Ahead of Wolves’ first Premier League trip to the Stadium of Light in over a decade, Jack Johnson speaks to Graham from WTF Sunderland Podcast, to get the lowdown on Sunderland’s league form, the battle to stay in the Premier League and what to expect this weekend.
After seeing so many promoted teams struggle in recent memory, Sunderland have made a much brighter start to their campaign. What have you made of the first seven games?
It’s been as good as we could have hoped. Once the emotion and everything that came with the playoff campaign subsided, and the fixture list came out, you realised how tough the campaign was going to be. To beat West Ham 3-0 on the opening day, all of that emotion and pandemonium came rushing back. It was a huge result, because it made us realise we could compete. To then follow it up with a last minute win over Brentford and get six points from our first two home games was outstanding. People say we’ve had an “easy run”, but there’s nothing easy about playing Crystal Palace away and Aston Villa with 10 men, and we picked up results. We were poor at Burnley and Manchester United, but all in all, we’ve been really, really, happy with our start.
Sunderland’s resurgence to the Premier League shares lots of similarities to the journey Wolves went on, with League One campaigns and middling Championship efforts. How does it feel to finally be back in the top flight?
To sum this up in a short answer is impossible. The League One days really did a number on me, and I’m not sure I fully realised it until recently. The struggle to get out of League One, and it really was a struggle, made me hate going to games. I’d go, and just know the pressure was on every game to win – and even if you did, it wasn’t fun. But every fanbase has their struggles, and their low moments. If you’d told me how we’d get out of League One, and the manner in which we’d get out of the Championship, I’d do it all over again. The juice was worth the squeeze. It feels good to be a Sunderland fan, and I’m very proud to say they are my team.
Wolves have shown signs of improvement in recent games but are still searching for their first win. How do you view the current Wolves squad, and which players do you feel threaten a Sunderland win the most?
I know you’ve not won a game yet, but Wolves are an established Premier League side. As the cliche goes, there are no easy games in this league. I’ll be travelling down from Scotland to the game, and I’m not travelling down thinking this is an easy three points. That said, is now a good time to play you? You’ve got a bit more pressure than us due to your lack of wins, and those late goals you conceded against Spurs and Brighton will rankle. In terms of players, I know he hasn’t scored yet but Jørgen Strand Larsen is clearly the man to watch. A big, difficult unit, scoring 14 goals in this division is no mean feat these days. He must be kept quiet.
After an ambitious summer at Sunderland, a mix of exciting prospects and experienced talent was procured. Which two talents, one younger and one experienced, has excited so far?
It’ll not surprise you that the answer to this one is Granit Xhaka. Nordi Mukiele, Omar Alderete and Robin Roefs have been absolutely magnificent, top players and insanely good buys, but Xhaka just sets the tone. As football fans, you can see when a player has natural ability, top level experience and leadership in his veins – and he is everyone of them. We had a discussion over whether he was Sunderland’s greatest midfielder of our generation. The biggest compliment I can give him is that it was hard to argue against that notion.
Youngsters? We have lots. Last year our midfield has two teenagers in it for the duration (Chris Rigg 18, Jobe 19), and the likes of Trai Hume (22), Noah Sadiki (20), Roefs (22), Chemsdine Talbi (19), and Eliezer Mayenda (20) are all regulars. We’re a young squad, for sure. It’s hard to look beyond Riggy, though. He’s not featured too much this season, but he was a pivotal player last year. He only turned 18 in June, and has over 100 league appearances to his name already. Mature, talented, and a real on pitch leader. I’ll be shocked if he isn’t capped for England at some point.
Régis Le Bris had a fantastic start to his managerial campaign in England, guiding Sunderland back to the Premier League after an eight-year absence. What can you tell Wolves fans about him, and his time at Sunderland so far?
I’ve always felt that Sunderland adapt well to a certain personality in charge. Peter Reid, Sam Allardyce, Roy Keane, Mick McCarthy – they’ve all had success in charge of the club. So when we appointed this calm, extremely cool coach that had most of his experience with youth teams in France – I was a little bit apprehensive. But he’s been marvellous. In the North East, football is played and viewed in a goldfish bowl, and you have to be able to handle it. What he’s done that others haven’t is that he’s just remained cool throughout. He has this calming nature that makes an often frenzied fanbase go: ‘oh, okay, so just chill out, it’s all under control Regis, aye?’ – and it works. We lost all five of our games heading into the playoffs last season, and he more or less told us to chill out as he’d switched the team about in preparation for the bigger games because we’d sealed fourth place back in April. ‘We’re ready’ he kept saying – and by God, we were. Yeah, top man, top coach. Iconic.
What is your predicted lineup for Sunderland?
We have two big injury concerns over Omar Alderete and Noah Sadiki, and I have a feeling the latter might not make it. So, in a 4-2-3-1 formation: Robin Roefs, Trai Hume, Nordi Mukiele, Omar Alderete, Luke O’Nien, Granit Xhaka, Dan Neil, Enzo Le Fee, Chemsdine Talbi, Simon Adingra, Wilson Isidor.
And finally, what is your predicted scoreline for Saturday’s fixture?
Score draw. I’d rather we get back to winning ways, but neither side wants to lose this and I can see them both proper going for it. 2-2.
