Don't Rule out Asamoah Gyan Returning to Sunderland
To lose one record signing in a calendar year is unfortunate.
For two to leave in the space of seven months is the height of carelessness. Welcome to the anything but dull world of Sunderland Football Club.
First things first, the departure of Asamoah Gyan to play in the United Arab Emirates, in footballing terms at least, is no great shakes.
Certainly, it's nothing on the void left by Darren Bent's equally hasty and similarly unexpected exit to Aston Villa in January.
In a 12-month spell on Wearside where he has struggled for form and fitness, a modest return of 11 goals in 37 appearances suggests Gyan's departure, though ill-timed, is one from which Sunderland can move on. That's somewhat unlike the case with Bent, whose absence is one still being felt in the 'goals for' column.
Sunderland have plenty of things going for them. A fine stadium and training complex, an impressive fanbase and plenty of tradition and history.
But, just as the Bent affair proved, Gyan following him out of the door shows that in the grand scheme of things, the Black Cats are still some way down the pecking order in football's food chain.
For their inconvenience at least, they receive a loan fee approaching half the £13m they paid for the player just a year ago.
For two to leave in the space of seven months is the height of carelessness. Welcome to the anything but dull world of Sunderland Football Club.
First things first, the departure of Asamoah Gyan to play in the United Arab Emirates, in footballing terms at least, is no great shakes.
Certainly, it's nothing on the void left by Darren Bent's equally hasty and similarly unexpected exit to Aston Villa in January.
In a 12-month spell on Wearside where he has struggled for form and fitness, a modest return of 11 goals in 37 appearances suggests Gyan's departure, though ill-timed, is one from which Sunderland can move on. That's somewhat unlike the case with Bent, whose absence is one still being felt in the 'goals for' column.
Sunderland have plenty of things going for them. A fine stadium and training complex, an impressive fanbase and plenty of tradition and history.
But, just as the Bent affair proved, Gyan following him out of the door shows that in the grand scheme of things, the Black Cats are still some way down the pecking order in football's food chain.
For their inconvenience at least, they receive a loan fee approaching half the £13m they paid for the player just a year ago.
Asking why the Ghana international should want to pursue his career in a footballing backwater more used to offering players at the end of their careers one last well-paid hurrah is akin to the loaded question Caroline Aherne's character Mrs Merton once asked the lovely Debbie McGee. What do you see in the millionaire Paul Daniels?
In Gyan's, case, according to reports, he saw a pay packet in the region of £120,000-a-week. Or more than three times the remuneration he received at the Stadium of Light, where he had been denied a pay rise despite requesting one soon after his arrival.
"The offer from Al-Ain was too good to refuse," the 25-year-old confessed. We bet it was. But for all those who condemn him for greed, put yourself in his position. Tempting to take the cash and run, isn't it?
At the recent funeral of former Liberty Professionals President Sly Tetteh, Gyan insisted that he wanted to ensure he did something 'meaningful' in his career in memory of his former mentor.
This wasn't it. The words turning and grave spring immediately to mind.
The African forward added: "I didn't have a choice once Sunderland accepted Al-Ain's proposal. I am now looking forward to playing in the UAE."
There, he will lead the line for a side whose home crowds can be in the hundreds. Welcome to life outside the Premier League.
The literal translation of the club's name is 'the spring'. Gyan's departure could see a winter of discontent for Steve Bruce, but such a state of affairs is likely to play out regardless or not of his presence. In his season at the club, he'd hardly shown he was the go to guy to dig the side of out trouble.
After initially leaving the door open for the player's return at the end of his loan stint, the manager soon hardened in his stance towards his errant record signing. "I don't really believe he will have a future here," Bruce insisted.
Maybe not under Bruce, with the way he has treated the manager. But given defeat in eight of their last nine home games, a failure to win so far this term and the fact Bruce lost a whole heap of credibility over Gyan's departure 24 hours after he insisted such a scenario wouldn't come to pass, the genial Geordie is hardly on the most firm of footing right now.
In the ruthless world of Premier League football, the manager might not still be in charge in 12 days, let alone 12 months.
We may not have seen the last of Gyan in a Sunderland shirt, although clearly the player has surrendered his credibility making such a move.
If this whole unedifying affair teaches us anything about the volatile world of top level football in general and Sunderland in particular, it's that it's safer to never say never.
In Gyan's, case, according to reports, he saw a pay packet in the region of £120,000-a-week. Or more than three times the remuneration he received at the Stadium of Light, where he had been denied a pay rise despite requesting one soon after his arrival.
"The offer from Al-Ain was too good to refuse," the 25-year-old confessed. We bet it was. But for all those who condemn him for greed, put yourself in his position. Tempting to take the cash and run, isn't it?
At the recent funeral of former Liberty Professionals President Sly Tetteh, Gyan insisted that he wanted to ensure he did something 'meaningful' in his career in memory of his former mentor.
This wasn't it. The words turning and grave spring immediately to mind.
The African forward added: "I didn't have a choice once Sunderland accepted Al-Ain's proposal. I am now looking forward to playing in the UAE."
There, he will lead the line for a side whose home crowds can be in the hundreds. Welcome to life outside the Premier League.
The literal translation of the club's name is 'the spring'. Gyan's departure could see a winter of discontent for Steve Bruce, but such a state of affairs is likely to play out regardless or not of his presence. In his season at the club, he'd hardly shown he was the go to guy to dig the side of out trouble.
After initially leaving the door open for the player's return at the end of his loan stint, the manager soon hardened in his stance towards his errant record signing. "I don't really believe he will have a future here," Bruce insisted.
Maybe not under Bruce, with the way he has treated the manager. But given defeat in eight of their last nine home games, a failure to win so far this term and the fact Bruce lost a whole heap of credibility over Gyan's departure 24 hours after he insisted such a scenario wouldn't come to pass, the genial Geordie is hardly on the most firm of footing right now.
In the ruthless world of Premier League football, the manager might not still be in charge in 12 days, let alone 12 months.
We may not have seen the last of Gyan in a Sunderland shirt, although clearly the player has surrendered his credibility making such a move.
If this whole unedifying affair teaches us anything about the volatile world of top level football in general and Sunderland in particular, it's that it's safer to never say never.
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