Rodwell signs

[davulsukur]

Us Rovers fans should know better than any to trust the odd media article as a true reflection of a situation in football.

Cheers for the post Mackeminpeace, albeit for the grim reading it was.

[Tom]

Cheers Mackem.

Let’s expect for nothing other than another wage on the books but hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Hell of a difference between a player tied down to £70k a week over 5 years and a player on a low wage on a short term deal.

Down to him now to prove he still has what it takes.

[JacknOry]

26 minutes ago, MackemInPeace said:

Hi lads, Sunderland fan here.  Just wanted to say good luck with Jack Rodwell.

As you've already gathered, Sunderland fans in general consider him to be probably our worst signing in history, but I noticed not many people had mentioned his record when he was with us, and some are quoting that he was "fit and available to play" but being hounded out, which is a debatable point that I'll get to in a moment.  There are a few other bits of info that are probably worth noting, so I'll throw them in too.

As some of you have quite rightly pointed out, it was Sunderland's daft fault for giving him a 5-year contract on 70k per week and a relegation clause that would only activate if we failed to get promoted back to the Premier League on our first attempt, meaning that when we were relegated to the Championship we ended up stuck with a player on huge wages that couldn't get into the first team.  He was literally the only player on our books that didn't have an automatic 40% wage reduction immediately if we were relegated.

While it would be easy to say we Sunderland fans held his wages against him (because they restricted our transfer business) and the club froze him out to get rid of him, a lot of ground had been tread before we even got to that point in our relationship with him.

 

First of all, his record.  From the last time he'd won a match that he'd started when he was still playing for Man City until his first win as a match starter in a Sunderland shirt, he went 1370 days without being on the winning team in a match he had started.

That 39 match streak included 37 starts for Sunderland in the 2.5 years he'd played for us up until that point...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38867929

Then there's his injury record.  For a while it seemed like whenever we thought he was ready to come back into the team and was making noises in interviews that he was ready for selection, he'd get another injury.

https://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/players/2742/jack_rodwell_injury.html

We had manager after manager while Rodwell was at the club that seemed to give him a chance at first and then end up not selecting him ahead of our other midfielders when he was allegedly fit to play.

After we were relegated, he decided he wasn't a midfielder anymore.   Our then-new manager Simon Grayson said of him "“He told me that, before going into the first team, he had played centre-half for Everton and also through the age groups with England, and he felt that might be his best position because psychologically, and maybe physically as well, his body can’t take the demands of playing in midfield any more."

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-hand-jack-rodwell-chance-13758808

Rodwell had been offered a way out.  There were clubs interested in signing him for free and Sunderland had told him we'd happily rip up his contract and let him sign for another team, but he chose to stay with Sunderland on his 70k per week wages, training with our U23's.  He at some point had announced to our management that he no longer wanted to play for Sunderland, and there was a rumour that he'd actually said that he no longer wanted to play football at all.  He then released his now famous statement to the Daily Mail, which infuriated many of our fans with his talk of being the fittest he'd ever been and his hope of getting back into the England team...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5280715/Sunderland-outcast-Jack-Rodwell-insists-hes-not-blame.html

...to which Chris Coleman, our manager at the time responded...

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/chris-coleman-reacts-jack-rodwells-14177256

 

When he finally left in the Summer after our relegation to League 1 and our new chairman taking over, there were champagne bottles popping open all over Sunderland at seeing the back of him.

Obviously we fans can only see snippets of information and try to fill in the blanks ourselves, so who knows what actually happened behind the scenes, but between his losing streak, his injuries, and the way each successive manager failed to get performances out of him, the rest of his time with us on high wages training with the U23's and refusing to leave to join other teams while claiming "it's not about money, I just want to play football" in his Daily Mail interview was just adding insult to injury.

The general emotion in Sunderland right now is one of shock, that any professional football club would give Rodwell a chance after his time at Sunderland.

I hope for your sake that the contract is some kind of pay-as-you-play deal with a clause that if you lose he doesn't get paid.  

Anyway, just wanted to pass on a Sunderland fan's perspective.

 

All the best.

 

 

 

Welcome to the boards.

I dont have the time to read all the links as about to hit the sack but i keep reading about this losing streak. 

37 starts in 2.5 years is hardly great as it is but were all those defeats down to Rodwell? I just don't really get the correlation here. Bemoan an injury record or attitude but his record is like he played in one third of the games during that period and it was not a great period for your team as a whole. Not sure this stat really means anything to be honest.

