The stories behind Josh Maja's stunning rise and controversial exit as Sunderland 'Til I Die highlights key club mistakes

Old wounds have been reopened, then.
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Circumstances have conspired to make Josh Maja one of the most talked about footballers in the world.

For neutrals, Sunderland ‘Til I Die has provided a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain, a front-row seat to witness the pressure and mistrust that underpins the not quite so beautiful game.

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For Sunderland supporters, it has served as a brutal reminder of one of the club’s biggest missteps in recent times.

Josh Maja scores his last ever Sunderland goalJosh Maja scores his last ever Sunderland goal
Josh Maja scores his last ever Sunderland goal

You suspect many will be left with two enduring images.

The first, Maja smiling through a somewhat uncomfortable interview, feigning any knowledge of the transfer talk that was beginning to dominate the headlines.

Secondly, the meeting in which Richard Hill states that he expects him to go abroad, inferring that the agent is driving a move purely for financial gain.

Of course, the threads of Maja’s time at Sunderland and his eventual departure ran far deeper.

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Recalling that frenetic period and the angst that followed, a number of tales stand out.

All of which, brought together, tell something of a story.

Firstly, Maja holding court at the Stadium of Light.

This was September, his rise gathering pace.

Polite, courteous, unassuming, discussing with relish a message from Jermain Defoe, congratulating him on his EFL Young Player of the Month award.

A talented youngster with self-belief and ambition, but the humility that helped forge a close bond with Jack Ross and his backroom staff.

A committed trainer, that unique finishing ability part instinct and part dedication to his craft.

Second, a pre-season campaign the year before.

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Simon Grayson was still trying to piece together a squad and Maja took full advantage, scoring four times.

This was the first real display of that killer touch that had been making waves in the academy.

Grayson subsequently admitted only a knee injury had prevented him being in contention to start that season in his side.

Not the strongest, Grayson said, but a striker with the talent required.

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Fit again, he’d deliver a moment of quite extraordinary catharsis for Chris Coleman.

Fulham would be playing Premier League football within months but inside the box that day, Maja was sharper.

Two touches, a goal, the first home win in a year.

Third, Jack Ross, talking with Sunderland fans as he picked through the bones of his Sunderland tenure and subsequent departure.

On Maja’s dismissal, he was relatively sanguine about the decision that had come

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He did not necessarily think there was a great deal the club could have done more to keep him, but he did believe the eventual sale and what followed was a failure of planning.

A fourth story. A month or so before the sale, Ross addressed the assembled media at the Academy of Light.

Ross had been here before and that was the point he wanted to make.

The season previous, Lewis Morgan was starring for his St Mirren side and his contract was winding down.

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Celtic signed him, loaned him back, and St Mirren went up. Everybody won.

By now it felt clear that Maja was going to choose to move, either in January or the summer.

Ross wanted to act and his comments on Sunderland ‘Til I Die underine how he felt the episode highlighted major flaws in the structure, Stewart Donald sanctioning an eye-watering deal at that level.

His frustration with the signing was not with Will Grigg himself, who he rated and wanted, but that the financial parameters of what the club were prepared to do shifted so quickly.

Two final stories.

One, a month or so after the sale.

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It had, without a doubt, been an acrimonious departure and when Ross spoke to Maja, he had stressed the youngster might have done one or two things differently.

What he also stressed was how much he had enjoyed working with a ‘talented and humble young man’, who had subsequently returned with gifts and cards to thank the staff who had launched his career.

Ross was collecting Maja’s award for the North East Football Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year, marking his remarkable journey.

It had been an extraordinary few months and Sunderland ‘Til I Die chronicles the final story perfectly.

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An audacious turn on the edge of the box, Ethan Pinnock, one of the best defenders in the division, floundering as Maja fired home the second goal in a 4-2 win.

That was the peak of an enthralling, enterprising start to the season, perhaps the high watermark for both Ross and Maja.

Ross had gambled and it had paid off. Maja, as he invariably was, at the heart of it.

The point of this, if there is one, is that Maja gave plenty to Sunderland and so many opportunities were missed.

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Watching the drama unfold, the most telling moment to my eyes was Hill stating that Tottenham Hotspur had been to watch him seven or eight times.

Sunderland’s moment was long gone.

Yes, there remained some hope that the goals, regular minutes and growing adulation would convince Maja to stay.

In reality, Sunderland were punished for not planning ahead when he had burst onto the scene a season previous.

No, he was not the finished article, but he was a player of promise and that he was allowed to enter the final year of his deal serves as a reminder that a lack of foresight has been endemic for many years at Sunderland.

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He had been firing them to top of League One on an absolute pittance in comparison to most of his team-mates, some of whom were barely even playing in the team.

The error of the previous regime was compounded when it was not addressed before that wonderful goal against Charlton.

This time, perhaps the carnage of that pre-season offered some fair mitigation as to why it had fallen down the order of business.

The end result was much the same.

An opportunity missed.

Maja was left with options galore and it is simplistic to say he took the one with the greatest financial gain.

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He was following a path successful for many other youngsters and a year on, his progress in Ligue One is steady.

Where Sunderland would be had he stayed is impossible to know.

Better off, you strongly suspect.

It’s worth remembering though, that right until the end, Maja played and Maja contributed.

Even when the storm was reaching its peak, he played his part in a key run that saw Sunderland take four points from two tricky away games against Blackpool and Charlton.

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For all, the story of Maja at Sunderland is one that ends in regret.

Whether he made the right decision, only time will tell.

But this was not a straightforward story and for Sunderland, perhaps the key question is this.

Have the lessons been learned?

Are the structures in place to prevent this kind of frustrating exit happening again?

One year and one documentary on, that remains very much unclear.