Aiden McGeady, chances for youngsters and tactical changes: Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC Q&A

The start of Sunderland’s 2020/21 campaign has yielded more questions than answers – both on and off the pitch.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

From tactics to transfers, takeover interest to teenagers, and much more, there’s no shortage of talking points at the Stadium of Light.

So we’ve put your questions on the burning issues – submitted on social media and via our WhatsApp breaking news service – to our chief football writer, Phil Smith:

What is the latest on any takeover and do William Storey’s tweets have any weight behind them?

Aiden McGeady, chances for youngsters and tactical changes: Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC Q&AAiden McGeady, chances for youngsters and tactical changes: Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC Q&A
Aiden McGeady, chances for youngsters and tactical changes: Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC Q&A
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

We’re still waiting for substantive updates on both where the takeover stands and who is involved.

It has clearly been a frustrating wait for supporters, particularly as it was initially trailed that it should go through before the start of the season.

All eyes on the end of this month…

As for William Storey, I’ve only written one article on the subject.

In that, I outlined why I didn’t expect him to lead a takeover of the club.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As we stand now, I’ve not heard anything from club sources to change that view.

That’s not to say he hasn’t put a bid of some sort in, or does not have an interest. It’s simply to say that throughout the process, he is not someone who has been viewed by the club as a credible buyer.

What I’ve also said throughout, and stand by, is that the club silence on the matter has not helped, and has fuelled a lot of unhelpful speculation.

Supporters have spent much of this summer worried about the future of their club and I think a lot more could have been done to allay that.

When will we see Phil Parkinson turn to using the young talent like Diamond, Neil and Hawkes?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Josh Hawkes has been signed primarily as an U23 player, so he will to have impress in that side before he gets an opportunity with the senior group.

He very much represents the change in approach, though, in that he’s a player who they think can bridge the gap between the U23 and senior groups, over time.

The EFL trophy might yet be his first way in.

As for Diamond and Neil (and Embleton, in the current weeks), it’s such a difficult one to judge.

We wrote extensively about the academy over the summer in our in-depth series, and one of the issues we discussed at length was the question of player pathway.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It hasn’t been strong enough since Sunderland dropped into League One and I do believe part of that is because of the pressure managers have felt under from above to get results.

In that sense, Saturday felt like a bit of a return to the norm after some encouraging signs in pre-season.

Having said that, who drops out from that 18?

Lynden Gooch was very unfortunate not to start after his work last season, for example.

I think Neil in particular is a serious talent, and someone I love watching, even if he couldn’t quite hit his absolute best against Aston Villa U21s.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I don’t know if and when they will get an opportunity, and it is going to be one of the interesting themes this season.

I would say, with Neil especially, time is still firmly on his side.

Diamond to an extent, too.

Embleton, not so much. This season, at Sunderland at least, is make or break. I hope he gets a proper go.

Do you think we could see a change in system if things don’t improve?

I’d be very surprised if we see a change in the immediate future.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Parkinson was very clear in his post-match assessment on Saturday. He didn’t lay the blame at the door of the system or the shape.

He felt the team had become too frantic in the aftermath of Luke Leahy’s penalty, and had gone away from the game plan and movements they’d worked on.

He also felt his team created enough to win the game and so I’d be surprised if he went away thinking he wanted to change things.

With three tough opponents coming up, I think he’ll want that back three he has relied on.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Having said all that, he has a lot of forward players now and it won’t have been lost on anyone that Sunderland really overwhelmed Bristol Rovers once Lynden Gooch came on and they moved to a 4-4-2 shape.

Could there be a change somewhere down the line?

Definitely.

I don’t see it at the moment, though.

Why do you think the lack of pace, especially in forward areas, has not been addressed?

It’s a really good question.

I’m slightly torn on it because I do ultimately think Aiden O’Brien and Danny Graham could be good additions.

O’Brien has quality and also seems to be an intelligent player. He drops deep when he needs to but works hard and looks to press well.

Graham was excellent against Aston Villa U21s and with the way Sunderland play generally, it makes sense to bring someone in who is very good in the air and with his back to goal.

There is definitely a bit of pace missing, though.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

What’s interesting is that Sunderland do seem to be open to another attacking addition.

When asked about Mateo Bajamich last week, Parkinson said he was a player who has pace and dynamism in the final third.

That suggests it’s something he feels can be added, too.

Bajamich looks like a difficult deal to do. Parkinson says it’s a ‘complex’ deal and we know there is significant interest from elsewhere.

What we also know is that he is one of a number of players aged 21 and under that Sunderland have been looking at in order to help strengthen within the salary cap rules.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Loans, which they still haven’t explored yet, are another option there.

So maybe it’s one that we’ll yet revisit.

It’s tricky.

