Fixtures between us and Sunderland in recent years have completely favoured the away side. Since Sunderland have returned to the Championship, they have won on each of their three visits to Cardiff City Stadium and have nor conceded a goal in the process – they were pretty comfortable 2-0 winners here on the opening day of this season, but, for me, we played better than we did in losing 1-0 in 2023 and 2-0 earlier in 2024, we’ve been hopeless in all three games to be honest, but slightly less hopeless when we faced them seven months ago.
By contrast, we won, luckily, 1-0 at Sunderland last season and deservedly by the same score in 22/23 – we also beat them 2-1 on our previous visit to the Stadium of Light in 17/18. So, especially against a Sunderland side that have been wobbling at home somewhat in recent weeks, we shouldn’t travel up there without any hope – we also gave one of the four teams dominating the division this year a tough game on Tuesday before succumbing, unluckily in many people’s eyes, 2-1, so why should we be fearful of a game against fourth placed Sunderland?
Well, the last five matches between the two sides have been won by the away team without the home side scoring and, watching those two goals Burnley scored on Tuesday, how can you believe that we can go to Sunderland and not concede at least one goal? Of course, Sunderland scoring does not guarantee defeat for us, but, realistically, I can’t see beyond another loss as we complete a very testing trio of fixtures in which all logic suggested we’d lose them all.
If we are to lose to Sunderland, then I hope we can do so with the sort of performance we put in against Villa and Burnley, because, if we do, there will be no reason to go into our remaining fixtures with a mood of crisis that you’d normally expect when a relegation threatened team loses three straight games, albeit one of them was in the FA Cup, at this time of the season.
Anyway, on to the quiz, the answers to which will be posted on here on Sunday.
60s. A winger who started off in his native country playing for a team that are well used to coming first before signing for Sunderland, for whom he played almost three hundred league matches over a seven year period that saw him playing a lot of First Division football. There was. a loan move to a country that competed in a rare World Cup Finals tournament for them in 2022 and, upon leaving Roker Park permanently, he moved abroad to play in a country which had less colours than.it does now, before returning to the land of his birth to play one match for the club with a crane overlooking its ground and then retirement, who am I describing?
70s. This winger had an unusual career which began with a debut against Cardiff City. However, he barely made it into double figures in appearances for Sunderland and, after loan spells with lower league amber and blacks and a side with metallic connections, he spent the next forty years playing, managing and, occasionally commentating in a country that have never qualified for a World Cup, but reached their first ever Euros at the same time Wales did, who is he?
80s. The end for location of TV comedy series by the sound of it!
90s. Lures large cigars! (5,7)
00s. His first club reached have reached a European Cup Final, his second club have won that trophy on two occasions, his third club reached a Champions League Final during this noughties, his fourth club (with their very unusual shirt colour) won the Cup Winners Cup just over forty years ago, his fifth club have won the UEFA Cup, the Cup Winners Cup and two Inter Cities Fairs Cups and Sunderland were his sixth, and final, club. He played in midfield, scored only thirteen league goals in his career and won sixty nine caps for his country, can you name him?
10s, A defender, he played Premier League football for his first club,, who are located in the city of his birth, and was loaned out to Sunderland where he made nearly thirty appearances in a season long deal. He won age group caps for England, but was qualified to play for another country through his maternal grandmother and now plays his club football there, he’s also changed his name and has won thirty two full caps for his adopted country, can you name him?
20s. Which current Sunderland player was signed from a team that City played two ties against in the old European Cup Winners Cup?
Answers
60s. George Mulhall started his career at Aberdeen (the first team alphabetically in a list of Scottish clubs) before signing for Sunderland in 1962. Mulhall was loaned to Vancouver Royal Canadians in 1967 and, upon being released by Sunderland emigrated to the “Rainbow nati9on” (South Africa) to play for Cape Town City – returning to Scotland, Mulhall played one game for Greenock Morton before retiring.
70s. Keith Armstrong made his Sunderland debut in a 1-1 draw with City at Roker Park in October 1977. He had loan spells with Newport and Scunthorpe before playing for and managing a variety of clubs in Finland – he also did some work as a commentator and analyst on Finnish television.
80s. Barry (location of Gavin and Stacey) Dunn.
90s. Craig Russell.
00s. Swedish midfielder Stefan Schwarz played for Malmo, Benfica, Arsenal, Fiorentina, Valencia and Sunderland.
10s. Tyias Browning made seven Premier League appearances for Everton and played twenty seven times for Sunderland while on loan there in 17/18. In 2019, he signed for a Chinese club and has since changed to his name to Jiang Guangtai and played more than thirty times for his new country.
20s. Romaine Mundle signed for Sunderland around a year ago from Standard Liege.
