Written by James Ireson
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has been obviously upset recently. Danny Welbeck gets crocked for up to eight weeks and then Darren Bent decided he’d had enough in the North East and moved to Aston Villa. The fall-out from that move has dominated the back pages, but after his side won well at Blackpool, was all the talk over Darren Bent really that necessary?
It would be frustrating for any manager to lose one of his best players, especially the main focal point of his attack. But Sunderland showed no signs of missing the England striker on Saturday. It isn’t ideal, but for the time being, Asamoah Gyan is more than capable of leading the attack by himself, and if Kieran Richardson continues to revel in the role just behind the striker, then they won’t find goals too hard to find.
There is also talk of bringing in Stoke City’s Ricardo Fuller. The powerhouse doesn’t get too much of a look-in at the Britannia Stadium these days but whenever he does feature, he bullies centre-backs for fun. He’s a real handful and has an eye for goal. Because of his height and strength, the Jamaican compliments the direct style in which manager Tony Pulis likes to operate at Stoke, but more than that he can actually play. It baffles me that Pulis would rather John Carew to Fuller in the first place, but Bruce won’t be grumbling.
Fuller would cost a fraction of the money Sunderland received from Villa for Bent so they could also use the money to tighten up other areas, or bring in another option up front. Welbeck looks set to stay at Old Trafford next season so the concern for Bruce about the amount of strikers he has will resurface soon enough. At least now he has the funds to plan for life without the on loan Man United star.
But such is the nature of football these days that players do break contracts and do move clubs. Managers may not agree but moaning about the way in which Bent moved to Villa Park isn’t going to get Sunderland a new striker. It isn’t as though Bruce himself hasn’t left clubs to pursue his ambition of winning trophies before. Remember Wigan?
The fact is, Bruce has put together a fantastic squad at the Stadium of Light and sitting in sixth just two points of a place in the top four, it would be cruel to say they are punching above their weight. They are there on merit. Losing Bent will make it harder, but it is merely an obstacle which Sunderland must overcome if they are to continue to challenge for Europa League positions.
Bigger players have left bigger clubs but you just have to move on. Say what you want about the ethics of the transfer or the motivation behind his move, Darren Bent is now a Villa player and Sunderland are £18 million better off because of it. There are plenty of strikers out there who are priced below Darren Bent’s worth who are just as good.
Time is not on Bruce’s side, admittedly, but he has a week to sort out a short-term solution to the ‘how to solve a problem like Darren Bent?’ saga. Fuller and Gyan would suffice and I’m sure he is working on other avenues as well. But the summer isn’t too far away and he now has a lot of money to work with. Sunderland will have another front man soon enough and Bent will become just another player who has come and gone. He’s moved on, it’s time for Bruce to as well.
This article was first published on FootballFanCast.com
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