The latest edition of the Sunderland weekly round-up takes a look at the latest news from the Stadium of Light. With the January transfer window getting closer, the rumour mill is begging to gather pace.
The Black Cats have been linked in the past week with a Premier League midfielder who cost his current club £16 million. The club have also been linked to a player Tony Mowbray knows well from their days together at Blackburn Rovers.
We also take a look back at the two games played this past week. Despite winning away from home, Sunderland could not follow it up at home at the weekend. Both performances have fans, staff and players alike worrying.
Sunderland Weekly Round-Up: Premier League Midfielder Linked and Performance Levels Drop
Aston Villa Midfielder Linked
Aston Villa’s French midfielder Morgan Sanson has been linked with a loan move to the Stadium of Light. Sanson, who cost Villa £16 million when he signed from Marseille in January 2021 has made just 20 appearances.
Jamie Kemble of the Sunderland Echo reported on Friday that the Black Cats were interested in bringing Sanson to the club on loan. However, now that Villa have replaced Steven Gerrard with Unai Emery, Sanson could be given a lifeline at the club. The 28-year-old made his first appearance of the season by coming on as a late substitute in Villa’s 3-1 victory at home to Manchester United.
Tony Mowbray Could Be Reunited With Blackburn Star
Reports by James Copely of the Sunderland Echo and Alan Nixon of The Sun claim Blackburn Rovers midfielder Bradley Dack could be set for a reunion with Tony Mowbray. Attacking midfielder Dack struggled with injuries and has failed to reclaim his first-team place on a regular basis this season.
It was Tony Mowbray who signed Dack for Rovers from Gillingham in 2017. He scored 18 league goals to help Rovers and Mowbray secure promotion from League One in his first season. He continued his fine form the following season scoring a further 18 goals in all competitions. However, two serious knee injuries, one to each knee kept him out for a significant length of time. Now fit but struggling for game time, Dack may favour a reunion with Mowbray should the Black Cats make a move.
Sunderland Weekly Round-Up: One Win, One Defeat, Two Poor Performances
🗣 A brutally honest verdict from the Sunderland boss!#SAFC https://t.co/CIo4taJnQD
— Sunderland Echo SAFC (@sunechosafc) November 2, 2022
This past week saw the Black Cats travel to Huddersfield Town and face Cardiff City at the Stadium of Light.
A 2-0 victory at Huddersfield was followed by a 1-0 defeat at home to Cardiff. Despite collecting three points away from home in difficult conditions, many questioned the performance from the team, something which head coach Tony Mowbray agreed with. He said: “It’s probably the worst performance since I’ve been here, I didn’t think we could play as that.
“Our performance was like the weather really. But it’s good to say that with three points on the board, knowing that we can move and knowing that we are much better than that.
“We’ll take the points and I’d like to congratulate Huddersfield. If they can play like that every week, they are going to be fine. We managed to find a way.”
Poor Result Follows Poor Performance
With the midweek win producing questions, the home game against Cardiff City brought even more. Sunderland never got into the game and struggled to create chances. Mowbray decided to rest two of his more experienced players in Alex Pritchard and captain Corry Evans. It was a decision which backfired with their young replacements struggling throughout.
The defeat could have been worse had Anthony Patterson not saved a first-half penalty. Following the game, central defender Danny Batth spoke of his disappointment. He said: “I don’t think we played well and everyone will have their own reasons for that.
“As a group of players, we have to accept that. You probably look at the goal and it was fortunate, but they had more than enough chances to score before that.
“I think it’s difficult, we have a young group of players and there are going to be days where it doesn’t always click. But there will be days where we go away, like at Watford, bring three lads on and it looks brilliant. We have to take the rough with the smooth. I think the most disappointing thing for me personally was the performance out there.
“Results can go either way sometimes and you’re not always going to get what you deserve, but I don’t think the performance was good enough.”
