Ross Stewart: The one and only! It’s time to stop the Charlie Wyke ‘comparisons’

I’m not going all Chesney Hawkes on you but Ross Stewart is the one and only.

I’m serious. He is his own man and has started the season on fire.

A very easy way to judge strikers is purely on goals and he ticks that box straight away. With four in five league matches, he’s among the top scorers.

But it’s more than just goals - his all-round contribution has been impressive. In terms of the attributes you need for a forward in this league - he has the lot. His aerial ability is so good, his touch and lay-offs are (insert cliche) superb for a big man and his direct running stretches defenders and turns them inside out.

The fans have a new hero and the nicknames have been superb. The Irvine Ibrahimovic. The Loch Ness Drogba or maybe you can make your own.

Yet nearly every conversation about Stewart, every praising comment, seems to feature Charlie Wyke. ’He’s better than Wyke’ ‘We don’t miss Charlie Wyke’.

In a way, I sort of understand Sunderland fans' thoughts. It’s natural to compare the two and when Stewart is out-scoring Wyke it’s good to enjoy the banter. Some of our fans might think it’s just that - banter. A little bit of fun to enjoy along with the optimism at the start of the season.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

But where does it stop? Are we still going to be laughing at Wyke and comparing the two goal tallies as the season goes on? Not only that, can Ross Stewart not get some praise for what he’s doing rather than having to constantly be mentioned alongside Wyke.

Forget his predecessor, he’s doing bloody good on his own. He has been a key reason we have had such a good start. Directly, Stewart has been responsible for six points already and that’s by late August.

Stewart will come into his own as the season goes on. Not only will he gain in confidence but the fans will surely take to him even more. Any player that performs consistently will get the support of the fans but more so a striker that regularly gets goals. He deserves all of it and more. We should really get behind him and enjoy his performances.

I personally believe there’s just something special about a goalscorer. Some heroes of recent years have been Darren Bent (for a spell), Jermain Defoe and going back further Super Kev. Of course, there are others but I always think the fans have extra love for those strikers that can find the net so prolifically.

He will surely relish being our main man. He’s not playing second fiddle to anyone and has the knowledge that he’s starting every week or at least most weeks when fit. If the worst happens and he goes through a bad run, no worries. He’s our talisman up front and we have to stay with him.

Ross Stewart is our man. We need to move on and leave Charlie Wyke in the past.