Gary Rowell: 'We should be grateful other clubs want our players'
There's been talk of big money being offered for the likes of Kenwyne Jones and Dean Whitehead in the January transfer window, but I hope Sunderland don't sell either of them.
I just don't see the point in it.
If we are serious about being ambitious in this division, then we can't sell our best players.
And while massive transfer fees might be healthy for the club's finances, I've never met a fan who's bursting with pride because his club's got a decent bank balance.
No-one looks at the club's financial statements, they look at the club's performances on the pitch.
And selling Jones or Whitehead would not be helpful to the cause at this stage.
They are two very important players for us and I think both of them still have a big part to play for Sunderland this season.
It's only right that manager Ricky Sbragia looks to trim down a squad which is far too big and has been for some time.
It was good for the club and the players themselves that the likes of Graham Kavanagh, Liam Miller and Ross Wallace, all moved on last week.
But the likes of Whitehead, Jones, Diouf and anyone else who takes the fancy of rival Premier League clubs have got to stay because it is around such players that a successful side may be built.
At least we've got less than a fortnight of the transfer window to go.
I've never been a fan of it because I think it puts clubs in a difficult position where they have to plan months ahead in a game where that often proves impossible.
It means there's a race by managers to reinforce their squad so they aren't left short and the consequence of that is that clubs often become overloaded with players – just as Sunderland have been in recent times.
I'm sure there will be some Sunderland fans nervously watching the clock tick downwards, hoping their heroes will stay at the Stadium of Light.
But there's a silver lining to every cloud and we should at least be grateful that plenty of other clubs are actually eyeing our players.
The time to worry is when no-on shows the slightest bit of interest in buying your players!
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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