Players come and go, that’s the nature of the game. Duncan Watmore was released after 7 years at Sunderland yesterday. A quick search of the internet will flag up, pace to burn, lots of injuries, clever etc…..as a Sunderland fan who watches all of our games, I’d like to offer a slightly deeper analysis of his time at Sunderland.
THE MAN
It’s no secret that he is a bright lad – footballers are much maligned by our dreadful press….. Duncan is a credit to the game. I don’t know the lad, but I do travel to a lot of games with my kids and some players stand out, just in the way O’Shea, Brown, Pantilimon did as proper men who would always stop to chat – Watmore is a class act.
THE PLAYER
Following Sunderland can drain the life from you, I’ll look at his injuries later, but….. wow…… I genuinely believe when he broke through that he would play numerous games for England. His last few years at Sunderland were frustrating for fans, (and for him I would guess?) – cameo roles in poor teams with a new manager every 9 months hardly offers a great platform to perform? Sunderland didn’t ultimately fully benefit from the potential and ability that was bursting from the seams early doors….
THE GAMES
Palace 0 Sunderland 1 (23.11.15)
Another Monday night away at Palace, (cheers SKY), Watmore came on and completely changed the game – his 30 minute cameo was breathtaking…..
Sunderland 2 Stoke 0 (28.11.15)
5 days later we beat Stoke at home, Duncan was again borderline unplayable, sealing victory with a great goal
We’d had a few players in recent years that excited me, McClean til people realised he just ran in straight lines, Sessegnon til it became apparent he was a lazy liability…… I live nowhere near Sunderland, so whilst people talk football, it’s different from living in the city. I haven’t, (as yet), worked within football, but I used to bore my mates to death that, this lad was going to be a massive star
Norwich 0 Sunderland 3 (16.04.16)
A lunchtime away in Norfolk, (cheers SKY). Seems like light years away – but once again Watmore completely turned the game….
Preston 2 Sunderland 2 (30.09.17)
It was becoming apparent that we were not only not good enough for the Premiership…. the Championship wasn’t much better. After a gutless 1st half the long awaited return of Watmore ignited the game…..
THE INJURIES
Horrible topic, but it would be inappropriate to look at his time with us and not focus on the injuries. Some players are injury prone, I don’t actually think Watmore is – an injury prone player is for me, a player who is constantly picking up minor injuries, hamstrings, muscle pulls etc. Watmore missed a lot of game time due to horrific injuries, I’m of the belief players don’t set out to hurt fellow pros….. but the Leicester challenge was brutal and Wycombe let themselves down with their conduct last season…
RIGHT TO RELEASE HIM?
The financial situation at the club is not good, I’ve no issue with anyone’s earnings in any walk of life – but his wages don’t fit with the current profile of the club. Anyone reading this will have gathered I have nothing but admiration for the lad. I sincerely hope it works out for him, Lord only knows how it must feel for his family watching him play? On occasions I’ve felt like I do watching my kids play sport, proud, pleased but scared they’ll get hurt. All things considered it’s probably the right time for both parties to move on.
SAFCBlog is totally independent and I’m not adverse to calling players out and offering honest opinions/criticism….. but I’ve nothing but admiration for Duncan. Good Luck, if anyone deserves it, you do👍⚽️
