Well, I wouldn't say he was exactly finished when he came here, but he was certainly a dram or two past his best. Having said that, his finest international game was against England at Wembley in 1967, i.e. whilst at Sunderland. What impressed me most about his Sunderland years was that his class began to rub off on the whole team. I remember a BBC presenter (Peter Dimmock? Or maybe Kenneth Wolstenholme?) starting a part of his programmed by saying "Now Sunderland are rapidly achieving the reputation normally reserved for West Ham and Nottingham Forest". They were beginning to play some good stuff. You're certainly right about him not lasting long at Forest - it was catching up with him by then for sure.
This is the unmitigated nonsense, "Willie Watson should, without doubt, be mentioned in the top five." What you mean is 'in your opinion' which also rates Baxter, who was a bit part player as better than Hurley for Sunderland. What do cricket matches have to do with SAFC and how do 4 England caps constitute an achievement worth a top 5 position? By this kind of logic the 1973 FA Cup winners all deserve a higher place ........... what did Watson win for us, nothing iirc. As for Hurley, Sunderland's 'Player of the Century' being rated, by you, further down the list than Baxter Hurley played four times as many games as Baxter and is still 'with the club'. His presence is invaluable ......
SKP for me too. In my lifetime, the best striker ever to wear a Sunderland shirt and he still thinks so highly of our great club.
I saw my first game in 1967, and Phillips is far and away the best signing...I also rate Marco as a class signing for us, but not in the same league as Super Kev..
SKP had the greatest impact because of his goal scoring achievements but his partnership with NQ played the biggest role in that as Kev did not generally perform as well without him. Charlie Hurley for me for his leadership on top of his playing abilities.
