Congerton speaks to the times

We want a British heart and Spanish style of play

George Caulkin hears from the Sunderland sporting director, Lee Congerton, about creating a platform for stability and club DNA

Lee Congerton has come home to start something that, in this case, means stopping; an end to Sunderland’s relentless cycle of revolutions and new dawns, the white-knuckle rides that soar, plummet and return to the beginning, inducing nausea among supporters and halting progress. His title is sporting director, but it is better to think of him as a builder, there to lay foundations, to make his club stand for more productive qualities than chaos and underachievement.

One interview, two conversations; the first in Congerton’s office during the World Cup finals, when football felt warm and distant, the second by telephone in those buzzy hours before Sunderland’s opening league match away to West Bromwich Albion, which they drew 2-2. Between the two, he has pushed through the £10 million signing of Jack Rodwell, a statement addition from Manchester City, and there is a quickening now, a sense of immediacy.

Within the British game, where by (mixed) tradition the manager has been a deal-broker, a role such as Congerton’s still fosters confusion, but his credentials are impressive — a Liverpool coach, head of scouting at Chelsea, the fruitful partnership with Frank Arnesen, arguably the most influential director of football of his generation — and Sunderland are determined to tread their own path. That instinct caused them difficulty last season but, as with anything, the key is having good people in the right positions.

On Friday afternoon, Congerton’s position was in the Netherlands, working. Asked to describe his present existence, “busy” featured prominently, which is understandable, because although he must look at strategy as much as signings, his task is complex. Twice in succession, Sunderland have flirted with relegation — only Gustavo Poyet’s “miracle” saved them last season — and the aim is to improve even when some decent players have gone, find an identity, eke out value for a limited outlay and jettison the deadwood.
There is satisfaction at their seven additions (eight including Sebastian Larsson, who renewed his contract), all of whom have experience of English football, while the purchase of Rodwell, the dynamic midfield player, feels substantive. “The important thing for Jack is to play football,” Congerton, 41, said. “He could have stayed at City and picked up a fortune, but he believes in what we’re trying to do. Potentially, we’ve signed a future England captain.”

As Congerton said, “there is still work to do”. A £14 million fee for Fabio Borini was agreed with Liverpool more than a month ago, but the striker, who has had a shoulder injury, remains at Anfield and Sunderland “have to look at other options”. Connor Wickham, whose five goals last April were pivotal in ensuring safety, is out of contract next summer. More players will arrive. “I’ve always said it will go to the end of the window,” Congerton said, “and loans will be important to us until we can grow our own players.”

At his desk a few weeks earlier, Congerton had fleshed out the reasons behind his appointment in March. “The job is about covering every element of football, from the academy, sports science, performance analysis, operating within the financial model, recruitment and, ultimately, working with the head coach,” he said. “It’s about bringing the right players in, making sure they fit our philosophy, how we expect to play, supporting the head coach, allowing him to improve the team.”

The previous version of the partnership was calamitous — Paolo Di Canio lasted 13 games and Roberto De Fanti less than seven months as director of football — but that was less the fault of the system (as a wise sage once told Congerton “there’s the way England does it and the way everybody else does it and everybody else can’t be wrong”) than the personnel. In Poyet, Sunderland have played with a fluid style and Congerton wants this meaning to be stamped in the club’s DNA.

The DNA business is important. Although born in Wales, who he represented at youth level before injury brought an end to his playing career, Congerton’s family originate from the northeast. Two uncles were young professionals at Middlesbrough — one went on to Darlington — and he has a grasp on the region. His challenge is condensing that at Sunderland, updating its relevance.

“Football is everything here,” he said, “I’ve worked at Liverpool where it was the same and it’s what my life has been all about since I left school. When I looked at the team, I thought we’d lost our way in terms of what Sunderland is about — work ethic, tradition, that bit of flair to go with it, knowing that you don’t get anything in life without trying. That was the way I was brought up — you might not always have the skill, but you have to have the will. You never give in.”

If Sunderland’s frenetic end to last season — bottom of the table with six games to play, safe with one to spare — was improbable, tense and ultimately joyous, Poyet’s commitment to a new two-year contract offers momentum. When safety looked unlikely, the Uruguayan had said “there’s something wrong in the football club”, but he and Congerton have addressed those issues and although their relationship is still fresh, it is growing.

“We’re living in an environment of wins and losses, so there will always be wobbles, but Gus and I sat down and I reassured him, ‘you’re the right man, you’ll get us out of it’. I believed in him,” Congerton said. “Other clubs changed managers, but that was the last thing we needed. We needed stability. We’ve spoken about things we want to change — we both want to improve the club. One of my priorities was to give him a new contract. He’s done great and will do better.”

