A Football Education meets The Football Lab - A 2018-19 Season Review

I sat down with The Football Lab to dissect Sunderland’s ultimately fruitless 2018-19 season and what lies in store for the upcoming campaign… Gabriel Sutton fires the questions right at me...

GS: There seems to be mixed feelings on the 2018-19 campaign at Sunderland. On the one hand, you’ve failed to get promotion from League One despite huge expenditure on transfer fees and wages. On the other, you’ve reached Wembley twice; you were one game away from achieving your objectives and have addressed fundamental structural issues that have lingered at the club for years. How do you reflect on the campaign?

MO: The trips to Wembley were fantastic occasions; the Checkatrade Final was certainly one for the fans, and while it was disappointing to lose, the league is what it is all about. We came up short over 46 games and in the play off final. Ultimately, the aim was to gain promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt, and for one reason or another, we have failed to achieve that. In my opinion, the squad that Jack Ross assembled was good enough to go up. Unlike previous campaigns, we haven’t failed due to a squad full of mercenaries; it wasn’t due to a lack of work rate or fight; we’ve failed because we haven’t quite been good enough, and that’s what it has boiled down to. We have certainly come along way from only having the eight senior pros in pre-season though, but the campaign will be remembered for the wrong reasons I feel.

GS: Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven took over last summer; as well as settling the debts at the club, they seem like very honest owners and will give fans an answer – even if they don’t necessarily like it. Do you see that as a healthy thing?

MO: Yeah, transparency has always been the one constant with the new regime. Donald has always said at the end of the day, the club belongs to the fans. The owners seem to have their fingers on the pulse so to speak, and have done a remarkable job in such a short period of time. I commend them for that. The engagement with the fans across social media platforms, fans sites such as Roker Report and through talk-ins has given us our club back after such a dark period under Ellis Short. I think now though, after the way the season has ended and another League One campaign on the horizon, the honeymoon period so to speak, is at an end. The club is on a sound footing currently, but we simply have to achieve promotion in 2019/20.

GS: Jon McLaughlin certainly came up trumps in that Play-Off Semi-Final second leg at Portsmouth. How important will he be this season?

MO: He was important last season! He won us a lot of points on his own; if you are to be successful at any level you need a reliable keeper between the sticks. After our troubles last season with Steele, Ruiter and Camp, it makes me wonder whether we may have gained those oh so precious points to stay up, but perhaps that’s wishful thinking. He’s been a great signing, probably the most consistent player in the squad and many fans’ player of the season. I hope he sticks around because he’ll certainly have gained more admirers over the course of the season.

GS: Luke O’Nien is clearly a positive character who has contributed to the shift in dressing room dynamics. However, is he really the best option you could have at right-back?

MO: O’Nien has become something of a fan’s favourite up here after a successful campaign personally. It is the first time he has played at this level, for a club of the size that he’s never played for before. He got off to a difficult start but as the season went on, he started to make a positive impact from the bench. He somewhat kidded the coaching staff into playing him at full-back as we were a little stretched there with injuries to Adam Matthews and Donald Love, and he stayed in the team until the end of the campaign. I like him at full-back, although his energy is something that we do lack in the middle of the park at times. It’s nice to have players who can play in multiple positions and I’d start the season with him at right-back, although I know many who would disagree. Wherever you play him, he’ll never go missing; a real heart on the sleeve player which is why our fans have taken to him.

GS: Your defence rarely convinced last season with neither Alim Ozturk, Tom Flanagan, Jimmy Dunne nor Jack Baldwin ever quite establishing themselves. Is it a case of getting better individual defenders, or finding more tactical consistency with two of the defenders you currently have?

MO: Good question; Centre-back was the real problematic area for us last season. We never really had a settled pairing. For a while it was looking like Flanagan and Baldwin, then Jimmy Dunne was brought in on loan and had a run in the side. As crazy as it might sound, Alim Ozturk probably finished the season as our best centre-back. Dunne will go back to Burnley and I think we will bring in one, if not two signings this summer to compete for those positions. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the aforementioned three move on. It is an area that we are desperately in need of strengthening. It was our Achilles heel for much of the campaign.

GS: Aiden McGeady clearly had an excellent season last year, he was probably the most gifted individual in League One. Do you see him playing a crucial role again this season?

MO: Absolutely. In all honesty, he shouldn’t really be playing at this level and he’s going to be the main man again for the coming campaign. He was a little inconsistent during the relegation season, but I suppose there weren’t many highlights at all. He has had a long run in the side and has been our main creative spark, and after the departure of Josh Maja, our main goal threat. He’s won games on his own and we are lucky to have him. He will be absolutely vital if we are to get out of League One at the second attempt. McGeady is another who has become a fan favourite with the Wearside faithful.

