Steven Fletcher on falling out of favour at Sunderland, Sam Allardyce & leaving for French giants Marseille
Former Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher has discussed his surprising loan switch to French giants Marseille after falling out of favour with then Black Cats boss Sam Allardyce.
Steven Fletcher has spoken about his final few months at the Stadium of Light and how his loan move from Sunderland to Ligue 1 side Marseille developed late in the 2016 winter transfer window.
The former Scotland international made close to a century of appearances for the Black Cats but found himself out of the starting line-up as Jermain Defoe led the line in Sam Allardyce’s team towards the end of 2015. This led to the opportunity for Fletcher to leave the club for the decorated French side, which saw him play in a cup final against Paris St-Germain.
Speaking on former England goalkeeper Ben Foster’s podcast, Fozcast, Fletcher discussed the lead up to that January transfer window: “I started that season relatively well. Me and Jermain were playing up front together. I got injured just before January and it was only a little niggle. I only missed like two or three games. Big Sam was the gaffer. When he came in, I thought brilliant jackpot for me.
“Then he was playing his little and large. It was me and Jermain, so it was great. Obviously, Jermain, what a player, do you know what I mean? It was great for me to play up front with him. I got injured just like maybe a month before January. And when I came back, he changed the formation, so it was only one up front because I was injured. They started winning a few games, and I couldn't get back in the team.”
Over his four seasons at the club, Fletcher scored 23 goals in 94 matches and wasn’t used to watching on from the sidelines when the opportunity came to leave the club midway through the 2015/16 season.
Fletcher recalls that he woke up to a flurry of phone calls from his agent when he found out about the French club’s interest and how Allardyce shocked him when he initially told him he couldn’t leave.
“Got all the way to January and I still wasn't playing but I didn't really think I'm going to leave,” Fletcher said. “I was linked with like China. I was linked with some random, so like every time I’d come in, he would just laugh, Big Sam, “Going to China, are we? It's like just having banter with him, nothing ever came.
“Sunday night, I'm lying in bed. I like an early bed. I go to bed early. It was a running joke in the Wrexham thing that it was the granddad's gone to bed but I've done it most of my career. So I'm lying in bed, and the wife wakes me up, and she's like, "Your phone's going like off, you need to answer that it's your agent."
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“And he's like, "Listen, I've just had a phone call. Marseille want you to go on loan, but you need to go into training tomorrow and tell the gaffer you want to go."
“So I went up to Big Sam sitting in his big chair behind the desk. He's like, ‘You don't want to go there, do you?’ I'm like, of course I do. Like so, he basically was like, “Listen, you're going to need to give me till after training, I need to try and get a replacement in. I'm like, what do you need a replacement for? I've not played but you know what Big Sam's like, he's wheeling and dealing, he's on the phone the full training session, he's like, you don't need to train just stay indoors today. So well, it was good but it made me worse because I was just sitting at the window, just watching Big Sam on the phone the whole time.
“I've sat down. He just said we can’t let you go. My face dropped. I'm like, “Come on, man.”
He's like, “Fletcher, I can't get a replacement in,” so he's like, “Sorry, son.” So, just got up, walked out, door shut, two minutes, I'm not even down the stairs yet and the assistant said, “Fletch, gaffer, wants you.” I walk back up. “Go and say bye to the lads, big man. You can go.”
After he was granted permission to leave the club late in the winter window, Fletcher went into the club’s dressing room to announce the news to his teammates, and the French contingent were delighted for the Scotland striker.
“We've got loads of French lads at the time, so I'm like to the lads, “I'm going to Marseille,” Fletcher said. “They just jumped on me, and they're all singing that Marseille Allez, and they're all bouncing, shouting. I don't even know what they're singing. I'm singing with them, gaffer's office right above us, I’m like, right, I can't be that excited. So then I've got changed straight to the private airport, and there was a jet waiting for me. Madness.”
Fletcher ended up playing 12 times for Marseille, scoring twice in the half season at the club that saw him appear in the Coupe de France final at the French national stadium, where his side lost 4-2 to PSG.
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