Well according to Lord Gary Rowell he is exactly that, and what we miss...But also mentions Brown and O'Shea... Which is the more missed? Many may answer Catts, but they will be the same people who want Colback to play also...i'm not sure of the Catts/Colback c/m pairing..in fact that's a lie, i don't like it, it's either or, not both.. Both of the ex Man U boys are a big miss.. ...................................................................... WHAT struck me most in the game against Wolves was that we looked like a team that has run out of steam. There was a glaring lack of energy and ideas from Sunderland and Wolves â the Premier Leagueâs worst side â looked the better team in a game we had all come to the Stadium of Light expecting the home team to win. What I thought we lacked more than anything, was a Lee Cattermole to drive the team onwards. There was a lack of leadership at the weekend and by that I donât mean that players werenât interested or werenât trying. They were. But it seemed as though everyone was pulling separately, playing their own game and it needed someone to knit them together and lift them. Thatâs Cattermoleâs role. When heâs playing, he has a desire about him that is infectious. He gees up the rest of the team. When fatigue starts to set in, it can be mental as well as physical and Cattermole is the leader on the pitch who can guard against that. I think Sunderland have three natural leaders â Cattermole and, because of all their experience and achievements, John OâShea and Wes Brown â none of which were involved at the weekend. OâShea and Brown have an authority and desire about them which I think lifts their team-mates but Cattermole is the only one who is an âin your faceâ leader, someone who rattles cages a little like Kevin Ball used to do. Sunderland missed that â a player drawing players together â and hopefully the skipper will be back for the trip to Villa this weekend or, in his absence, a player or players who can take up that responsibility because it was very apparent to me at the weekend that we were lacking someone to shake us up and get us going.
"O’Shea and Brown have an authority and desire about them which I think lifts their team-mates but Cattermole is the only one who is an ‘in your face’ leader, someone who rattles cages a little like Kevin Ball used to do." We have always liked a leader to be a driving force like Bally but saying that your skipper should be guaranteed to play more often than not - I am not convinced this describes Catts. I think that MON will be on the look out for a Stylian Petrov type player in the summer and that we may see the armband going to them. Neither O'Shea or Brown inspire me and neither are reliable when it comes to fitness.
I think that we sorely missed Catts at the weekend;Bardo normally takes it upon himself to gee others up but on Saturday he seemed quite subdued.Whilst Brown and O'Shea are good footballers I don't see them as leaders.
I agree we missed Cattermole for his energy and leadership on the pitch last weekend. I hope MoN recognises this too and continues to develop him as a player and a leader and keeps him as captain. Anyone able to work out what our win percentage is when Cattermole plays vs when he doesn't?
We missed Cattermole against wolves. but I think we were suffering from end of season syndrome as well. Time to throw in some fresh faces. I would love to see something new: Gordon Bardo, Killa, Colback Catts, Meyler Campbell, Sess, Mcclean Ji, Bendtner Bench: Westwood, Ricco, Turner, Greek, Vaughan, Larsson, Wickham If Catts not fit, then Ricco or Bridge at LB, Meyler DM, Colback just ahead of him. sort of a 3-1-1-3-2 formation.
