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knackered. His performances dropped off a bit and he just needed some support and a bit of a break really. It’s not just the physical side of it. The pace of the game in the Championship is higher, so you have to be mentally quicker. There’s a lot to put on young lads where we should be showing them patience. Their bodies are still getting used to the demands as they grow. They can pick up injuries because they’re being put through some tough tests. Youth is brilliant, but you have to look after them and give them a break when they need it. They’re still growing, on and off the pitch. There’s a lot for them to deal with and they just need that sup- port around them.”
In Tony Mowbray Sunderland have a manager who has a reputation for bringing younger players through in the right way. Do we have the right man in the manager’s seat?
“I don’t know Tony really. All I can go by is what I have heard from those who have worked with him and I have never heard a bad word said about him. He does have a reputation for bringing players through so in that sense it seems like a really good fit. When Alex Neil left I was really disappointed. I had only met him for the first time a couple of weeks earlier and he just seemed really knowledgeable. When he was at Preston, Stoke came
in for him but he didn’t go so who knows what happened behind the scenes there. Maybe he didn’t buy into the youth model and thought maybe a few months down the line he would be struggling. You read all sorts of things, but it looks like maybe he wanted to bring some more senior players in.”
You do need those senior players around a young team; to guide them and mentor them. What does Martin think about the current captain?
“Corry’s great. You can see him talking to the players all the time and he breaks up play really well. It’s so important to have that around players who are sometimes playing out of position and are also young. That calm head is vital.”
When Martin broke through into Sunderland’s first team, he was sur- rounded by local lads, but the youth
of Sunderland’s first team is a mix of local lads and players from outside the area. Is there a difference between young local players and young players who have come to Sunderland from elsewhere?
“In some ways yeah, there is more pres- sure. If you think about it, your mates, your family... they could all be sat in the stands and probably are. That adds a bit
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