Graeme Murty has described the Academy trip to Italy as “a fantastic environment to develop characters” as the young Black Cats navigate a pre-season week in the sun. “It has been a really good experience for the players. The weather is different and a new factor for us to deal with. “In terms of the first game against Hellas Verona, it was a good workout, good minutes in the tank and we thank our opponents for giving us that challenge.” A mix of Under-21s and Under-18s took on the Italian side with Rhys Walsh getting on the scoresheet in a 2-1 defeat. “We had to constantly rotate due to the conditions”, Murty added. “It was great to see the young lads out there who were playing U16 football last year. They were battling against players a lot older than them and I thought they did really well.” The Lads still have three games left to play with Inter Milan U19, Bologna first-team and Atalanta U18s all still to come. “These are great experiences for all of us. Not just the games but we can spend time developing the characters and creating bonds ahead of the new season.” Personally I have doubts about this "Sweltering Heat Trip" being good preparation for the coming season back in Bllighty but who knows . Also the new layout and match reports are scant, the full post match interview of Murty is a much better insight than the on off report above imo.
The Echo has learned Sunderland are weighing up a potential contract offer to former Everton man Edward Jones. The 19-year-old defender was released by the Goodison Park club at the end of last season, and he has now joined Sunderland’s youth squads on their joint trip to Italy this pre-season on a trial basis.
I honestly thought it was an admin error when they said we were playing the Bologna first team then all of a sudden there’s Orsolini scoring a couple against us! Great experience for the lads.