The upheaval (four permanent managers since 2011) has to stop. “I’m sure Gus will have admirers in the coming years and part of my job is to prepare for if and when that happens, to make sure we’ve got someone who is ready to step in, to carry on what we’re doing, to fit our model,” Congerton said. “Hopefully, that won’t be for a long time, but what is our identity? Do we want to play like other clubs or do we want our own style of playing?
“I like the style we’re playing today, with the manager we’ve got and our owner does, too. That’s something we want to adopt for many years to come. We should be proud to wear the shirt — that’s something that Gus and myself are very keen on. Identity is everything. We want a British heart to Sunderland’s team, with a Spanish way of playing. It’s important we create our own footprints in the sand.”

There will be innovation as well as feel. Steve Houston, who turned down Real Madrid to follow Congerton from Hamburg, is a head of scouting with an eye for numbers. “As well as watching and observing and collecting information that way, we do a lot of work with statistics, so we can compare players and what they bring,” Congerton said.
Equally, he still talks to Arnesen about his relationship with Sir Bobby Robson at PSV Eindhoven, squaring a northeast circle.

“This club needs a period of stability,” Congerton said, but the aim, eventually, is for Sunderland to become “an established top ten team, growing players from our academy, local players in our first team, thinking players, playing the right way.”

There is the “ultimate dream” of Wembley again, this time on the winning side, because football is nothing without dreams, but first things first; work and more work. “Something is starting to happen here,” he said.

Sir Bobby gave me ambition to learn
Insularity remains an issue in English football, but Lee Congerton has taken inspiration from the “great example” of Sir Bobby Robson, travelling abroad to further his experience.
While coaching at Wrexham, where he qualified for his Uefa Pro Licence, Congerton travelled to Juventus, Porto, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid at his own expense, studying their methods.
After leaving Chelsea, where he was head of scouting, Congerton followed Frank Arnesen, the sporting director, to Hamburg. Arnesen had coached under Robson at PSV Eindhoven.

“I wanted to be a technical director but the role doesn’t exist as much as it should in England, in my opinion, and Frank asked if I would come with him to Hamburg,” he said. “I didn’t speak a word of German, but it was a life experience, the best thing I’ve done.”

 

I like when he talks, he seems a really savvy & intelligent lad.

 

very impressive cv, seems a real coup and comes across brilliantly

didnt realise houston turned down real madrid to come here

 

Me neither, I knew he had some top offers, but didn't realise Madrid was one.

Looks like a great team taking shape in that area.

 

really does, just need a few extra bodies in the squad and we really could take off

 

Brings tears to my eyes, we've never had a plan.

Even when Reid took us to 7th it was all on a wing & a prayer wasn't it?

 

Pretty much. Nobody, anywhere, could have predicted the Quinn/Phillips/Summerbee

 

??

I would have him in there, used to love him!

 

All three were greeted with

 

Aye, but he didn't feature in the 2 7th places, or I'd have mentioned him too mate

****ing loved Summerbee me, top winger, sound as **** as well, many a drunken time bumped into him around town.

 

We have a plan? What a novel concept.

We`ve had some dam good players but I can`t recall bringing players in to suit a particular style of play. More a case of he`s a good player get him in and try to play to his strengths kind of thing.

I like that article though. Makes a bit more sense now.

 

Summerbee was awesome like. I always put him up there with Beckham for deliveries, every ball he put in was on the money. Wouldn't mind seeing his assists!

 

Cracking player. Had a hell of a byut on him anarl. iirc he was measured as having one of the hardest shots in the league.

 

Clam down mate, nowt for the likes of us to get involved in ........ these new fangled ideas are best left to the young 'uns

 

Cracking article. Impressive cv and savvy chap.

 

Mad tekkers, he just kinda swung his leg as wide as he could and whipped the, the consistency was incredible.

 

Aye, hair brained schemes they come up with nowadays. No good will come of this modern thinking malarkey. Bring back the casey. Like heedin` a suet pudden. Proper byuts anarl, not like these sannies they wear now. Nancy boys.

 

Clout the ball upfield and let the lads with the Brylcreem chase it ....... that's how football should be played

 

Aye, proper football that was. None of this modern arty farty, tippy tappy, bugrin about nonsense. If you couldn`t kick the ball, kick the bloke who had it. Bounce the keeper into the net. Proper footballers them lads. All for £6 a week anarl. Bunch of fairies they are now.

 

You're a bloody national treasure mate ....... never mind these icons like Cliff Richard, Rolf, Jimmy or Elton