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A rite of passage?
“It never went too far but yeah there was definitely that there. There’s no wrong way
or right way, these days the Academy will really protect the youngsters from anything like the ribbing we used to get from the older players. If you ask any of the lads though they wouldn’t change it. We were coached by Jim Montgomery and George Herd and they were tough coaches, but we look back on it now and we really respect them and they’re friends. Like I say we wouldn’t change any- thing about it. You went from boys to men.”
One of the key things that has changed at Sunderland recently is the sense of unity around the squad. The players all seem close and willing to fight for each other. They seem to have a real connection. Looking back at Martin’s development with youngsters he spent time within the development system - is that part of the reason behind it?
“Definitely, when you come through with
lads it’s different. You started off and you’d see them every now and again and then in the school holidays you’d all be together. Eventually when you were breaking through you’d all be in the dressing room together. Micky Bridges was a couple of years younger than us, but we found out he had a talent. Sometimes if one of the senior players was in a bad mood you just kept your distance be- cause you didn’t know what would happen, but Micky could fake autographs. So, if they were in a bad mood Micky would do the au- tographs because sometimes you just didn’t want to face anyone. He was great at it.”
When we dropped into League One we saw something of an exodus of young talent and seemed to invest instead in older players while retaining some tricky
characters on the books. Was that an op- portunity missed in terms of changing to the model we now seem to be following in terms of investment in youth?
“Look, if they could have got rid of those players, I’m sure they would have, but if you look at their age and the wages it becomes really tricky and if you’ve got players like Mc- Geady and Cattermole you don’t leave them sitting on the bench in League One. Players like N’Dong, yeah that was different but, in some ways, McGeady and Cattermole were players that could bring something different in. In terms of the young players leaving, well I think the club decided to take what they could. If things had been different and those young players had someone show them a bit of love. then I think they would have stayed. Sam Greenwood is a massive Sunderland fan, he just needed to be persuaded that he was wanted really. You look at Dan Neil now in the Championship; and you think Sam Greenwood and Joe Hugil might be ready
to come through in the Championship. Sam might have been there earlier. Liverpool took three players I think, there was a big clear- out. Now we have a striker crisis and this could have been an opportunity for Joe Hugill to break through but there isn’t a striker at the Academy ready now. That’s not the Acad- emy’s fault, it’s just there’s no one there now who is ready. It’s a shame.”
Sunderland’s average age in terms of
first team let alone squad has plummeted since that first season in League One, do they have what it takes to push through in this league and cement a Championship place for Sunderland at the end of the season?
“It’s really tough. You look at Callum Doyle last season. He started really brightly but as the season wore on you could tell he was
ALOVESUPREME | ISSUE260 | 7
BY MICHAEL CONROY