Catts picked for Sunderland at West Brom

Catt comes in from the cold for Sunderland at West Brom


LEE Cattermole has come in from the cold and will be included in the Sunderland squad travelling to West Bromwich Albion this weekend.

Paolo Di Canio said he plans to include the former skipper in the squad travelling to the Hawthorns and that means on Saturday, Cattermole could be be involved in first-team action for Sunderland for the first time since February.

The Teessider’s days on Wearside were believed to be numbered when it was made clear that he would be allowed to leave over the summer.

But the 25-year-old did not move on and after recovering from an ankle injury sustained at the start of the season, he has been allowed to return to the fold by Di Canio.

Sunderland’s head coach said last week that the door was open to the ex-captain providing he accepted the Italian’s regime wholeheartedly.

And after another week of progress on the training pitch, Cattermole is set for inclusion in a Sunderland squad for only the third time this year.

Di Canio said: “We all know what might have happened with Lee during the transfer window and that’s why he wasn’t really included in our plans.

“But at the end of the day, when he doesn’t move, you don’t just stick him in a corner and say he’s not our player.

“It’s important you use the squad available to you if you can and to be fair to him, he has shown character.

“I am not prejudiced in this respect.

“It was the same with Wes Brown - he’s a fine centre-half who I wanted to move on from but he was absolutely determined to prove me wrong and he came back in pre-season to really impress me and was on the bench last week.

“Lee has shown real desire too.

“He hasn’t just come back in to suffer, he has embraced it enthusiastically and that is important.

“If you are intelligent and you buy into it, you have a chance and now Lee has a chance.”

Cattermole’s recent career at Sunderland has been blighted by a knee injury.which ruled him out from last November onwards - letting him down in comeback games against Bolton in January and Arsenal in February.

He strained a knee in the Sunderland Under 21 team’s first game of the new season.

But he has looked good on the training pitch in the last few weeks and Di Canio said: “Is it too soon to travel with the squad to West Brom? No.

“He will come with us and when I take the players with me to travel to the game, they go under the assumption that any one of them can play straight away.

“They might play from the start, or they might come on as a substitute but if you travel you have a chance of playing, and he will be in the squad.

“I will make a final decision on the first team on Friday.”

 

A real kick in the teeth for those people who claimed Di Canio had 'frozen out' Cattermole.

Now I expect they'll claim he's weak for allowing the player back into the reckoning.

Some people will use everything at the club to criticise the manager I suppose.

 

Good on Di Canio for giving Catts a chance! And contrary to believe I don't want Di Canio to fail because that means the club has failed still don't think he's the right man for the job but want to be proved wrong!

 

You know what. I think Catts was frozen out. He was told he could go (for the right offer).But having tinkered something rotten with the midfield PDC knows he's well short with Cabral, Vaughan, Larsson etc. so it's time to give someone else ago and tinker a bit more.

Out of curiosity.....how many players have we used in 4 games?.........a canny few thats for sure.(just looked it up....20........10 midfielders)

 

To be honest no one claimed he was "frozen out" PDC told us he was " frozen out" and should look for a new club. Some people will twist words just to create an argument.

 

It was always going to be the case that we would use a lot of players at first, we all knew that ............. didn't we?

 

Being told you would be allowed to leave isn't being 'frozen out' as has now been proven by his inclusion in the squad for West Brom ........ if that's the case.

Cattermole didn't become 'available for transfer' because of his performances because he didn't play. So it was obviously his attitude.
Fletcher wasn't available for transfer because of his attitude despite not playing either.

Would you want players at the club who don't want to embrace the new culture and want to play by their own rules?

I'm not twisting anything and not after an argument .... it could be said that those claiming DI Canio 'froze him out', despite not saying so, are the ones twisting and misquoting.

 

I think the term `frozen out` was used by the press when referring to Bardsley.

iirc `not in my plans` (or something like it) was used by PDC about Catts.

The return of Catts suggests to me that PDC is much more flexible than I thought. Still the strict disciplinarian no doubt but open enough to change his mind if the players put the effort in.

Alfie & Cabral take note.

 

Not bothered if he was frozen out told he can go or given a space hopper to train on we need him back to his best to protect the back four a bit. Good on PDC for putting him in (not much choice I reckon mind) as this shows he's willing to give people a chance.

 

Pops & Turnip ..... I agree with all that.

