Sunderland will listen to offers for Lee Cattermole, but will give the former captain a fresh chance if he stays beyond the transfer window. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar Paolo Di Canio will offer Lee Cattermole a fresh chance and has pledged to "work on" the midfielder should Sunderland's former captain find himself still at the Stadium of Light when the transfer window closes. Captain, key enforcer and often much-indulged favourite under the former managers Steve Bruce and Martin O'Neill, Cattermole does not enjoy a similarly privileged status these days. He was sidelined with knee trouble when Di Canio became Sunderland's manager and has subsequently picked up a milder injury. The player's well-documented poor disciplinary record and friendships with members of the dressing room's old guard, resistant to the Italian's "revolution", have also placed a question mark against the midfielder's future. In an ideal world Di Canio would probably rather replace Cattermole but his high wages and history of knee trouble may mean a player who, when fit and not suspended, can be highly effective, ends up staying put. "There was a chance Cattermole would move somewhere," said Di Canio. "It didn't happen, for different reasons, we can't say why, it's between the club and the player. "Now he's working. He had a problem last week in the under-21s and now he's in recovery. At the beginning he wasn't fit and he hasn't trained with us yet but now we are waiting to see what is going on. If at the end of the window, he's gone, he's gone. If he stays, we are going to work on him." While Cattermole's enduring presence in the dressing room could represent a potential challenge to Di Canio's strict new regime, it would be intriguing to see how radically the Italian's coaching may improve a player once coveted by Liverpool, and whether he could win the battle for Cattermole's heart and mind. Adamant the club is run on meritocratic lines, Di Canio has denied being responsible for changing Cattermole's squad number from six to 33. "The squad numbers are decided by the players," he said. "They have a meeting to decide, have six, have 10, have nine, I don't go in. It belongs to them. As I have always said I don't invade their area which is the dressing room. It is their kingdom. "I was a footballer, I know what it means. I can have a joke from the corridor but not go inside because this is their private way. It's exactly the same with the numbers. Sometimes they have a 50-50 with a number and they put money for charity, this is the way, but this is not my decision." Sunderland's manager refrained from commenting on Phil Bardsley's indefinite suspension from the club as an investigation into comments the defender apparently posted on social media mocking the team's 1-0 home defeat to Fulham last week is ongoing. Encouraged by the performance, if not the result, against Martin Jol's side, Di Canio is hoping for an improvement at Southampton on Saturday. "When I change 11 players and have a revolution â changing how to behave, play football, change the system â even if we lose another two games we have to believe in what we do," he said. "I really believe that this is the way to get better results, and to play the type of football that the players and the fans can enjoy. It happened to me at Swindon, even if the circumstances are different. After five games, four defeats, I think maybe I'm going to be sacked, or maybe not. We weren't. Then, at the end of the season, we won the league. "Obviously, I can't promise that here, but there is a revolution and you can't give up. Even if we lose badly on Saturday â we're going to probably win â you can't give up after one, two, three, four, five games because you don't believe what you're doing. "We've prepared this for 40 days, for me two years, three years, five years, because I believe in this way. We lost one game after dominating. I believe in it even more. "We have to work to complete what we saw against Fulham. It can be something special. Because if we can play this football, not every game, but many times this season, we're going to be happy many times."
The way we kept the ball last weekend gobsmacked me. I love the brand of football and see what he's trying to do and I love it. I knew he'd give Catts a fair crack. The reason to sell him were obvious, doesn't play enough due to injury or discipline. Clean slate now, let's give the lad the chance to right some wrongs. Anyway, if he ****s up Paolo will be there to take his face and put it on his face and wear his face all over the place. Make biatch of him too.
Every time I hear this nloke speak (or in this case, read what he said) I love him more!! "Even if we lose badly on Saturday - we're going to probably win..." Love it! I'm glad Cattermole will get a chance if he's still around). Fully fit he is an asset to us but his fitness is his biggest issue.
I may be alone here but I think we missed Catts driving force in the last 35 mins of the game last week? Sure the football was better but we just lacked the bite and desire in the middle and for me, Cabral and Catts would be a canny combination for some scenarios.
i hope his time on the sidelines has made him wake up and smell the coffee i.e he can't hurtle around all game coz he is injury and card prone. if pdc can help him rein that in, Catts and Cabral in cm would be 'frightening'. Catts can be a much better player than he's given credit for on the ball. we won't see any 40 yard passes, but we'll be a much higher intensity, pressing team. fingers crossed.....but i'd still like to see this otherKorean fella join us to offer something different
It's easier then one would think to sort catts game out. Teach him to stay on him feet instead of going to ground for tackles. Some intense fitness training like the rest have will give him that extra half yard he didn't have so he doesn't need to go to ground. His attitude is no quick fix, over to Paolo for that.
Agreed Cest but he has to learn not to be rash. If PDC can peg him back a bit without going too far in the other direction then great but he can`t keep missing games like he has. Picking up the cards and injuries has turned him into an expensive luxury.
To be honest I reckon Bardsley would have been given a chance even after his casino nonsense, get Catts playing again and we will have a decent CM to play with, keeping him fit will as ever be the problem.
Yep, it's seriously difficult to sort the lad's noggin out. at 26 he's still young enough to change, but that would be an immense challenge for pdc and co. never say never.....
I'm not Catts biggest fan, and would certainly sell if we get the chance. However, if he doesn't go, I certainly think he will do a good job against the bigger clubs like Man U, City, Chelsea and Arsenal; where him and Cabral can sit in front of the defenders as part of a 3-man centre midfield.
Its up to him, he is still young, he has the choice. Give up the beer, nightlife etc... work hard, train hard and use his talent. Its a short career. He could be a legend and play for England one day or he could piss it all away and end up playing low down the leagues for the rest of his short career. I don't even think he needs to learn to stay on his feet he just needs to learn when and when not to make a tackle.
But mate, if he's picking up his man correctly and he's got that extra half yard then he won't need to go to ground to tackle. It's not necessary. Cabral stays on his feet
Today showed just how much we need Catts in there! Far to often our central defenders were having to make last ditch tackles risking freekicks every time. The play should have been broken up long before they reached our box.