I agree they could strengthen, yet it’s also a simple numbers game and we can already see that they’re close to being oversubscribed in forward areas.

It’s an interesting few weeks ahead.

With the current system seemingly very reliant on quality crosses and chance creation from wing backs, do you think Hume and O'Nien possess enough quality for a top two chasing side?

Personally, I think Denver Hume is one of the most promising players in League One.

Yes, there are key areas where he has a lot of room to improve (and there are still some doubts over whether defensively he can play in a four), but his ball-carrying capabilities are superb.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

How many times a game do we see him open up the pitch or win a free-kick in a dangerous position?

His crossing isn’t always consistent, but I do think on the whole his chance creation is pretty good.

O’Nien put in a couple of excellent crosses on Saturday, and it is a surprise to me that he hasn’t scored more goals.

We’ve seen at times that he has really good finishing skills (think Shrewsbury, Charlton and Bristol Rovers away in 2018/19). Jack Ross always said he was one of the best finishers at the club.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In short, I think they are two of the club’s key assets who have much to improve but an awful lot they bring on a weekly basis.

I also think that two other things are also absolutely true.

One is that there is nowhere near enough quality in those positions on the whole, and that greater depth is absolutely critical before the transfer window shuts.

I also think, especially in Hume’s case, that they are too dependent on him to open up the pitch with his pace.

It’s something still lacking in the final third.

Do you think we could see the youngsters involved at Oxford?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As it stands, George Dobson is the only player from last Saturday unavailable this weekend.

So that leaves one space on the bench (Parkinson did not seem too concerned about the draw and performance after the game so I don’t see anyone being dropped).

It then comes down to a decision between extra defensive cover in Conor McLaughlin, or one of the youngsters on the bench.

Elliot Embleton was set to return to full training this week, but he hasn’t had many minutes of later and so Neil & Diamond would presumably be ahead of him at this stage.

Will Phil Parkinson go with Josh Scowen or Grant Leadbitter to replace George Dobson?

It’s a really good question.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The obvious answer is Josh Scowen and I do think that’s the way he will go, but that does create a little bit of a conundrum.

We’ve seen in the opening three games of this season that there is a real conscious effort to push Max Power up the pitch.

It looks a really good move. He’s scored one, been unlucky not to get more and aside from a poor start last Saturday (in a passage of play few impressed in), he has been very lively.

The issue is that Parkinson always wants to have one holding midfielder in front of the back three, allowing the wing-backs to get really high up the pitch in possession and to encourage the attacking midfielders to press aggressively.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The good signs we’ve seen from Scowen, in pre-season and against Aston Villa U21s, have been when he’s had a similar role to Power, breaking forward and affecting the play in the final third.

So one of the two is going to have to curb their instincts if they are to play as a pair in the current shape.

I think he will go that way, at least for now, but I can’t stress enough how encouraging Grant Leadbitter’s performance against Aston Villa U21s was.

His quality on the ball was exactly as expected but he als looked sharp and physically on top of his younger opponents (one of whom, I note, played for the senior side against Burton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I really think he’s going to have a role to play as we go along this season.

Can you see any way back for Aiden McGeady?

Under the current management, there is no way back.

That already felt abundantly clear but Phil Parkinson drew a line under it once and for all last week.

He was asked in his pre-match press conference whether McGeady’s comments, in which the winger had said he wanted a chance at the club, would have any impact.

Parkinson again simply and concisely stressed that it was time for him to move on.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Since then, he has been left off the salary cap squad list submitted to the EFL.

With one year left on his deal, it definitively signals the end of his time on Wearside.

Some of what has been said about McGeady, in my view, has been deeply unfair, and it’s worth stressing that (when fit) he has been training with the U23s.

There is no major drama or ‘smoking gun’ behind his exclusion and as far as I’m concerned, any struggles he had at the start of last season should be set against his contributions in 2018/19, the campaign he finished playing with a broken bone in his foot.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

What you also have to say is that Parkinson, to his credit, has from day one taken complete ownership of the decision and though he has never discussed the reasons specifically, he has obviously implied that he believes the team environment and culture to be better without him.

What’s been interesting in recent weeks is that he also said that he doesn’t want to block the pathway for the likes of Dan Neil and Elliot Embleton (a stance many would support).

There will be criticism if results aren’t great and those players aren’t getting an opportunity while McGeady is on the sidelines.

But rightly or wrongly, that would make no difference to the situation.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Parkinson has made his call and in fairness to him, he has taken full accountability for it.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor:

Hi, our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative coverage of YOUR club every single day, home and away, 365 days a year.

This depth of SAFC coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to from the football team at the Sunderland Echo, please consider taking out a subscription to our new discounted sports-only package.

Your support is much appreciated.

Richard Mennear

Football Clubs Editor