Veteran defender Wes Brown will be restricted to a bit-part role with Sunderland this season, Dick Advocaat has confirmed.Brown was handed a one-year contract extension by Advocaat during the summer, yet he was not part of the squad for Sunderland’s opening day defeat at Leicester, despite being fit and available. The 35-year-old and former Manchester United team-mate John O’Shea have been Sunderland’s first-choice central defensive pairing over the last two seasons, but Advocaat opted to start the campaign with summer arrivals Younes Kaboul and Sebastian Coates. The new boys both struggled in the 4-2 defeat against the Foxes - albeit they were offered little protection - with captain O’Shea in contention to return to the starting XI for this weekend’s opening Stadium of Light encounter against Norwich. But Brown is unlikely to come back into the frame, with head coach Advocaat making the ex-England international aware that he will only be used if necessary. Advocaat told the Echo: “Wes has a different role this season. “We’re only going to use him if we really need him. “But he’s fit, yes.” The only other option available to Advocaat at centre-half is highly-rated youngster Tom Beadling, who trained with the first-team throughout pre-season. Sunderland are understood to be reluctant to let Beadling out on loan at this stage of the campaign, with an outside chance that he could be involved with the first-team - probably in the Capital One Cup. But Beadling - who impressed for the Under-21s earlier this week - is progressing, with development coach Robbie Stockdale seeing the 19-year-old’s improvement from his time spent with Advocaat’s squad. “He’s got ability Tom,” said Stockdale. “I would like to see him be a bit more aggressive and assertive on the pitch with his talking. “But he’s always had a clean pass on him. It’s his defending that I go on to him about improving. “He’s working hard at it though. “I think it just makes you a bit more street-wise training with the first-team. “Some of the balls he thinks he can win at Under-21 level, he can’t win at first-team. It’s the dark arts and being street-wise.”
I think that`s pretty much what I was expecting regarding Brown. The Beadling situation is interesting. Many of us (me included) were wondering why he wasn`t playing after the praise he was getting. Now we know. He isn`t ready. Not yet. Not quite. Sounds like he`s close and working hard which is good. It`s a pity the club can`t be a bit more forthcoming with this sort of info. It would help stop us wondering. Same applies to Watmore.
I'd have started the season with Brown and O'Shea, tried and trusted (well trusted a bit). All too often you see overhauls going horrifically wrong, new CB partnerships backfiring. You had/have a favourable set of fixtures to work with on your first four games, so I'd have gone with a trusted partnership at the back and worked towards edging Brown, or both out over the season. If you lose this weekend, I think Advocaat has to do this before **** hits the fan.
I'd partially agree Terry, I'd have played Kaboul and O'Shea, despite never having been O'Shea's fan, at all. O'Shea does lead the team well and given that Kaboul had not played for a long while I think he could have been a steadying influence for a few games, Kaboul up to speed then, unless O'Shea had been superb of course, put Coates in.
Absolutely. I won't go along with people saying Kaboul & Coates weren't solid signings, both have shown they are capable, what I will say is we needed another, better, we should have let Brown go (although I assume he's taken a monster pay cut), and we should have been after a Caulker, van Dijk, Joel Veltman. We have shown a lack of ambition again, but I'm not gonna get overly upset, I still think that Lens & M'Vila alone are massive steps forward and that we will be ok. You know mate, Fer passes a medical and the whole mood is different, we really are that close to a line between average and decent.
Wes Brown is on some sort of 'future coach' deal with incentivised pay for games he actually plays in, so I'm told. I don't think you've bought bad at all, what I do think though, listening to Advocaat of late, is that there's not a pot of cash waiting to be splashed out on players. There may be a bit of cash put to one side if this Alvarez transfer ends up working in your favour. I think you're relying on loans now, or low fees. Advocaat has probably advised Short that these low fees are probably better spent on loans than cheap players. I actually think Adnan will move (to you) as soon as Pedro/another arrives, same with Evans (to another club, probably Everton) if we buy a centre half.
I think there's some money there, has to be from the unexpected Wickham sale at least, but I worry it's a very small pot when I look what comparable sized clubs have spent. It just confuses me that Dick came back if there weren't certain assurances.
It depends mate, do Palace pay everything up front? Very few teams do. If they've given you £2m in advance what are you gonna buy with that? Like you say, on the other thread, you're operating at a loss. I think a couple of loans could address some real issues in your squad and more importantly, allow you a frugal year financially to get yourselves back in the black and to be competitive. Is there really that much point giving Advocaat £50-60m for one season? Better to give it to his replacement who you want in the hotseat for 4/5 years surely.
I'd suggest Advocaat can be trusted with a few quid and his successor would benefit from the players he would bring in. Spending now and being a year further forward has to make sense, with the huge increase from next season and the often underestimated prize money for climbing 5 or 6 places. We wait another year and Swansea, Stoke etc are a year further ahead of us. Stoke signing Shaqiri and Affelay should really be drilling home that we need to make the step now. These are top, top players going to a mid table club mate, we have to remain competitive at the very least. Like I say, Lens & M'Vila are massive steps in the right direction so I'm not totally down with it all.
But Advocaat hasn't done anything that Poyet or Di Canio didn't do. Short has been burnt by player acquisitions, and surely has learned a lesson there, maybe the same lesson applies to managers. Although like you say, that doesn't explain why DA come back for another year. I'm probably speculating too much here, back on track, the simplest explanation is probably just that you've missed some targets and the next ones are maybe a little more expensive.
It seems to me that the way DA was pursued there would have to be assurances in the transfer market. Nothing else fits. As others have suggested we might well have gone for targets but not been able to get them. That doesn`t mean the funds are no longer there. I still expect additions before the window closes.
True as that is his record is excellent. Multiple national team jobs as well, which are quite regularly a contract for a certain campaign. My point is, the man has a bit more weight to his ideas than PDC or Poyet did.
We are well aware of that. He hasn't pretended otherwise, we know this is his last season in football
