JOHN Mensah has played his last game for Sunderland. The Ghana captain has returned to parent club Lyon after the completion of his second year-long loan on Wearside and would love to come back for a third spell next season. But Sunderland will not be pursuing the option after finally coming to the conclusion that the classy central defenderâs injury problems are too much of an obstacle to overcome â especially with squad numbers now capped. Mensah was not in Sunderlandâs starting line-up on Sunday at West Ham, when his place was taken by fit-again Anton Ferdinand. But the African was not left out of the side as a result of his controversial exit in the clubâs last home game, when he showed bad sportsmanship in running straight down the tunnel after being subbed, rather than shaking the hand of teenage debutant and replacement Louis Laing. He missed out because he picked up an injury in the last training session before the squad travelled to London. Mensah was involved in only 18 games of each of the last two season and most of those matches were played in fits and starts in between a spate of knocks and strains. There is no doubting the defenderâs quality and boss Steve Bruce has said that if Mensah had an injury-free record, he would be a shoo-in for one of the Premier Leagueâs top four teams. But the 28-year-old was nowhere near as outstanding this season as he was last, with the lack of training seeming to take its toll on him. A long-standing back injury has resulted in him picking up a series of injuries and being unable to train properly. As a result, he struggles to last the pace of a full 90 minutes. Mensahâs agent Fabien Piveteau is now looking for pastures new for his client. âGlasgow Rangers have expressed interest in John but we are looking at other offers. We will be taking into consideration the price tag before making a move,â he said. Thoughts??
Its a shame I rate Mensah very highly sad to see him go but who do you think we could get to replace him??
That's good news to me. There can be no doubt that Mensah was a quality act when fit but his appearance record for Sunderland has been patchy at best. The consequence of his injury problems is that we have never had a settled back four, even in his first season when we didn't have anything like the number of injuries this past season. I also find it suspicious that he could play a number of consecutive games for Ghana without problem but rarely, if ever, did he do it in the red and white of Sunderland. Am I being unfair if I question his comittment to club football?
Well, there were only two answers - give him the time out for his back operation, or don't. I'm sorry he's going, but either decision is better than none. I wish him well.
