What can we say about Paddy Roberts? Some will criticise his final product; others will say he isn’t good enough to be a stalwart in our new-look Premier League side, but what we can all agree on is what a massive player he has been for us since his arrival in League One.
Ever since that dreaded season of relegation from the Championship, the club went into this black hole that, in the opening game against Charlton in 2018, I really couldn’t see us come out of.
For four years, we remained in that awful
void where the club seemed resigned to its fate of fading into insignificance, while our rivals up the road were marching on into the big time. Football for me at that point had never been more painful. Enter Patrick Roberts.
Like Sunderland, Patrick Roberts also had a spectacular fall from grace, going from a future England star to being deemed not good enough for the French second division. From watching him at Celtic, there was a player in there, deep down, that needed a spark, and in January of 2022, he joined a football team desperate for the same ignition.
Within that six-month period, he fired us to the play-off final that started the rebirth of our football club. He signed a two-year contract and linked up with Amad, where I witnessed some of the finest attacking football I have ever seen our team play. Last season, whilst he wasn’t particularly remarkable in terms of his stats, and his end product was very questionable at times, what he provided in that play-off final to once again reignite our side trumps all of the criticism.
We can talk about players who have falsely worn our football team’s colours over the years, chancers who simply were not good enough, and egos that were bigger than the club – that list could go on and on. Patrick Roberts is not one of them, and I’m sad to see him go. Whether it’s on loan or for good, he will be remembered fondly by all of us, I hope, and Birmingham City have signed a player well accustomed to the Championship and able to provide the required quality to a side looking to do the same as we have done and fire themselves back into the Premier League.
The excitement of this season for me is at an all-time high, looking at our squad; the calibre of players we have brought in really is astounding, but it comes at a price – the players who brought us to where we are today have become the victims of their own success. So, whilst we enjoy where we are, let’s not forget who got us here, and Patrick Roberts is certainly part of that group.
Farewell, Paddy, you have changed the fate of this football club and been part of something special. Thank you for the memories!
