Anthony Gair says…
Although surprising, it’s not the end of the world for Adingra.
The Ivorian can utilise this time as a massive opportunity to cover for any of the missing wingers; to get himself some proper Premier League
football under his belt and be a real positive force for our push for the title!
Seriously, though, we’ll need all the help we can get in the coming months as the calendar gets a bit clogged, and when there’s a match every five minutes, he’ll get his opportunity to pit himself against the best defences in the world, I’m sure.
Good luck to him. Ivory Coast’s loss — our gain.
Ciaran McKenna says…
There are definitely positives and negatives from this news.
We get to keep hold of a player who we had all accepted as unavailable for the next month or so. He’s a good player whom we spent a good chunk of money on, so it’s a nice surprise that he’ll be with us for this busier period. He’ll also probably get more minutes than he has been so far this season too — increasing his confidence and hopefully his goal contribution tally as well.
He’ll definitely be gutted about missing out.
I’m not going to pretend I’ve watched a lot of the Ivory Coast, but I assumed that he’s one of their better players (maybe I presumed incorrectly) and I’m sure he would’ve loved to be representing his country at this competition. Also, I had hopes that he would go to AFCON and gain some valuable minutes and confidence, which he’s lacked since his performance at Old Trafford.
Overall, I’m pleased to see that he’s going to be with us instead, but I do feel sorry for him.
Phil West says…
News of Adingra’s omission from the Ivory Coast squad for the upcoming AFCON didn’t surprise me at all, but of course, it’s more than likely a byproduct of his current situation at club level — which I find somewhat baffling and more than a tad concerning, truth be told.
When he joined Sunderland from Brighton, the signing of the exciting winger was hailed as — and felt like — something of a coup.
OK, perhaps he’d lost his way down at the Amex and was in need of a fresh start, but a “man of the match” display in the most recent AFCON final, with two assists to boot, hinted at a player of immense potential and significant talent, and I was excited to see what he could add to our team.
However, since then, Adingra’s fledgling Sunderland career appears to have stalled somewhat, with game time seemingly increasingly hard to come by and theories that his lack of defensive application aren’t finding favour with Régis Le Bris. On the other hand, the optimist in me hopes that Le Bris is merely managing Adingra carefully and working with him to iron out any flaws in his game with his long-term future in mind.
With any luck, he’ll get more chances at first team level during the coming weeks and months.
Like any player on the fringes, it’s important that he seizes any opportunities firmly and does everything in his power to impress. If he’s feeling a little downhearted at how things have panned out thus far, I’d urge him to keep his head up, keep grafting away in training and to show the kind of positive attitude that Le Bris seeks in his players.
Should he do that, why can’t he ignite his Sunderland career during a congested period of the season and begin to show everyone why we splashed a hefty chunk of money on him? Squad depth is key and a player like Adingra could be a huge asset.
