The overwhelming January transfer message for Kristjaan Speakman – according to Sunderland fans.
Sunderland supporters have delivered an overwhelming verdict on the Black Cats’ ongoing striker situation, urging the club to go out and buy a new centre forward in the January transfer window.
After a summer of speculation, Regis Le Bris heads into the first half of the campaign with Eliezer Mayenda, Wilson Isidor, Nazariy Rusyn, and Ahmed Abdullahi as his senior options at the point of attack. Mayenda has started the season in fine form, registering two goals and two assists across five Championship outings, while Isidor is being slowly introduced into the first team picture, and has made two subsitute appearances thus far.
For his part, Rusyn has played a total of 43 minutes in the league this term, but appears to have slipped down the pecking order since Isidor’s arrival, while Abdullahi is expected to be sidelined for a lengthy stint due to a persistent groin issue which requires surgery.
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It is within this context that the Echo asked readers how they felt about the club’s current centre forward options. In a poll this week, we asked, “Should Sunderland sign another striker in January?”, with the responses being “Yes, Sunderland need more firepower” or “No, the current strikers need more time”. And after days of voting, fans have delivered a clear verdict on the matter, with some 79% stating that they would like to see the Black Cats bring in attacking reinforcements in the winter window, compared to just 21% who are satisfied with Regis Le Bris’ current cohort.
The Sunderland head coach has also spoken out on the striker debate in recent days, emphasising the need for his team to score goals from all over the pitch. He said: “I want to say as well that the striker is not the only player on the pitch who has the responsibility to score. In many teams, the striker could be the only one, but I think in our squad, we need to create the danger from many sides – with the striker, with the wingers, with the offensive midfielders, with the set-pieces as well. When the responsibility is shared it is always more dangerous, and I think for the confidence of the striker, when he doesn’t score for maybe two or three games, it is not a problem, because we have other players with the ability to score.”