Anyhow, as you can see, our boards are quite split on this signing and even the most optimistic have their doubts. We don't know the full ins and outs of his time with you guys and appreciate you coming here to try and give the opposite side. He has obviously become something of a hate figure for you guys and we have had a fair few in recent times too - mainly owners and managers mind.

We will see, he will not be first choice anyway and he has it all to prove on a low-cost contract for a season.

 

[Miker]

Not sure how to feel about this one. Back when he was at Everton he had such a bright future ahead and was an incredible player at a very young age. He’s won the Premier League with Manchester City and has tons of experience at the top level.

But obviously he has gone astray in recent years due to injuries and big money. Reminds me of a certain David Bentley, who went for his big money move to Spurs and then saw it all fall apart. We took a punt on bringing him back for half a season as well, but it didn’t quite work out for him and he retired not long after that.

That said, I think Bentley came back at what was probably the worst period of the club and I’m sure it didn’t help him regain his confidence or passion for the game. You feel that Rodwell may have a bit more luck in that, being part of a side full of confidence and ambition, and being managed by Mowbray.

Good luck to him anyway! If he does manage to regain even a fraction of the quality he had at Everton and Man City, we have a tremendous signing on our hands. 

[MackemInPeace]

Just now, RV Blue said:

Are you kidding? He signed a contract with you and he was honouring that contract, it’s not his fault that the contract you offered him was one of the stupidest things I can remember a football club doing. Every man and his dog would have accepted that deal and to say that he should have just ripped it up out of the good of his heart is naive at best.

 

You are shocked that any professional club would give a chance to a 27 year old former England international? Somehow I think your judgement is (understandably) clouded by the fact that he was on £70k per week.

Finally, good luck for the season. I hope you come straight back up.

 

Hi, I agree completely about the contract.  It was definitely our club's fault for giving him the contract, not his fault for accepting it. 

The dissonance came about from him stating in the Daily Mail interview that it wasn't about the money, he just wanted to play football, while turning down opportunities to sign for other clubs to remain at Sunderland, training with our U23's.  

I know what you mean about the "giving a chance to a former England international" thing.  It does sound harsh, and yes perhaps my judgement is clouded.  I am trying to stay balanced with my appraisal while relaying the general feeling about him in our fanbase and trying to show the reasons our fans feel the way they do about him.  With Rodwell, for any Sunderland fan, it's really not an easy thing to do to stay objective when discussing him. ?

Good luck to you guys too!

 

[JacknOry]

Just now, MackemInPeace said:

 

Hi, I agree completely about the contract.  It was definitely our club's fault for giving him the contract, not his fault for accepting it. 

The dissonance came about from him stating in the Daily Mail interview that it wasn't about the money, he just wanted to play football, while turning down opportunities to sign for other clubs to remain at Sunderland, training with our U23's.  

I know what you mean about the "giving a chance to a former England international" thing.  It does sound harsh, and yes perhaps my judgement is clouded.  I am trying to stay balanced with my appraisal while relaying the general feeling about him in our fanbase and trying to show the reasons our fans feel the way they do about him.  With Rodwell, for any Sunderland fan, it's really not an easy thing to do to stay objective when discussing him. ?

Good luck to you guys too!

 

Were those clubs going to match the 70k per week contract he was on?

[Tom]

By the way Mackem, enjoy league one it can be truly bonkers but fun if you are doing well in it. Seen a few Sunderland fans on twitter enjoying it already.

As long as you end up getting out of it you’ll look back with fond memories!

[JacknOry]

Just now, Tom said:

By the way Mackem, enjoy league one it can be truly bonkers but fun if you are doing well in it. Seen a few Sunderland fans on twitter enjoying it already.

As long as you end up getting out of it you’ll look back with fond memories!

Yup L1 is fun as hell - you guys should bounce up easily, get 90+ points on the board, score tons of goals and cross off grounds. I would say its less competitive than we were there, Shrewsbury sold half their squad, Peterborough too, Charlton are a mess - should be a walk over really.

[MackemInPeace]

2 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

Welcome to the boards.

I dont have the time to read all the links as about to hit the sack but i keep reading about this losing streak. 

37 starts in 2.5 years is hardly great as it is but were all those defeats down to Rodwell? I just don't really get the correlation here. Bemoan an injury record or attitude but his record is like he played in one third of the games during that period and it was not a great period for your team as a whole. Not sure this stat really means anything to be honest.

