Page 37 - 358264 LP231909 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 (Issue 257)

and even scored eight goals during Everton’s 07/08 campaign, but by the time he arrived on Wearside he had recently endured an unsuccessful spell at AEK Athens and was best known at Aston Villa for ‘accidentally’ tweeting a photo of his car after yet another hapless defeat. Lescott proved to be a total waste of time, starting just once in a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Chelsea on the final day of the season.
RB: TAL BEN HAIM
I know he’s a centre half really, but the Israeli international turned out at right back on occasion
at other clubs. Ben Haim also arrived with a decent reputation but struggled to make an impact at Sunderland, making just five appearances under Ricky Sbragia. At the end of his loan spell, he left Manchester City to join Portsmouth, before ending his time in England with spells at fellow crisis clubs QPR and Charlton Athletic.
CM: RORY DELAP
Rory Delap certainly wasn’t the worst player to pull on
a Sunderland shirt, but it was just a futile move for both himself and the club. By the time Delap arrived we
were all but relegated and he didn’t bother mentioning that he could hoy a ball canny far. He is perhaps best known for colliding with the post during Sunderland’s abandoned clash with Fulham at The Stadium of Light. The following season he was loaned out to Stoke, where despite breaking his leg playing against Sunderland he did enough to earn himself a permanent deal, I wonder what happened to him there...
CM: JOSH SCOWEN
‘The Rat’, may have made 40 appearances for Sunderland, but he was the definition of a waste of time. Despite arriving from QPR in the league above, Scowen was renowned for giving the ball away and being so anonymous during games that it was hard to tell if he was even on the pitch at times.
CM: OVIE EJARIA
This one may seem a little harsh, especially as he has gone
on to play for Reading in The Championship with a fair amount of success. But the 18 year old, who was dubbed, ‘The
English Pogba’ by some at Liverpool, had a baptism of fire on Wearside and despite showing glimpses of talent, he struggled to make an impact as Sunderland were relegated from the Championship without a fight.
LW: IGNACIO SCOCCO
Coming with a good reputation and an impressive highlights reel, big things were expected of Ignacio Scocco when
he swapped Brazil for Sunderland in January 2014. The Argentinian international failed to make a single start in red
and white and ended with a tally of zero goals from his eight substitute appearances. Unsurprisingly, he was let go at the end of the season and ended up signing for Newell’s Old Boys for a third time. He then went on to play for River Plate before his separation anxiety became too much and he rounded off his career with a fourth spell at Newell’s Old Boys.
CF: BENJANI MWARUWARI
Benjani is proof that one prolific spell in front of goal can be enough to carve out a successful career in the game. The Zimbarbwian forward was more renowned for his holdup play and physicality than his ability in front of goal, but in 2007-08, he scored 12 goals in 23 games which convinced Manchester City to take a chance on him. By the time he was loaned out to Sunderland in January 2010 he had made just ten appearances for City in 18 months. Unfortunately Steve Bruce was unable
to get a tune out of Benjani, whose best contribution was mis- hitting a shot straight into the path of Darren Bent who slotted home the opening goal at home to Birmingham in a 3-1 win. He would go on to score just four more career goals before retiring in 2014.
RW: KAZIAH STERLING
When Kaziah Sterling made the loan move to Sunderland towards the end of the January transfer window, he was a highly rated young forward. He had already made his first team debut for Spurs, after replacing Dele Ali in a Champions League group stage success over APOEL Nicosia. Unfortunately for him, this was as good as it got, and his goal for Sunderland in
a 3-0 win over Accrington Stanley remains the only professional league goal he has ever scored. Unsuccessful loan spells at Doncaster, Leyton Orient, and Greenock Morton followed and he now turns out for Potters Bar Town in the Isthmian League.
ALOVESUPREME
ISSUE257
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BY MICHAEL LOUGH