Cats left frustrated after four forwards talks fail
Sunderland’s Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has revealed that the club were frustrated in talks over four separate strikers on Deadline Day.
In this the second part of his interview, Speakman has admitted that he was left ‘frustrated’ that Sunderland were unable to complete a deal that would have offered valuable cover and competition for Joe Gelhardt.
Fans were left frustrated by the inactivity in forward areas after Ross Stewart suffered a season-ending achilles injury at Craven Cottage days earlier.
Stewart’s absence, it was put to Speakman, also leaves Sunderland short of a focal point for others to play-off – and a lack of tactical variety as a result.
“Maybe there’s a misalignment here in terms of what we’re trying to acquire,” Speakman responded.
“That focal point you refer to is not a big requirement for the team we’re building and developing.
“Joe Gelhardt, for example, is totally aligned with how we’re trying to play in terms of what we need for a number nine. When the conversation was around Gelhardt, every single member of the recruitment and coaching staff was absolutely set on trying to sign him.
“We want to have variety, absolutely, but they also have to fit our playing style. As much as we talk about the in possession and that target man if you like, the link play, you’ve also got to look at what we do out of possession. The way we play requires the ability to get about the pitch, to apply pressure in the right areas and to turn the ball over to create opportunities [that way].
“Finding the player who can do all that is not easy.”
Sunderland’s season so far has surpassed expectations and for many, the team’s proximity to the top six offered an opportunity to push for strength in depth and bolster those promotion ambitions.
Speakman rejected the suggestion that the failure to
replace Stewart was a question of either finance or ambition, saying the club were prepared to sanction significant loan additions.
“We have pushed our structure and we absolutely will do it when we feel it’s necessary,” he said.
“You have a strategy, a plan and a way that you go about things, but you have to be smart enough to deviate.
“Not signing another number nine was nothing to do with finance or ambition, we pushed as hard as we possibly could. For several potential loan players, they would have been big temporary transfers for us. Ultimately, their club didn’t let them out or in some circumstances, the players themselves decided they didn’t want to drop into the Championship.
“We’re very ambitious about where we want to get to and we have an ambitious owner, we just want to execute it in a specific way.
“There are probably 14 teams in the mix for a play-off spot and we’re right in there.”
The other position where there was a sense that Sunderland
should recruit further was in defensive midfield, given that Corry Evans is out for the season with an ACL injury.
Tony Mowbray had expressed concern about the inexperienced and the balance in that part of the pitch as a result.
“Yeah, look, losing Corry is a big one for us,” Speakman explained, asked why they hadn’t ultimately recruited further.
“If there’s an opportunity to acquire someone who fits in that scenario then you look at it, but at the same time we’ve also committed to providing opportunities to young players and we have a lot of talent.
“Edouard needs to play, Dan Neil needs for his career to step up and lead, Abdoullah has to step in the team and show a consistency. We need to see all these things so then you can make the right judgement on how the squad evolves.
“We have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. It’s easy for Tony not to put Riggy on when a tie against Fulham is in the balance, really easy
not to bring him on when you go 1-0 down to Shrewsbury but we’ve committed to this strategy. We want Edouard to play, we want to give Pierre [Ekwah] opportunities.”
But is the point not that Evans’ discipline and role allows those midfielders to thrive in front of him?
“Edouard has played the majority of his career as a six/ eight and Dan has done that job incredibly well of late,” Speakman replied.
“These players have got to evolve and take on that responsibility.
“We’re trying to grow and evolve, and we’ve got to give these opportunities. There is definitely risk in that – we accept that. Pierre can absolutely play in a defensive midfield role, though we accept he’s starting out in his professional career.
“Our structure is designed to get in these players and give them chances. We’ve got to keep believing and trusting in these players, who have performed really well and brought us so far.”
Sunderland’s deadlineday pursuits were themselves an admission that more depth up front was needed.
So what happens if Gelhardt were to pick up an injury? It's the question for many fans ahead of the return to Championship and FA Cup action.
“To get to where we want to get to, we’re going to have to overcome various challenges and we have to have a culture where we embrace the challenge and find solutions,” Speakman said.
“We’ve to be a resilient organisation.
“I understand there’ll be comparisons made in terms of our XG or our points-pergame [during, we produced some good performances when we didn’t play with a striker. We played Fulham last week for the best part of 80 minutes without a striker and performed extremely well.
“We’ve got an extremely versatile and talented set of forward players and we’ll find solutions. “We’ve done it a lot in terms of defence when we had to, where we changed our shape and pattern, and we’ll do the same at the front end.”