, but the attempts to lump all NE fans together are ridiculous. They got 15K for an FA Cup 5th round tie, next game we got 51K for Villa with a pissed off supporter base and on the back of four consecutive home losses. They have a catalogue of appalling behaviour and racist activity, we had a pissed up fan who had a go at a police horse. They try to justify their fans' behaviour by coming on here and saying we're all the same. We're not, and their time would be better spent doing missionary work with their own.

Hamburg are in a terrible mess and their recruitment of players from Chelsea flopped badly. Surprised a premier league club would want him on board.

They'll cheer up in a couple of days when the letter from Hull arrives telling them how great they are as fans http://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/three-wins.890383/ this and recent boro fans banners is killing them. So, it appears there won't be another grovelling fans love-in after this latest glorious defeat then.......

Good thing about being blessed with macums as our local rivals, is that no matter how far ahead of themselves they get, be it magic carpets, gus buses, parties with marty, revolutions with fascists, wembo or the next setting alight of a transfer window, you just know that it will always end in tears. Always has, always will.

Amazing to think that if Pooyet, Cattermole, O'Shit et al hadn't thrown the match today they'd be one game against a third division team away from playing in Europe for the first time since beer was a shilling a pint.

Percho and McLeano going to Wembo with Wiggo. Mebbos ?

Pooyet picking a weakened side, Brewcey beating them for the third time this season, Hull drawing Sheff U in the semi, Fletcher looking and playing like a drunken tramp, Catts being Hull's MOTM, O'Shea playing like like a geriatric. Meltdoon ower there like.

Looking forward to away trips to Brisbo and Griffo marra.

Gus bus may have conked oot. Consigned to history along with Quinny's magic carpet, Marty's party, Paolo's revolution etc etc.

Whenever TV cameras go on the macum fans everyone of the weirdos is either obese or ugly.

has he got a bet on Hull ?

Can't see it unfortunately. I can't see why not anymore. His dad got sacked from the club he wanted to sign for which is what I think was his main motivation to leave. .....and although of course he'll never be hungry again, the current calamitous state of the Argentine economy probably means that most wealthy people are looking to get out of, not back in to the place....

It's not about being liked, or disliked. It's about treating fellow fans as you would wish to be treat yourself. There should be more behaviour like this, rather than the hatred that we sometimes see post match. You've completely missed the point. I wasn't talking about the fan's behaviour but about the almost constant drivel (mostly on rtg) about desired (or simply imaginary) bonhomie between disparate sets of fans from around the uk and beyond. The half-half crests, the bullshit links to Bilbao or Feyenoord, the pathetic 'they hate the scum too' links to comments on other message boards. Its completely cringeworthy. I've had great crack with fans around the country and in Europe, and never wrecked the joint or got arrested. We had a fantastic time with the Benfica lads last year but did I expect a letter to the Portuguese press for simply acting like human beings? No of course not. Not tearing the place up isn't unique to Sunderland fans, but expecting some sort of official recognition or long-standing bond afterwards for not doing so seemingly is. its so true. one rang total sport last night about Sunderland fans at the final- said he didnt want to get into comparing thier fans with us , then proceeded to list all these fantastic virtues safc fans are famous for and unsurprisingly newcastle fans are the exact opposite. They are a very peculiar breed. Their abnormal desire to have love ins with other fans clubs, and celebrate defeat like it's something positive is ....well just weird. On a thread over there where they were discussing... err... fighting with the City fans (shurely shome mistake) one said they were great because "they hate the mags too". Imagine meeting up with rival fans after a big game and talking to them about Sunderland ? At present they're in their self congratulatory "classy" delusional phase, shored up by the drivel on Northern Life etc. Can't imagine who the little angels are who wreck all the trains and use the carriages as toilets when they play Boro or Newcastle.