01 January 2014 8:30 SUNDERLAND are set to bring Ji Dong-won back into the fold for todayâs game against Aston Villa. And that will give the South Korean the chance to reprise by far his best moment in a Sunderland shirt â when he scored the winner against Manchester City on New Yearâs Day, 2012. Gus Poyet confirmed to the Echo: âI plan to include Ji in the squad for the game against Aston Villa. âHeâs an interesting character because he is different from the other strikers we have and the bottom line is that we do not have many selection choices when it comes to attack. âWe have Steven Fletcher and we have Jozy Altidore â we donât know yet about Fabio Borini â but Ji gives us another option. âAnd even before Fabio was taken ill, I still had it in my mind to include Ji in my squad against Villa anyway.â Ji, who is out of contract this summer, is a player Sunderland are ready to offload in the transfer window if an acceptable offer comes in. Bought by Steve Bruce for £2m from Chunnam Dragons in the summer of 2011 the young striker has been a flop on Wearside â making just three league starts and 20 substitute appearances in two-and-a-half years at the club. He has yet to appear in any of Poyetâs matchday squads. His personal low point came this season when he ducked out of a header in the 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace in August when he only needed to stretch to score. Paolo Di Canio, who had incredibly turned down a £5m bid for the player in the summer, was stunned. âWhen you play with kids without fire, without desire, when you have the ball three yards from the opponentsâ goal-line and my player, rather than push his neck out to score a goal, retreats his neck because he is worried, what can you do? âI canât change the heart of my players.â Ji never played under Di Canio again but the South Koreanâs stock remains high in Germany where he impressed on a loan spell for Augsburg from January to May, 2013. And while the striker can leave for free in the summer, there are rumours in Germany that Dortmund may make a fresh bid this month to secure their former target. For the moment, Ji could be given the chance to revive memories of the highlight of his Sunderland career when he gave fans one of their best memories in recent times â scoring a last-gasp winner against Manchester City on January 1, 2012. Stephane Sessegnon produced the magic to get the ball into the danger zone but it was Ji, with virtually the last kick of the game, who was there to stab the ball past Joe Hart for a famous 1-0 which sparked wild scenes in the stands and had then City boss Roberto Mancini storming down the tunnel. Poyet would love it if Ji could recreate that magic today. The Sunderland head coach pointed out: âI said when I first arrived at the club that we would have so many games that everyone in the squad would have a chance at some stage, and I meant that. âI also said that when players get their chance they have to be ready and they have to look to take it.â
TBH the player can't be as useless as he appears, the goal against Man City was taken brilliantly under pressure after running the length of the pitch. Poyet hasn't pissed me of yet so I'd give Ji the benefit of the doubt if he does ........... he'll only be a 'last 20 minute' emergency or someone to run around if we're 2 or 3-0 up imo.
I think we will play Altidore and Fletcher today together so are a little short on strikers for the bench. Borini cant be 100% even if he plays. I don't rate this lad at all but he seems to gander a lot of plaudits from people who work with him (every manager from Bruce to PDC saw something in him and now so does Gus) and he is being chased by some big guns in Germany. I dont care about my thoughts on him however as its all about the result again today not the players. Who knows, he likes New Years Day games!
I think its all a mentality thing and pressure the reasoning behind his failings here. At Augsburg he looked a cultured player in a similar role to what Ozil does at Arsenal. The pace in Germany is just as much as England so it is a strange one. Sometimes players just work at clubs and not at others Foray, Torres, Shevchenko, Crespo, Veron the list goes on. To.be honest he's got nothing to lose so throwing him in today with 20 mins to go could be a master stroke.. Imagine if at 5pm your thinking, bloody he'll we can't let that lad leave now after that.
The Granudid gives a list of 20 players all around £20m..no surprises we are mentioned as being interested in any of them. Chelsea is mentioned as being interested in ever striker listed!
He's a good player, undoubtedly. His heart is won't be in it if he plays though, I reckon he'll be happy enough to sit out for the rest of the season and **** off to Germany in the summer, probably wanted off in the summer. Not fussed if he's in the squad, just as long as he isn't starting because like I said I don't think his heart is in it
Starting Ji is a brave move by a manager desperate to prove his PL credentials .... claiming he's just 'in the shop window' is daft, this is a crucial game, relegation would cost us £50 million.
