ROKER ROUNDUP: Ex-Sunderland winger isn’t a fan of Kevin Ball - and wasn’t convinced by Pickford

DMK on Pickford and his troubled Sunderland spell

Former Sunderland winger David Moberg Karlsson has been speaking about former Sunderland team-mate Jordan Pickford and he says he’s surprised at how far the goalkeeper has come:

We were both sh*t then.

No, but he third choice and was sent on loan to Carlisle.

Not that I’m a talent scout for goalkeepers, but I had a hard time seeing that he would go for 30 million pounds three years later and start in the World Cup.

Of course he was good, but he didn’t stick out but he had balls and outclassed the other goalkeepers in any exercise.

He was a typical British, very kind. He looks very British as well.

I met him at a restaurant once. Then he was with his girlfriend, who I think he is still with. So he seems to be a little family man.

While Kevin Ball has received a lot of praise for how Pickford - and fellow academy graduate Jordan Henderson - have turned out, that’s something Moberg Karlsson disagrees with:

When the coach who hired me [Paolo Di Canio] was fired, the under-21 coach took over, the first thing he said to me was: “You’re too bad for the first-team, you’re going down to the under-21s”.

I had shone against Tottenham in pre-season and thought I was king, so I replied: I won’t, who the hell are you?

He was club legend Kevin Ball, who had played 400 matches for Sunderland.

That’s not the only criticism the 24-year-old has of Ball, with the player claiming he is too quick to take credit for other’s achievements:

He is such a coach who gladly takes the honor when a player becomes something, without himself actually doing anything special. He talked about Jordan Henderson all the time.

Moberg Karlsson gave another interview earlier in the year, where he revealed more about his trouble with Kevin Ball, how it led him to hate football and suffer from depression:

I lost all the joy. I hated football. I was 19 years old and sat alone in an apartment. When I came to the training, I only heard that I was the worst, useless, and should move home. Especially from that coach. I was totally broken down and then talked to dad about moving home.

I probably had some kind of depression. I decided to squeeze out as much as I could out of my career. Although I thought football was crap, I moved to Denmark for perhaps the wrong reasons.

Photo by Victor Fraile/Getty Images

Former duo find new clubs

Lewis Grabban completed his move to Nottingham Forest from Bournemouth yesterday.

The 30-year-old signed a four-year deal at the City Ground, with Aitor Karanka’s men spending £6m on the striker.

Grabban was on loan with Sunderland last season and despite leaving in January - which played a large part in our relegation to League One - ended up our top scorer with 12 goals from 20 games.

He won’t be a team-mate of former Sunderland midfielder David Vaughan next season though, after the 35-year-old joined city rivals Notts County on a free transfer.

Vaughan played 111 games for Forest after joining from Sunderland back in 2014 and will be best remembered at the Stadium of Light for his stunning goals against Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Newcastle United.

Coleman has no regrets

Chris Coleman says he has no regrets about taking on the Sunderland job despite it ending after less than a year, with the club being relegated to League One and the 48-year-old being sacked just before Stewart Donald’s takeover was announced:

I don’t worry about what anyone says. I failed in my first campaign with Wales and I didn’t listen to anyone then.

We were successful in France but I didn’t listen to anyone then either.

Yes, I fell on my face at Sunderland. I don’t regret taking the Sunderland job.

It was just the right club but at the wrong time but this is another job, a new challenge and I’m going to give it my best shot.

Coleman is now manager of Chinese Super League side Hebei China Fortune, after he replaced Manuel Pellegrini when the Argentine left to take over at West Ham United.