Danny Graham’s Disappointing Spell At Sunderland Comes To An End

Blackburn Rovers today signed striker Danny Graham from Sunderland on loan until the end of the season. The deal is with a view to a permanent move after the loan agreement has ended and with his contract being up in the summer, he has almost certainly played his last game in a Sunderland shirt.

He leaves the Black Cats after a disappointing time where he managed just one goal in 42 appearances in all competitions. The goal coming during a 2-0 victory at Everton in May 2015 where he deflected a Jordi Gomez shot into the net. He had featured regularly of late under new Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce, however with Sunderland wishing to free up wages for new signings, Graham was allowed to leave the Stadium of Light.

Speaking about his move to Ewood Park, Graham had this to say:“It’s been a mad 24 hours, I was training with Sunderland yesterday morning and then I came down here last night to get things sorted, so I’m delighted to get it done, I’m looking forward to the first game against Charlton and hopefully we can get off to a flying start.I spoke to the manager a few times and obviously he’s got some good players. The transfer embargo has been lifted, so they want to sign players and move the club forward. For me to get out of Sunderland and have a fresh challenge is superb for me, so I’m delighted to get it done, I can’t wait to get going and hopefully we can pull together and move up the table.”

Danny Graham was signed by ex-Sunderland and now Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill in January 2013 for around £5 million. He had enjoyed a successful spell at Swansea but had fallen out of favour with the then Swansea boss Michael Laudrup. O’Neill saw Graham as a good edition to his squad as he tried to keep the club in the Premier League and himself in a job, but although Sunderland stayed in the league, Graham failed to score and O’Neill lost his job.

His move to Wearside was a controversial one. He grew up supporting Sunderland’s rivals Newcastle and made comments earlier in his career with regards to disliking the Black Cats. Some supporters were not in favour of the move due to his comments and his allegiance to their rivals but some welcomed him, seeing his comments as nothing more than a show of support for the team he grew up following.

Having failed to score during his first half season with the club he was sent out on loan to Hull City, Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton Wanderers. None of these moves were made permanent and he returned to Wearside looking to find a way into the Sunderland first team.

Although at times he seemed to be working hard for the side, the move has just not worked out and has proved to be another costly error on the part of Sunderland, and few fans will be sad to see him leave the club. Danny Graham will now be added to the list of costly errors that includes the likes of Tore Andre Flo, Nicolas Medina, Michael Chopra and Jozy Altidore.