Dear Roker Report,
Sadly, we seem to be in the same position this year as we’ve been at the beginning of each season for almost as long as I can remember: we desperately need a striker but there doesn’t seem to be one on the horizon!
Hopefully, that’ll be corrected before the season starts in a few weeks’ time. The transfers already completed look to be really good buys but if we don’t reinforce the striker area of our team, we’ll probably struggle to compete with the other better equipped Premier League teams.
As someone
in my mid-eighties, I’d almost given up hope of seeing my team back in the top league, but we’ve done it and that was great news!
Let’s try and buck the trend and finally get the striker that should help to keep us in the Premier League for years to come!
Roy Swanston
Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Roy. Thank you for your letter — and it’s great to hear that you’re excited about seeing Sunderland back in the top flight after eight long years away!
As to the striker situation, it’s an interesting one, because we’ve certainly added some exciting attacking prospects in Simon Adingra and Chemsdine Talbi, and our young prospect Ahmed Abdullahi has caught the eye in pre-season as well, so we do have some good options there.
Do I expect us to sign a ‘traditional’ centre forward during this window? No, principally because the current market for strikers is absolutely crazy. There’s very little value to be found and I think the club is targeting versatile forwards who can bring some all-round credentials to the table.
We’ll see how it pans out but hopefully we won’t be short of goal threats this coming season!
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Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty ImagesDear Roker Report,
Brian Clough arrived at Sunderland from Middlesbrough for £45,000 in the summer of 1961.
He appeared 74 league matches and scored 63 goals — included five hat-tricks — until he suffered a knee injury on an icy pitch in the match against Bury’s goalkeeper Chris Harker, after a head-on clash.
He was out for the rest of the season until he made a comeback after two years and he scored a goal against Leeds United on Saturday 5 September 1964. The game ended 3-3 and he retired from football for the final time in 1965, before moving to Hartlepools United as the manager.
Sadly, on Monday 20 September 2004, Clough died at the age of sixty nine in Derby — a great icon of British soccer for Sunderland A.F.C at Roker Park.
Brian Clough O.B.E
1935-2004
Terry Christie
Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Terry. Thanks for getting in touch and for your words about the great man.
I was actually on holiday in America when Clough passed away back in 2004, but as luck would have it, we flew from Heathrow Airport to Durham Tees Valley on the way home, and the taxi ride from the airport was filled with memorable stories of Clough shared between my dad and the driver.
That’s always stuck with me — even though I never saw him play for us!
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