Roker Roundup: “I did some bullshit & they fired me” says ex-Sunderland defender Papy Djilobodji

I did some bullshit

Two years on after being fired by Sunderland, Papy Djilobodji turns out for Turkish top flight side Gaziantep.

The Senegal international has spoken very little in public in the last few years but has now broken his silence in an interview with Press Afrik.

During the interview, Djilobodji finally discusses his controversial spell at the Stadium of Light and while he claims he has always been both professional and respectful, he made an exception at Sunderland.

The 32-year-old said he was not happy about dropping down to the second tier, so “did some bullshit” to force the club to fire him:

I am a professional. Since I was little, I have respected my training, my coaches, my elders in the National Team.

In all the clubs I have been to, I have been respectful, except in Sunderland because we had gone down and I did not want to play in the Championship anymore.

So I did some bullshit and they fired me.

But I have always fulfilled my obligations. I train hard, rest and try to play every game I can, if I’m not injured. I like the truth and if I can’t find it, I say I don’t agree.

Later on in the interview, Djilobodji goes into more detail and blames Simon Grayson for making him travel with the first team squad to an away fixture, despite the fact he was not going to be named in the match day squad:

With Sunderland, we were relegated and I didn’t want to play in the second division.

Two days before the end of the transfer window, the coach did not make me play, either he put me on the bench, or I was 19th on the list.

One day, we had gone to play in Brentford, we arrived the day before, we went to the hotel. It was once at the stadium that the coach gave his list of 18 players.

He said: “Papy, you are watching the game from the top of the stands”.

I was angry. I played in the Premier League, in Germany and in France, I didn’t deserve this.

I didn’t know what instructions he had received from the club. There are directives that come from above and the coach is obliged to apply them so as not to put himself in danger.

After that, I was in the locker room with all the players and I waited for everyone to come out and I went to the coach to talk to him. He thought I was coming to hit him, he looked at me with his eyes open, he said: “But what is it?”, I said to him: “listen, I’ve never had a problem anywhere, but I’m not 18 for you to do things to me like that. Next time, if you have to do this to me, leave me at home.”

He told me ok.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Trialist joins hometown club

Former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Connor Johnson has signed for Kettering Town, his hometown club.

Johnson had been on trial with Sunderland as recently as last month, as the club looked to strengthen following injuries to Arbenit Xhemajli and Morgan Feeney.

The 22-year-old featured in two Premier League 2 games for Sunderland, the 5-3 u23 win over Fulham and the 2-0 u23 win over Aston Villa but left without a contract and has now linked up with the National League North outfit.

Photo by Sam Bagnall - AMA/Getty Images

New deal for Seb

Seb Larsson’s long career will continue for at least one more year with the news that the midfielder has signed a new deal with current club AIK.

The 35-year-old is still going strong for both club and country, he currently has 125 caps for the Swedish national team, and speaking to the Allsvenskan club’s official website, Larsson said there was no doubt in his mind where he wanted to continue his career:

It feels good that it is finished with another year in AIK and there has never been any doubt on my part, so it did not take many minutes for us to agree. It has only been AIK that applies to me and now I look forward to a strong and good next year. We all long to be able to meet the supporters again to make 2021 a great AIK year together

Photo by Ian Horrocks - Sunderland AFC/Getty Images