Anyhow, as you can see, our boards are quite split on this signing and even the most optimistic have their doubts. We don't know the full ins and outs of his time with you guys and appreciate you coming here to try and give the opposite side. He has obviously become something of a hate figure for you guys and we have had a fair few in recent times too - mainly owners and managers mind.

We will see, he will not be first choice anyway and he has it all to prove on a low-cost contract for a season.

 

That is a fair point.  We weren't having the best of times for the majority of those seasons, but he was the one with the record, so he became the "Jonah" as far as a lot of the fans were concerned.  A dead albatross around our necks.

Whenever his name appeared on the teamsheet, the reaction from a lot of fans was always "oh, we've lost this one then".  There's obviously a chicken-egg-snowball debate that could be had about that situation. 

 

 

[Stuart]

8 minutes ago, Tom said:

Cheers Mackem.

Let’s expect for nothing other than another wage on the books but hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Hell of a difference between a player tied down to £70k a week over 5 years and a player on a low wage on a short term deal.

Down to him now to prove he still has what it takes.

It absolutely is down to him now. It was down to Big Tone a couple of hours ago but he must really be struggling now for the D or E list candidates.

If he’s a bad egg then the cost of him will be less important but you have to wonder what kind of a drop has he had to take and what motivates someone to go from the football equivalent of a CEO salary down to minimum wage?

This is a massive gamble. One of the things Tony has done very well is create a great team spirit - the second half last night showed that. I hope this lad doesn’t bring an ego or sulk with him. This guy could be our Leon Best or Bradley Orr.

Not the kind of signing I thought Mowbray would make.

[blueboy3333]

The strength of feeling from a supporter of a club that has gone down the leagues like we also did is understandable. Just as players like Murphy,Best and Orr were symptomatic of the decline of our club, Rodwell is probably viewed the same way up there. 

[MackemInPeace]

3 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

Were those clubs going to match the 70k per week contract he was on?

Probably not, and in honesty if it was me and I thought my career had already peaked and this was my last chance to earn huge money, I probably would have stayed too.  I probably wouldn't go to the press and tell them I just wanted to play football and it "wasn't about the money" though.  ?

[47er]

36 minutes ago, Stuart said:

A balanced objective post about a topic you will no doubt feel  very passionately about - backed up with facts.

That won’t go down well on here but I certainly appreciate it. Thanks.

Of course, someone will be along now to tell me I’m talking nonsense (or being negative) and their post(s) will get lots of likes from the herd that we now have on here since the Rovers official messageboards closed down and the blue and white goggled types migrated over here, while the edgier posters set up their own fan site in response and promptly cleared off.

Cheers.

"Give the lad a chance, give him at least 10 games, give him till Christmas, he's got to get match-fit first!"----expect all these and more.

Mowbray has earned the right to back his hunches so I'll wait and see. Same with Brereton if it happens.

But this is not what I expected after all the statements about what sort of Transfer Window the fans could look forward to.

It looks desperate tbh. Like we've run out of options.

[tomphil]

I think it's a bit ironic people having a go at Sunderland and the Rodwell contract after what's happened here we know how easy it is for that to happen in football when you've a rich clueless absent ownership whose lost interest and has agents and leaches running the club. Leon Best alone cost Rovers about 10 million quid, Murphy & Ethuhu to name just two more on 33k pwk in the Championship at their ages and with their injury records, the same money the likes of Santa Cruz & Benni Mc were on in a top Prem side !!!!

I feel for the Mackems I really do that place is rotten to the core and the fact we have done business in the past 12 months with crap like Brown & Steele and now this odd one doesn't fill me with good vibes.

Edited August 23, 2018 by tomphil

[JacknOry]

Just now, MackemInPeace said:

Probably not, and in honesty if it was me and I thought my career had already peaked and this was my last chance to earn huge money, I probably would have stayed too.  I probably wouldn't go to the press and tell them I just wanted to play football and it "wasn't about the money" though.  ?

I don't think any man with a sane mind would rip up a 5-year contract worth 70k a week. Sure, saying football is more important is a bit of a lie really, it obviously isn't while you are earning a fortune. It was basically about the 'football' if someone matches my contract.

You say 'if your career had peaked' Come on, wouldnt matter if your career was in the early stages - that money is huge. 