GS: What do you make of the Irishman’s partnership with Bryan Oviedo? I also think the Costa Rican is a supreme technician for this level, yet neither he nor McGeady are particularly athletic – do you worry about the equilibrium of that left side?

MO: Oviedo struggled for consistency earlier on in the season but there’s no doubting his quality; probably another player who shouldn’t really be playing at this level. He was pushed hard by Reece James and young Denver Hume, who looks a real talent. I think that left back is another area that we will see change over the summer and it looks increasingly likely that Oviedo will move on. The hierarchy seem keen to remove him from the wage bill. James has the option of a further year, but it is up to the player to trigger that extension, which he has not yet done at the time of writing. If he doesn’t, then that would leave us with Hume, so recruiting in that area would certainly be necessary. It is certainly a position that I expect some movement in over the summer window.

GS: Lee Cattermole and Grant Leadbitter are two very committed midfielders; both have played in the Premier League, too. Would you like to see Jack Ross freshen up the central areas though by giving Dylan McGeouch a more prominent role, or using Max Power as part of a midfield duo?

MO: Reading the articles in the press up here, it seems that McGeouch is considering his options after a very stop-start first season, with Blackburn and Aberdeen mentioned as admirers. His ball retention is very good, perhaps the best in the squad. He was our best player in pre-season but got injured very early on and struggled to nail down a place in the team. I, like many supporters, rate him highly. He offers the side something different. We’ve tried playing with two in the middle of the park, with various combinations and it hasn’t worked out to be honest. Ross has always like two wide players to push high, with a midfield three and I think that is the way we will approach most of our games next season. Who plays in what role though, remains to be seen. I’d expect probably one signing in that area.

GS: One of the players you could bring in to drop Power deeper would be Elliot Embleton, who impressed on loan at Grimsby. Given that you lacked creativity at times last season, should Embleton be given some games in an attacking midfield role?

MO: The lad needs to sign a contract first! It would be a shame to see him depart, but Stewart Donald believes that he will stay. I’m all for promoting younger players, which we have done with quite a degree of success in the past two seasons. Ethan Robson is also returning from loan to give us some further options in the engine room. I absolutely agree that we need a bit more dynamism and creativity in that midfield area. Hopefully the young guns can provide it.

GS: For the last half-a-decade, Sunderland fans have been crying out for players who love the club and will ‘Wear’ their heart on their sleeve. Are you happy to excuse the lack of quality George Honeyman provides in order to have a captain who sets that kind of example?

MO: George Honeyman is arguably the most divisive player in the squad at the moment when it comes to supporter opinion. Some love the heart on the sleeve style, the energy, work rate and the attitude. Jack Ross really likes him, as did Chris Coleman before him but he splits opinion on the terraces. It boils down to quality at the end of the day and sometimes I believe he has lacked it, certainly in forward areas. On the flip side he is exactly what you need in some games. It’s a tough assessment to make. Are we a better team with him in it, or without? Jack Ross is certainly in no doubt. It is such a tough call. I’ll sit on the fence and say there are arguments to be made for both sides!

GS: It could be argued that Charlie Wyke performed better in the second half of the season than Will Grigg, despite the latter arriving for a hefty fee in January. Is Wyke more suited to Ross’ style of football? Can Grigg and Ross succeed at Sunderland simultaneously?

MO: I actually think that Grigg is more suited to the way Jack Ross plays than Wyke is. We just need him to rest the ankle injury he’s been carrying, get a good full pre-season under his belt and come back ready to go in August. A fully fit and firing Will Grigg will score 20 goals in League One, it’s as simple as that. That’s why we brought him in. In the summer when we failed to get Ross’ number one target Lyle Taylor, I was surprised we went for Charlie Wyke; such a different type of player. I think he and Grigg can play as a two, but that means altering a shape and style that we adopted for large parts of last season. What Wyke does provide is another option, he’s the only player of his type that we have in the squad. I think we’ll bring in another striker as well.

GS: Last season, it felt like you could be half-forgiven for underperforming relative to budget due to the structural and cultural changes at the club after back-to-back bottom-placed finishes. Is it a case of ‘no more excuses’ in 2019-20? Top spot the clear target?

MO: I’d have to say so, something that I alluded to earlier. We have got our identity back thanks to the new owners. We have our club back and it’s felt great. With new investment on the horizon, there are still some exciting times to come. It would have been nicer to welcome such things back in The Championship but it was not to be. Promotion is once again the aim, and dare I say it, a real good go at finishing top of the pile. It’ll be another summer of interest and intrigue; that is guaranteed. It wouldn’t be SAFC otherwise!