Post by Les on Mar 13, 2019 18:34:36 GMT
www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/could-kazaiah-sterlings-fairly-pointless-15969954
Could Kazaiah Sterling's fairly pointless introduction be a sign of Sunderland opportunities to come?
Kazaiah Sterling wins Premier League 2 Player of the Month
Despite winning a player of the month award for the under-23s, Kazaiah Sterling did not get a first-team look-in for seven matches (Image: Premier League)
In the context of Sunderland trying to beat Barnsley, it was a most insignificant substitution. Kazaiah Sterling must hope it proves more telling in the bigger picture, and work to ensure it is.
The on-loan centre-forward’s standing was transformed in the space of a few days this week.
On Saturday he was, as he has been for most of his brief Black Cats career, unwanted. Even with Charlie Wyke missing with a minor injury, the Tottenham Hotspur 20-year-old could not get into the 18-man squad at Wycombe Wanderers. Lynden Gooch and Duncan Watmore were preferred as the attacking options.
The latter came off the bench to score the equaliser, the former was restored to the starting line-up in Sunderland ’s only unenforced change at Barnsley.
For the first time in eight matches, Sterling was involved too. He was sat on the bench alongside the fit-again Wyke and when Jack Ross felt the need to bring on a second centre-forward, it was the youngster, not the burly targetman he turned to.
With the fourth official’s board going up to signal a minimum of two added minutes seconds before Sterling entered the fray, it was a change left too late to make a difference. Sunderland never got the ball to the England youth international.
But as a signal to Sterling, it was a positive one.
Minutes after his dramatic Wycombe equaliser, Watmore’s ankle was on the receiving end of the reckless Marcus Bean tackle that ended his season. Chris Maguire is already out with a broken leg, though he should be nearer the end than the beginning of his rehabilitation.
That Wyke kept his tracksuit on as Sunderland pushed for an important winner at Oakwell suggests a manager who has something in common with the striker – neither seem to have much confidence in his ability to find the net at the moment.
Sterling has suddenly gone from being arguably the Black Cats’ fifth-choice centre-forward to possibly their second.
On a deadline day when Ross was happy to sign only one striker, Sterling was the other one. Will Grigg had been a target throughout January and eventually chairman Stewart Donald pushed the boat out financially to sign him from Wigan Athletic at a cost of £3m, potentially rising to £4m.
Sterling had come earlier in the day when it looked like the Grigg deal was dead.
Before Barnsley, Sterling’s 31 minutes of senior Sunderland football had come before Grigg recovered from injury to make his Black Cats debut. He was an unused substitute at Oxford United, then left out of the squad for the next six games, despite winning the player of the month award in Premier League Two. For a youngster sent out to get the playing opportunities Spurs felt unable to offer, it must have been pretty demoralising.
Ross, who has an economics degree, felt on deadline day was that one striker would suffice to get him through the season. Donald, who works in insurance, wanted a bit of extra cover to put his mind at rest.
If the last few weeks might be interpreted as some as a sign of Ross proving his point, Watmore’s injury on top of Maguire’s suggests Donald might have been right all along.
Sterling could well be needed at home to Walsall, and in the eight matches crammed into April (he is cup-tied for the Football League Trophy final).
Sterling has not come to watch League One football from the stands, or even the bench. His too-late substitution was a signal that there is a chance for it now. The onus on him is to work hard in training to earn it.
Could Kazaiah Sterling's fairly pointless introduction be a sign of Sunderland opportunities to come?
Kazaiah Sterling wins Premier League 2 Player of the Month
Despite winning a player of the month award for the under-23s, Kazaiah Sterling did not get a first-team look-in for seven matches (Image: Premier League)
In the context of Sunderland trying to beat Barnsley, it was a most insignificant substitution. Kazaiah Sterling must hope it proves more telling in the bigger picture, and work to ensure it is.
The on-loan centre-forward’s standing was transformed in the space of a few days this week.
On Saturday he was, as he has been for most of his brief Black Cats career, unwanted. Even with Charlie Wyke missing with a minor injury, the Tottenham Hotspur 20-year-old could not get into the 18-man squad at Wycombe Wanderers. Lynden Gooch and Duncan Watmore were preferred as the attacking options.
The latter came off the bench to score the equaliser, the former was restored to the starting line-up in Sunderland ’s only unenforced change at Barnsley.
For the first time in eight matches, Sterling was involved too. He was sat on the bench alongside the fit-again Wyke and when Jack Ross felt the need to bring on a second centre-forward, it was the youngster, not the burly targetman he turned to.
With the fourth official’s board going up to signal a minimum of two added minutes seconds before Sterling entered the fray, it was a change left too late to make a difference. Sunderland never got the ball to the England youth international.
But as a signal to Sterling, it was a positive one.
Minutes after his dramatic Wycombe equaliser, Watmore’s ankle was on the receiving end of the reckless Marcus Bean tackle that ended his season. Chris Maguire is already out with a broken leg, though he should be nearer the end than the beginning of his rehabilitation.
That Wyke kept his tracksuit on as Sunderland pushed for an important winner at Oakwell suggests a manager who has something in common with the striker – neither seem to have much confidence in his ability to find the net at the moment.
Sterling has suddenly gone from being arguably the Black Cats’ fifth-choice centre-forward to possibly their second.
On a deadline day when Ross was happy to sign only one striker, Sterling was the other one. Will Grigg had been a target throughout January and eventually chairman Stewart Donald pushed the boat out financially to sign him from Wigan Athletic at a cost of £3m, potentially rising to £4m.
Sterling had come earlier in the day when it looked like the Grigg deal was dead.
Before Barnsley, Sterling’s 31 minutes of senior Sunderland football had come before Grigg recovered from injury to make his Black Cats debut. He was an unused substitute at Oxford United, then left out of the squad for the next six games, despite winning the player of the month award in Premier League Two. For a youngster sent out to get the playing opportunities Spurs felt unable to offer, it must have been pretty demoralising.
Ross, who has an economics degree, felt on deadline day was that one striker would suffice to get him through the season. Donald, who works in insurance, wanted a bit of extra cover to put his mind at rest.
If the last few weeks might be interpreted as some as a sign of Ross proving his point, Watmore’s injury on top of Maguire’s suggests Donald might have been right all along.
Sterling could well be needed at home to Walsall, and in the eight matches crammed into April (he is cup-tied for the Football League Trophy final).
Sterling has not come to watch League One football from the stands, or even the bench. His too-late substitution was a signal that there is a chance for it now. The onus on him is to work hard in training to earn it.
