Good read, it's odd how he went four years of constant pain and barely being able to walk first thing in the morning without realising there was a serious problem but it's sorted now. I liked his comment about Ross: "Jack’s modern, his training’s very organised, very methodical, very detailed, but he’s also got some real old-school values so everything balances out nicely."
He's a Teeesside lad mate. We dont winge about pain in our neck of the woods. I walked for 6 months and even played footy with mates with a fractured leg before the hospital realised. Id had 2 Xrays previous and they Xrayed the wrong place.
Time to try something different, thats all. Good luck to the lad, a change would be good for him too.
Just like his pal JoS he gives better interviews than performances, clearly both of them love football, they were just not good at it for one reason or another by the time they joined us. Both have done very well out of the game, but like many others, were poor buys, and very expensive failures for SAFC.
And he'll always have people who get on his back for that one poor pass when he's played 20 good passes and scored a goal in a game! You're one of them. Seem to have a general dislike for him even though he's scored and made goals for us and played very well for us this season. I want his wages off the bill - but that's the only reason I want him gone. His football ability is way above where we are and he'll get a championship club if they're willing to pay his wages. Otherwise he'll be here next season as well. That or you're right and all of our previous managers from Bruce onwards (except for Di Canio) were wrong
Its not one bad pass in 20 good ones Markus, if that was true we would be able to get shot of him, we can't.
Cattermole was crucial to Sunderland's destiny according to Big Sam: https://www.90min.com/posts/3156450-sam-allardyce-lee-cattermole-is-crucial-to-sunderland-s-destiny "We can rely on him to break up the opposition's attacks, close their danger men down and use it well." (Sam talking about Catts) As for the 1 in 20 - my point is that if he makes 20 good passes and one bad one, no one remembers the good ones. I watched him play 3 defence splitting passes and create very good opportunities in the first 10 minutes of a game then set up a goal - he then gave the ball away trying a key pass and the crowd got on his back - ignoring the assist and 3 chances created! It's the nature of our fans - we lament him for ages, he starts playing well, we lament him some more. Can;t see good things he does because they don't rate him - you're in that bracket - completely blind to the good he has brought to the club over the years. "Cattermole actually played more accurate long balls than any other outfield player with 90. This is from 115 attempts, putting him at an accuracy level of 78% which was again the highest at the club."
I think I'd be bothered if McLaughlin or O'Nien went - I would miss the energy Catts brings to the club but his wages are far too much for league one and he needs to move on. If he's here next season then so be it and he'll be an asset and people like Mumba can learn a lot from him in attitude etc.