Roker Report's Player Of The Month: Danny Rose

Last month on the site it was a closely contested run for Player Of The Month, with Simon Mignolet pipping Lee Cattermole on a tie breaker. There was no such drama this month however as it has emerged that Danny Rose has completely outclassed everyone else in the squad.

It's fully deserved though as Rose has enjoyed an outstanding month of football. Some solid performances against West Brom, Chelsea and Norwich were trumped by some real standout games against Reading and Queens Park Rangers where he really showed what he's capable of becoming.

It goes without saying making his move permanent should be of the highest priority for Sunderland and Martin O'Neill, but until that happens (hopefully next month) we'll see what the rest of Team Roker Report made of Rose's month.

David Boyle: No real surprise when the scores were totalled up and our twenty-two year old loanee came out on top this month. Quite simply, at times, watching Sunderland of late has been more like tuning in to an episode of the Danny Rose show - which whilst sounding like one of those naff reality TV shows, it would certainly find itself on my sky planner, series linked.

Rose has simply been a revelation on Wearside, a real joy to watch even during some of the poor performances we have witnessed from the side this term. His defensive awareness if fantastic for a relatively young player but even when he does get caught out he has more than enough pace to recover. Then there is the attacking side of his game where his pace, drive and determination have been a joy to watch as he glides across the pitch with the ball under complete control pinging inch perfect passes at will.

Whether or not we are able to secure his signature on a permanent basis is yet to be seen, his performances won't have gone unnoticed by his employers at White Hart Lane, but you can be sure the club will do everything in their power to make negotiate a deal. So starting praying now.

Karl Jones: A thoroughly deserved winner this month, he could also be a genuine contender for our player of the year award at this time - in spite of Steven Fletcher's performances.

As a past advocate of Kieran Richardson at left-back, my reservations over Danny Rose evaporated rather quickly, and in its place lies a raw appreciation for him. Rose has replaced Richardson's athleticism and attacking threat from deep, and brought a comfort on the ball of his own. Quite simply, we've upgraded, for the time being, and it is encouraging to see Martin O'Neill express his desire to make Rose's stay permanent.

To supplement the above qualities, Rose's passing game is quickly becoming a facet of Sunderland's play that O'Neill wants to capitalise on. His defence-splitting ball from which Stephane Sessegnon shot straight at Mark Bunn against Norwich was a prime example of why he is becoming involved in midfield.

Michael Graham: Danny Rose is boring. There, I said it. Yes yes he is also brilliant, but being brilliantly boring is still boring. Take nuclear physics, for example. It is brilliant and vital to the future of the planet, but you wouldn't want to read an essay on it.

When you are talking about Danny Rose's Sunderland career so far, it is essentially just a test of how many platitudes you know. There is no actual discussion to be had over him. He has come in, surprised the lot of us, and consistently impressed. That is just the way it is. Good old safe and reliable Danny Rose, the man you can count on for quality. Lets hope he continues to bore us with his brilliance for many years to come.

Chris Weatherspoon: Hardly a surprise, is it? Danny Rose raised plenty of eyebrows when he arrived on loan back in August, with plenty, myself included, sceptical over his ability as a top level player. Without doubt, that scepticism is long gone.

The good thing about Rose is that he is not just a good left-back - he's a good footballer in general. The lad oozes quality, has pace to burn and strength that defies his small stature. It's a sign of how good he is that a Newcastle supporting friend of mine (he's vehemently anti-Sunderland, even for a Newcastle fan), dragged to the Reading game bu his girlfriend last week against his will, actually rose to applaud Rose off when he was substituted. Put simply, we've got to do everything we can to sign him next month.

Dan Williams: The Danny Rose award for excellence in a Sunderland shirt. Nice new name for what will probably become us naming him Sunderland's best player on a monthly basis.

Seriously though, Rose has been consistently brilliant since signing for us, and it goes without saying that we should all be desperate to sign him when the transfer window opens next month. His attacking intent is superb, and he's eclipsing Kieron RIchardson in the position, a player that I thought we were, initially, foolish to let leave.

While I'm not delighted that O'Neill seems to want to play him in midfield in the future (I'm perfectly happy with his performances at left back, and don't see why we need to change that) - it just shows how important the manager clearly already thinks Rose is. Long may it continue.

And now we'll take a quick look at how the rest of the squad shaped up during this period...

Looking at the table it's pretty symptomatic of how things are at the moment. Our attacking players are dominating things while the defensive bunch linger around the bottom, with a vast turn in fortunes needed by all parties on that front.

Equally the usual set of substitutes in Vaughan, Saha, Campbell and so on all seem to be having little impact on the score deciders.

Certainly despite Rose's clear dominance this month, there's much more to be worked on as a collective.