I reckon once the supporters, and players, get used to Di Canio's style of management the better things will be for all concerned.

I don't think he's a 'Bruce' who had heroes & villains, I think everyone at the club, including the likes of Ji, Cattermole and Vaughan, will be given a chance.

It's up to them whether or not they take that chance.

 

Jim and Vaughan have been given more than enough chances time to move them on! And Smug you were looking for an argument that's why you worded your original piston the way you did!

 

Don't be daft.

I wasn't addressing anyone in particular so unless the cap fits don't wear it mate.

If the cap does fit then I disagree with that point of view and can't see any reason why I shouldn't say so, do you?

Some people, on here, were saying Cattermole had been frozen out and this proves they were wrong, I don't mind sparing a moment to point that out.

That's fair isn't it?

 

The only reason anyone stated that cattermole had been "frozen out " was because of direct quotes from our manager , you can argue all day long about different interpretations of the phrase " frozen out " .

 

Can I see that quote please?

 

Paolo Di Canio expects ‘one or two’ more departures before the transfer window closes – but insists no one will be frozen out if they do not move on.

Five first-teamers have already left Sunderland over the summer, three on permanent deals and two on loan, but so far nothing has come of speculation linking midfielders David Vaughan and Lee Cattermole with moves away from Wearside.

And another player to be linked with a move is Benin international Stephane Sessegnon – with clubs in Qatar monitoring his situation – although Di Canio said at the weekend that he is not for sale.

With 12 more days to go until the window closes on September 2, there is still time for more arrivals and departures and Di Canio is certainly keen to bring in a couple of new faces.

If at all possible, Sunderland will also want to unload any players who do not figure in the new head coach’s plans in order to keep the wage bill down.

But Di Canio is conscious of the fact that Sunderland’s squad remains short on numbers, and says any players who remain at the club when the window closes will be considered part of his first-team group.

And it was significant that both Vaughan and Cattermole were given shirt numbers when the club announced its official Premier League squad at the end of last week. Di Canio said: “I don’t expect many more players to leave before the transfer deadline.

“Maybe one, maybe two – that was in the plan – but not many. We will see.

“But if that does not happen, it is not an issue as they are part of the club.

“We will do everything we can to make them fit in with the others and give them a part [to play] because we need to use everybody.

“I don’t have any preconceived ideas.”

Di Canio’s stated intention is to use all the players available to him, but the one man who is regarded as beyond the pale is out-of-favour full-back Phil Bardsley.

Bardsley blotted his copybook at the end of last season after being pictured surrounded by £50 notes on a late-night casino visit just days before Sunderland’s final game.

He was banished to train with the youngsters when the players returned for pre-season, and broke his foot playing for the Under-21s last week.

And then this week he was suspended by the club pending an investigation after he apparently took to a social media site to mock the club’s opening day defeat against Fulham.

Bardsley’s injury means he is highly unlikely to be sold this month, but he was not given a squad number and will not play for the club under Di Canio.

 

Me too - There were no direct quotes from our manager - the papers all said that he had been frozen out due to his squad number being taken by Cabral - Di Canio said that he had nothing at all to do with the squad numbers and that the players themselves were the only ones involved in the decision making process for that. There were a load of press assumptions but not a single quote that said Cattermole had been frozen out - Bardsley on the other hand is completely different - and he made a complete tit of himself anyway with the casino and then twitter or instagram or whatever it was.

Di Canio told Cattermole he would listen to offers for him - Cattermole told Di Canio he would prove him wrong - exactly the opposite of what happened to N'Diaye

 

Until he's loaned mate I don't think Bardo will be frozen out. He's getting treatment, he's getting paid, and even if he's with the u21 squad, his providing a roll to the young uns just with his experience.

Now I'm waiting for people to say that Cabral is being frozen out when in truth he's merely down the pecking order.

 

So you're taking quotes from the manager, changing them and then claiming they're facts ........... I'm not arguing, you're just wrong.

 

That's hardly surprising though. He's been bought all these new guys and he doesn't know what his first 11 is yet.

It'll hopefully settle down soon, preferably with Catts one of the 11!

 

Regardless whether he was frozen out (which I doubt), or simply overlooked until now I dont care.

He is a Sunderland asset and as such should be used when appropriate. I for one am happy to have him here and hope he does a magnificent job.

I just hope that when he does get onto the pitch, he stays on it.

x