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Dangly Ham: Posted on 01 March 2012 14:32
From a young age I’ve been hooked on Sunderland AFC.
Born
into a family of faithful Sunderland supporters, there was only going to be one
club for me and for all my sins I wasn’t chosen to follow a club that would
give me an easy ride. Even after over twenty years on this planet, I’ve seen
more than my fair share of heartbreak – the playoff final against Charlton and
two disastrous Premier League relegations would have been enough to see off
most other football fans, but like thousands of others I’ve soldiered on and
thanks to the good work of Niall Quinn, our club seems to be pulling in the right
direction now, showing signs that we could look forward to more progress over
the coming seasons. |
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Dangly Ham: Posted on 25 January 2012 16:02
Sadly, I think of myself as one of very few people who still counts the Wear-Tees encounters as Derby matches, with memories of the 2-2 draw at the Riverside and Chopra’s double still fresh in my memory. You see, despite most calling the game off as a non-derby, I still feel there is an element of passion involved in this fixture which makes it special. Ok, it isn’t on the same scale as the derbies we play against Newcastle, but it is still an occasion to enjoy and we must never forget that there are an element of bragging rights involved in this tie, with many Wearsiders hoping to turn up to work on Monday morning with the bragging rights over their three-headed, web-toed workmates. |
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Dangly Ham: Posted on 23 January 2012 15:45
Martin O’Neill spoke of the much-rumoured home sickness that Craig Gardner has when asked about it by reporters following the win at the weekend. With Sunderland his first big move away from the midlands, Gardner is reportedly finding life tough away from his friends and family and rumours of a quick move back to the area are alleged to have some substance, with Birmingham City having a loan bid rejected for the goalscoring midfielder. To the everyday discerning Mackem, the prospect of a move away from Birmingham to the North East is something we’d be grateful of, should we ever have the opportunity. |
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Dangly Ham: Posted on 18 January 2012 14:55
 Yesterday morning, most Sunderland fans were as happy as larry (who is this larry fella?), with newspaper rumours of Freiburg striker Papiss Demba Cissé being linked with a move to Wearside by the daily rags aplenty. Even the ever reputable French newspaperl’equipeadded fuel to the fire by linking the Senegal striker to a place in Martin O’Neill’s squad. Fast forward little over 24 hours, and the lad has signed for Newcastle. It seems his good mate Demba has had a word in his ear and completely under the noses of everyone (including the press) he was pictured walking into landfill headquarters with his agent, having flown back from Africa to seal the deal. |
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Dangly Ham: Posted on 23 November 2011 13:46
Five years ago, we were undergoing a huge change at Sunderland. Roy Keane had just taken over as manager and we looked like a side on the up, a side full of model professionals possessing a quality that we had been void of since Peter Reid was in charge. I would be a fool to suggest that side was as good as the team who bravely took on the top 6 of the Premier League in the early 2000’s but it is safe to say that the club hadn’t had the spark that it did when Keane was there for a number of years. |
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Graham Halliday: Posted on 14 November 2011 20:04
Having read the latest quote from Nicklas Bendtner in the Metro at the weekend it got me wondering how this latest revelation would be accepted by the fans. Will we be seeing pockets turning against him, questioning his commitment to the club? Or will we be understanding enough of his position to simply accept the inevitable without feeling the need to call him a money grabbing mercenary? For those that didn’t catch the article, he was speaking to the press in his homeland, and said: 'I want to play Champions League, let me put it that way. |
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Dangly Ham: Posted on 09 November 2011 14:48
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw |
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Dangly Ham: Posted on 08 November 2011 12:49
I’m quite annoyed this morning. Usually I wouldn’t use the blogging space I am assigned each week to pick apart articles from other sites or newspapers, but I think this week I will make an exception in the case of Mr John Cross of the Daily Mirror. Now, I’m no qualified journalist. In fact, I work in IT and write bollocks about Sunderland as a hobby – it’s just a passion that I have and I find it comforting to be able to talk about stuff online between matches. Apart from A levels in Media Studies and English Literature, I have very little to show for my writing ability professionally, so I’m not being paid to write. |
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Dangly Ham: Posted on 02 November 2011 12:36
If there is one thing I can say that Newcastle and Sunderland fans both have in common, it is that we hate each other in equal amounts. Part of that hatred comes with constantly watching over and commenting on how they are doing, which ranges between slightly and majorly obsessive behaviour. I am not excusing anyone here – both sides have fans that are a bad as each other. My reason for rearing this ugly point comes in the wake of Newcastle’s recent short term success and win last night against a very poor Stoke side. |
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Dangly Ham: Posted on 18 October 2011 14:42
With a week to look over what went wrong against Arsenal, Bruce has to recognise that we are far too slow in attacking positions and that is what is ultimately costing us wins with every passing week. Larsson aside, our midfield never looks like producing or creating goals and this is a common theme which has continued from last season and for many seasons before that. We have plenty of workers in the shape of Cattermole, Vaughan, Colback and Meyler but none of them seem to have that extra bit of quality needed to push on for a goal or burst through a defence. |
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