Roker Roundtable: Is the deal to re-sign Bailey Wright a good deal for Sunderland?

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Is the deal to re-sign Bailey Wright a good deal for Sunderland?

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Tom Albrightson says...

I’m completely torn on this one.

Under Phil Parkinson, Bailey Wright was a rare ray of light in an otherwise dark patch of another failed season. Wright came into the side almost immediately and with the blessing and backing of Bristol City fans who were saddened to see such a popular character depart their club.

Wright brought organisation and a calmness on the ball rarely seen in this hell-hole division, as well as a no-nonsense approach when we simply needed to get rid. The conductor of the back three raised the game of those around him, and our upturn in form after his introduction was no coincidence as the side always looked better for having him in it.

The issue? Wright’s injury record. Just when we needed him the most, and as previously warned, Wright’s terrible record with injury struck again, ruling him out for what was to be the remainder of the season. A key feature in League One is being able to get the most amount of productivity from your best players, as quality remains few and far between. Whilst Wright possesses some real quality and a much-adored willingness to run through brick walls, his injury record suggests it to be a knife-edge signing.

If Wright can give us 30+ games a season, it’s a brilliant signing to make, especially for nothing more than a signing-on fee. That said, with the impending financial restrictions looming, signing Wright could also tie-up much-needed wages as he spends most of his time occupying the physio table.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Jack Howe-gingell says...

I think he will prove a good signing.

Wright has shown in his limited games that he is a cut above any of our central defenders, and is hopefully indicative of our transfer policy of signing quality players.

Much has been made regarding his injury history, but looking at his stats on Soccerbase, he has played more than 40 games each season up to the 2018/19 season. Naturally, he could have encountered issues more recently, but it doesn’t support the argument that he has always been injury prone.

What we’ll be getting is a real blood and thunder defender in terms of his commitment, alongside a natural intelligence. He is a born leader, and this can be evidenced by the amount of talking he does on the pitch.

Ultimately, I believe he will be a success. He has bags of experience despite still being in his 20s. He’s the kind of signing we should have been making for the past few windows. His injury history is being blown a little out of proportion, and I don’t envisage it will be an issue going forward.

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Sam Blakey says...

My overall feeling regarding the potential resigning of Bailey Wright is a positive one.

Wright slotted in our back three nicely last season proving to be a key figure after his arrival. It was clear that he had the right leadership skills and experience to marshal whichever combination that Phil Parkinson utilised alongside him. It became clear just how important Wright was to after his injury when Ozturk came in for him. Although Ozturk didn’t do much wrong in all honesty, Wright’s absence just showed how much of a better defender and leader he is. There is no doubt that our dip in form before the season abruptly ended is partially down to Bailey Wright’s injury, in my opinion.

We’ve just received the news that Tom Flanagan has signed a two year deal which is a positive for the club because before that Jordan Willis was our only centre-half under contract, so to add Wright to that list will be a big plus for the club going into the new season.

As per usual, it seems with everything involving Sunderland AFC where there is something positive, it is usually closely followed by a negative - regarding Bailey Wright, it is his injury problems - all we can do is hope he manages to stay fit and in the side.

All in all, I will be pleased if we do resign Bailey Wright, Willis is a solid player for us and adding Wright to our defence could make us a solid unit at the back. As I mentioned earlier let’s just hope he can stay fit!

Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images

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Matthew Foster says...

My personal feeling on resigning Bailey Wright is that it’s a sensible signing, provided he can remain out of the treatment room.

He was a rare positive in what was a season of negatives, and the injury cut short his chance to solidify his regular position in the team.

His impact in so few games is evidence enough that bringing him back it makes sense. Even looking at the general consensus from Bristol City fans was that of a committed professional willing to play out of position for the good of the team. We are always screaming for players of that ilk, and if he can replicate his performances in red and white, we have a solid player.

Not to mention he was highly thought of enough to be made captain at Bristol City, and having plenty of leaders on the pitch is always a positive.

Overall a good signing, and hopefully we see him stay injury free and a regular in our side.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Phil Butler says...

I’d say that, despite the obvious concerns over his injury record, the signing of Bailey Wright is a good one for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Wright’s signing - along with Flanagan’s contract extension - means that Parkinson has been able to keep his first choice defenders from last season. This essentially guarantees that there’s no chance of replacing decent starting players with a player of lesser ability. This is something that Sunderland have shown an unfortunate knack of doing over the past couple of decades - even average players like Phil Bardsley proved difficult to replace due to poor recruitment.

It is also important to look at the number of players already released who play at centre-half: Joel Lynch, Alim Ozturk, Tommy Smith and Jack Baldwin all left the club at the end of June and signing up a player who is known to fit into the squad and style of play makes the job of replacing these players much less daunting. Remember the centre backs we ended up with the last time a League One Sunderland overhauled their defence!

The second reason this signing is a good one is that Bailey Wright is a pretty good central defender at League One level. His few games in the team showed exactly why he was signed on loan last year, and the drop off in Sunderland’s performances after his injury provide enough evidence for me that he was a key part of the defence, which Parkinson will inevitable look to build his team around next year.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images