League One

Sunderland: Phil Smith explains why Lee Johnson was spotted at Newcastle United v Manchester City

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Image for Sunderland: Phil Smith explains why Lee Johnson was spotted at Newcastle United v Manchester City

Football writer Phil Smith has explained why Sunderland manager Lee Johnson was spotted watching their local rivals at a recent league game.

With the two teams being such fierce rivals, it would only be natural if some eyebrows were raised by the sight of the Black Cats’ manager at St. James’ Park over the weekend.

However, Smith has now claimed that Johnson’s visit was more likely to be tied to Newcastle’s opposition. Indeed, while talking on Sunderland Echo’s The Roar podcast, the journalist explained that the manager has ‘close connections’ with people at the City Football Group.

So when Manchester City, who are a part of this group, played Newcastle recently, it was simply an opportunity for Johnson to reconnect with some contacts.

Smith outlined his assessment of the situation, saying: “I believe Lee Johnson has got quite close connections with a lot of football figures at City Group.

“So I know that he’s done a lot of shadowing work in terms of going into some of the City Group’s clubs to see how they do things and get some experience. 

“I know he’s maintained dialogue with a lot of figures in the City Group. I suspect Callum Doyle’s loan owed, at least in part, to the fact that he has these connections with these figures in the City Group.

“So I would imagine – although I don’t know for sure – I would strongly imagine that he was invited as a chance to catch up with those connections.”

TIF Thoughts on Lee Johnson and Sunderland…

Over the summer, Man City youngster Doyle arrived at Sunderland on loan. By the sounds of it, that deal may well have been due to the connections between Johnson and the City Football Group.

Do Sunderland need to sign a new right-back?

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Yes

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No

With that being the case, it doesn’t look as if there is anything for any Black Cats fans to be worried about. In the end, their manager’s trip to their biggest rivals was actually nothing to do with Newcastle.

Johnson has now been at Sunderland for a year, having signed last December. Not long before that move, the Independent wrote an article outlining how the Englishman had spent time ‘one-on-one‘ with Man City boss Pep Guardiola.

No doubt, any lessons learnt will be useful as The Black Cats aim for promotion this season.

In other news: ‘Get him in for Kamberi’, ‘Give him a long deal’ – Many SWFC fans flock to ‘amazing’ footage

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