For the likes of John O’Shea, Lee Cattermole and Seb Larsson, this morning must be an all too familiar experience. Boarding the team bus with a new man in charge sitting at the front, perhaps barking orders, perhaps not – new hope same crisis. Yes, it’s match day nine for Sunderland, and for Big Sam, well he can finally get his fix of top-flight management again. What does this mean for the players and who should we be looking at in today’s fixture against West Bromwich Albion?
Steven Fletcher
On a hot streak that includes goals for Sunderland, the Scotsman finally repaid Gordon Strachan’s faith by netting four times in two games. Unfortunately for Scotland and Strachan, it was too little too late and they failed to make next year’s tournament in France. On the up-side for SAFC however, Fletch’s goals were good; in fact one was a bloody great goal, described as the best ever scored by Scotland. Yes, that left peg of Steven’s is firing again and how the club needs it. After glaring misses by Defoe against Bournemouth and Tottenham, Sunderland desperately needs one of their finishers to start chipping in with some goals. Expect to, scratch that, hope to see Fletcher continue this fine run of form at least for the next two games to give Sam the perfect start on Wearside.
Lee Cattermole
When the whistle was blown at the Hawthorns last season, Catts and everyone else who witnessed it, were still picking their jaws off the floor after he sailed in a screamer from outside of the box. It was a moment to cherish, and for a brief glorious afternoon Gus’ alchemy looked like it worked in transforming the midfield snapper into a string-pulling architect with a pass as fierce as his tackle. For Lee, the start of this season has been as dramatic but for all the wrong reasons, namely bringing down Mahrez and then being hauled off at half-time. With his most recent displays picking up, it really has been a shocker for Cattermole and he, as the team, need this to change quickly. Many from the media have noted Catts as the player who will thrive under Big Sam, here’s where we get to see why. Back to basics, please.
Jack Rodwell
Signed for £10million by Lee Congerton or Gus Poyet or Ellis Short or, who knows, who cares. The lad who was once tipped to step into the shoes of England’s awkward midfield duo, Gerrard and Lampard, is now so far away from that it’s depressing. Whether it’s because of mismanagement, injury, an imbalanced team, or all three, let’s hope under Sam that Jack gets a chance to show the Premier League and Sunderland supporters exactly what’s he’s capable of. There is a player in there and whether it’s at centre half or whether it’s sitting in the position currently occupied by M’Villa and Cattermole, let’s just hope we find out. Rodwell might never have a better moment than this to do it.
Younes Kaboul
Many a Spurs fan laughed when Sunderland signed their much-maligned former captain, Younes. The one thing that went in the strapping centre half’s favour was that they were Spurs fans. Well, unfortunately, those chippy fellas on the phone-ins appear to have been spot-on with their assessments that commonly built on sound-bytes such as “past it,” “liability,” and “Jesus!” If anyone can squeeze the last bit of Champions League quality out of the Frenchman, it’s going to be Allardyce. He, like the whole team, needs to sharpen up and take on more responsibility for individual errors. If that happens then Sunderland have a chance of displaying some of the quality that is so blatantly at the club. Potentially out with a thigh strain, if he plays, look for fewer runs down the wing and more “have it” moments to clear the lines and close-in on the team’s first clean sheet of the season.
Duncan Watmore
It’s not guaranteed he will even be in the squad but Duncan can represent the entire youth academy here. Fans will look to Allardyce to actually do something with this shining beacon of hope that they keep reading about week-in week-out. Clips keep emerging from the U18s and U21s of wonder goals, flashes of brilliance, pace, guile, skill, fighting spirit, togetherness and, most importantly, victories. The red and white faithful need to be patient but the manager also needs to show some sign of an opportunity soon, or else the likes of Watmore and Pickford are going to bugger off and shine somewhere else.
