Sunderland’s Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has made clear that the club had to put their best interests first when it came to dealing with Alex Pritchard and the player’s refusal to play for Sunderland until he was sold. Speakman talked of how a resolution was reached, before commenting on plans for the upcoming summer window. Daniel Wales reports.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 It has been an interesting couple of months on Weir's side. The sacking of previous head coach Tony Mowbray, the appointment of Michael Beale, the debacle surrounding the Black Cats bar in the run up to the first Weir-Tyne derby in nearly eight years, and then losing that game to Newcastle.
00:20 And then in the midst of that came the January transfer window in which Sunderland brought in three new players to bolster their ranks.
00:28 Also in January, Alex Pritchard's contract situation came to a head, with the player eventually refusing to play for the club and insisting he be sold immediately.
00:38 His wish was granted and he was moved on to Birmingham City where he will now play under former boss Tony Mowbray.
00:46 Sunderland's sporting director Christian Speakman addressed this issue in a recent press conference.
00:52 Look, I think I've said in these conversations before, like, these guys are not robots. You know, there's loads of things that affect them and they're just like you and I.
01:01 We've got home life, friends, family, thoughts, ambitions, etc, etc. So I think in the end, look, Alex has made probably an incorrect decision, which he probably, in reflection, probably maybe thinks he probably shouldn't have done.
01:14 And look, we all make mistakes in life. I mean, I think the first and foremost, Alex, we brought Alex in because we knew he could be a real complement to what we were trying to achieve.
01:23 And I think that was a justified decision. He's become a fan's favourite on the pitch, delivered on numerous occasions for our football club to get promoted.
01:30 So from that side of it, we were delighted. In the end, it was just a sensible conversation around what's the next best movement.
01:38 I think he's happy with the outcome. I wouldn't necessarily say we're happy with the outcome because we were sort of in a position where we had to make a decision.
01:45 We had to put the best interests of the club first. And I think like I said, we moved forward. We've got a really, really strong squad.
01:51 We've got other players in his position that are playing in front of him this year, and he's played in front of them at times. So that's how it is.
01:59 Following such a hectic period, Sunderland have the job on the pitch of challenging for the playoffs.
02:06 With that in mind, I wanted to know whether Speakman was already preparing for the summer window, regardless of where Sunderland would be playing.
02:16 Yeah, look, I think the thing about the way that we work is we're always progressing and moving the ball into the next window.
02:25 I think ultimately for us, with all due respect, the windows between the windows are the really important things for us, where we're coaching, educating, developing our players.
02:34 They're the biggest areas we can make an impact. I know a lot of energy gets drawn into the transfer window.
02:40 But for us, the games, players training, getting coached is where the magic happens, if you like, and where we think we can enhance players and progress the group.
02:48 But having a conversation with me and Stuart Harvey this morning, just on a real hot debrief on the window, and looking just about what we need to work on over the next couple of weeks,
02:57 then we'll pick up all that sort of review, play, audit process. And before you know it, we're back here again chatting about the summer, no doubt.
03:03 out.