Edited August 23, 2018 by JacknOry

[MackemInPeace]

5 minutes ago, Tom said:

By the way Mackem, enjoy league one it can be truly bonkers but fun if you are doing well in it. Seen a few Sunderland fans on twitter enjoying it already.

As long as you end up getting out of it you’ll look back with fond memories!

Thanks!  I'm really enjoying it so far.  After the last 10 years or so of barely escaping relegation time and again, then finally being double-relegated, it's nice to see us actually winning games again.  ?

 

 

[JacknOry]

Just now, tomphil said:

I think it's a bit ironic people having a go at Sunderland and the Rodwell contract after what's happened here we know how easy it is for that to happen in football when you've a rich clueless absent ownership whose lost interest and has agents and leaches running the club. Leon Best alone cost Rovers about 10 million quid, Murphy & Ethuhu to name just two more on 33k pwk in the Championship at their ages and with their injury records, the same money the likes of Santa Cruz & Benni Mc were on in a top Prem side !!!!

I feel for the Mackems I really do that place is rotten to the core and the fact we have done business in the past 12 months with crap like Brown & Steele and no this odd one doesn't fill me with good vibes.

Dont think anyone is having a go at the Mackems, jus trying to get both sides of the story. We will soon find out if the guy is a dud and if so - off he goes at the end of his cheap contract.

[JacknOry]

Just now, MackemInPeace said:

Thanks!  I'm really enjoying it so far.  After the last 10 years or so of barely escaping relegation time and again, then finally being double-relegated, it's nice to see us actually winning games again.  ?

 

 

it feels great to win games - be one of the top dogs no matter what league. Once you out of it, you have that winning habit and im sure you will be fine in the Championship just as i think we will be this season. 

Thanks for buying Steele btw

[MackemInPeace]

Just now, JacknOry said:

it feels great to win games - be one of the top dogs no matter what league. Once you out of it, you have that winning habit and im sure you will be fine in the Championship just as i think we will be this season. 

Thanks for buying Steele btw

Haha, I've seen a few comments about this Rodwell signing being karma for selling us Steele.  Funnily enough, he was actually starting to look like a decent goalkeeper at the very end of the season after a horrendous start with us.  I was actually quite disappointed he left as I thought he'd be a good keeper in League 1.  The new feller Jon McLaughlin's been quality though.  No regrets now. ?

[Rover_Shaun]

Hmm. A signing that screams "desperation"

2/10 must try harder.

[joey_big_nose]

1 hour ago, rog of the rovers said:

We’ll have to wait and see.

Worst case scenario is he flops and can be added to the pile with Wes Brown, Johan Vogel, Dino Baggio etc

TM obviously believes he’s worth the risk.

Hey! I thought Vogel was decent personally. Or maybe I've mixed him up with another guy.. Norwegian?

[tomphil]

12 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

Dont think anyone is having a go at the Mackems, jus trying to get both sides of the story. We will soon find out if the guy is a dud and if so - off he goes at the end of his cheap contract.

I hope it is cheap he was/is on 70k pwk so to go down to 7 like say Whittingham for instance is a huge drop.

[MackemInPeace]

Just now, tomphil said:

I hope it is cheap he was/is on 70k pwk so to go down to 7 like say Whittingham for instance is a huge drop.

70k was his original Sunderland wage, which didn't change when we were relegated to the Championship because it had a 1-year delay built in to the relegation clause.  When we went down to League 1 the 40% reduction kicked in, but then the new owners agreed a contract termination with him not long after they took over.

[Neal]

Typically after a new signing announced you want to believe they're going to be a good signing but that review from the Mackem is sobering to say the least. I hope this one doesn't do more damage than good. This one is all on Mowbray now, I know he can pass it off as "cheap" punt but it's down to him to show off his man management skills and get something back in return. 

 

Uneasy about this one but hopefully the mood here, the manager will inspire him. Good luck to him. 

 

Good luck to Sunderland. Good fans, deserve better. 

 

 

[tomphil]

4 minutes ago, MackemInPeace said:

70k was his original Sunderland wage, which didn't change when we were relegated to the Championship because it had a 1-year delay built in to the relegation clause.  When we went down to League 1 the 40% reduction kicked in, but then the new owners agreed a contract termination with him not long after they took over.

Ah ok I see, no doubt he's blown most of it so maybe he'll take a paltry wage here after all.