The Lads, having dusted themselves off from Anfield, headed to Manchester (the blue bit), and Reg's birthday but were, for the first time this season, well and truly outclassed. While Ballard did a brilliant job on Haaland, that left other Blues free to pester us.   Which they did, and we can't really complain at the outcome as they brought hundreds of £millions of talent off the bench when they felt like it.   No doubt refreshed by Friday evening's presentation of the FIFA Peace award by...

Wow. Quote of the day, as I left the ground? "I'd love to have watched that as a neutral." The Lads welcomed the Cherries to Wearside with the curse of the former player threatening, in the (much more muscular than when we had him) shape of Semenyo. What we got was a rip-roaring, gut-busting, no-holds-barred 110 minutes of action as we came from two down to win, cementing our position as the side that's gained the most points from a losing position. Having eventually managed to clean the mud...

On this day in the year 2000, the great Len Shackleton passed away aged 78. Over his mighty 348 league appearances for the Black Cats, the 'Clown Prince of Football' racked up 100 goals - only one of them a penalty - and cemented his place as one of the top players of the 40s and 50s. A true master of his craft, the start of his career was not quite as smooth as he turned out to be on the pitch. After a spell at Bradford Park Avenue, and a loan at Kippax United, he was released from Arsenal's...