Roker Roundup: Lynden Gooch gives clearest indication yet on where his Sunderland future lies

Gooch discusses contract status

While the club wait for the contract negotiations with Lynden Gooch and Josh Maja to come to fruition, Gooch himself has been discussing his contract status in an interview with Sam’s Army podcast.

The American international who turns 23 on Christmas Eve, was asked whether an agreement was near, he replied that it was close and he hopes to repay the club for all that they have given him:

Yeah, it’s close. It’s obviously in the hands of my team and the club. I’ve said for a long time that this club means a lot to me and if I can try and get the club back to the good times, then I’ll do so.

They’ve gave me a chance to be a professional footballer and gave me everything in life, if I can repay that a little bit, help get the club back to the Championship and hopefully the Premier League then I want to do so and be a big part of this club going forward.

While on the podcast, Gooch also praised the ‘absolutely brilliant’ fans and hopes to give achieve promotion at the end of the season to give them something to shout about:

I think people probably don’t realise but we’re getting over 30,000 every home game - more than we got in the Championship least season.

We’re winning games, we have new owners, new coaching staff, the club is hopefully back on the up to reform what the club is known for.

The fan’s have been absolutely brilliant, it’s hard to put into words when you see 7-8,000 fans travel for away games. There’s more away fans at other team’s stadiums, it’s just incredible.

Hopefully we can give them something to shout about at the end of the season with promotion.

You can listen to the Gooch’s full interview with the Sam’s Army podcast at iTunes or Acast.

Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images

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Maguire on surprise Sunderland move

Chris Maguire has been a huge hit on Wearside since his surprise free transfer move from Bury in the summer.

In an exclusive interview with the Telegraph, Maguire expressed surprised at the move and claimed that if he had been scouted properly, there is no way he would have made the move to Sunderland:

Getting the move to Sunderland, it was the bit of luck I had been craving, it came out of the blue and I’m sure people raised their eyebrows. Nothing I did last season meant I should be playing for a club like Sunderland. I’m sure people here hadn’t even heard of me.

I’m sure Sunderland supporters thought, who is Chris Maguire?

If Sunderland had done their job properly and scouted me, there is no way they would have signed me. If they had scouted me, they would have wasted their time, because I was sat in the stands.

I got the move because the manager [Jack Ross] knew me from Scotland and the owner [Stewart Donald] had seen me play for Oxford. Sometimes, all you need is to feel wanted.

You can read the full interview, where he discusses what went wrong during his spell at Bury and what he thinks of his ‘King’ nickname’, HERE.

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Barnsley assistant on the struggle to catch Sunderland

After a run of five successive League One wins was ended thanks to a 1-1 draw at home to Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley have now gone four games without a win, which has seen them fall down to 6th place.

Those four games included a 4-2 defeat at Sunderland and Barnsley’s assistant manager Andreas Winkler believes they have now put themselves under pressure and it will be difficult to catch either Sunderland or Portsmouth:

We have a bit of pressure now.

We want to play good, but all we need is points and it is all about results and starting a winning run.

This is what the players know, but pressure makes you focused on your goal. I think we need 85 or 90 points to stay at the top.

The season is so long and we just need a winning run to go towards the top. Although if Sunderland and Portsmouth continue to play as they are it will be very hard to catch them.

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Kaboul released

Ex-Sunderland defender Younes Kaboul has been released by Watford.

The former French international has barely featured for the Hornets since joining them from Sunderland, a move which was put down to ‘personal circumstances’.

The 32-year-old joined Watford in a deal worth around £3.5m in August 2016 but has not played for the club since September 2017 and was not selected in their 25-man Premier League squad.

The Hornets have agreed to cancel the contract of defender Younès Kaboul by mutual consent.

It brings to and the former France international’s two-and-half-year association with Watford FC, beginning with his late August 2016 debut against Arsenal.

Everyone at Watford FC wishes Younes well for the future and thanks him for his contributions while at Vicarage Road.

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