Roker Roundup: Ex-Sunderland midfielder on behind-the-scenes mess, plus defender arrives on trial

Bridcutt on the Sunderland mess

Sunderland have been a mess in recent years but will be hoping that the club will be on the up from now on, following the Kyril Louis-Dreyfus takeover.

However ex-Black Cat Liam Bridcutt appeared on the Football, the Albion and Me podcast this week and discussed the mess behind the scenes at Sunderland during his time at the Stadium of Light.

Bridcutt revealed that despite the facilities being the best of the best, there were too many players who were at the club purely to pick up a pay cheque and that the wrong people were in charge of the club, who would take financial advantage of, the then owner, Ellis Short:

In terms of facilities, travel, hotels and everything was top class, the best of the best but I don’t know, the players were there for the money, not in terms of actually wanting to work properly.

They had a lot of bad characters in the group, a lot of them were just there to get paid and tick a box, really.

In terms of the club, I can’t really say a lot without getting in trouble but it just had the wrong people running the club, the wrong people in charge.

People were taking advantage of, potentially, the owner, in terms of finances and things like that.

It was just a mess and when a club has things like that going on above the manager and players, it kind of has a knock on effect because it affects the manager to a certain point and then that leaks down to the players.

You can listen to the full Football, the Albion and Me podcast with Liam Bridcutt, where he discusses his career, playing under Gus Poyet, how the Sunderland came about and the personal difficulties that plagued his early days at the club by pressing play on the player below.

Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

Ireland scout set for Wembley

The Republic of Ireland’s chief scout Ruaidhri Higgins will be in attendance at Wembley on Sunday as Sunderland take on Tranmere Rovers in the Papa John’s Trophy Final, according to Sunday World.

Ireland could have three representatives playing in the game, with Aiden McGeady and Aiden O’Brien possibly featuring for Sunderland and on-loan Celtic defender Lee O’Connor potentially turning out for Tranmere.

O’Brien and O’Connor have not played for their senior national side since 2019, while in-form McGeady has not played for Ireland since a World Cup qualification play-off defeat against Denmark in 2017.

Photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Guiseley defender starts Sunderland trial

Guiseley defender Nathan Newall joined Sunderland on trial yesterday, despite only making his first team breakthrough this season.

Newall made his full first team debut in November against Gloucester City but had already secured the goal of the month for his club with the first senior goal of his career.

He has had loan spells away from Guiseley with both Frickley Athletic and Ossett United but has now joined the Academy of Light in an attempt to earn a contract ahead of next season.