ISIDOR MAKES MARK

Going into the World Cup with so many players, it was only natural to expect one of the Lads to leave their mark on the tournament. Yes, Granit Xhaka has scored already but Wilson Isidor’s thunder strike last night for Haiti felt like the first real moment from a Mackem at the World Cup.

It has been a frustrating season for the striker, starting the season looking like he was going to be our main man up top, bagging four in the first nine games. However, the arrival of Brian Brobbey was never with the intention of having him as a back-up and once the goals dried up for Isidor, the Dutchman capitalised. Isidor in fact has not started in the league since a 3-0 defeat to Man City at the Etihad in December. Even when Brobbey suffered an injury in February, Eliezer Mayenda jumped up the pecking order playing ahead of him.

Isidor certainly had a hard time adapting to the way we played at times, with hold up play far from his strong point and it was very rare that his runs in behind were utilised. Many had already made there mind up that this season would almost certainly be his last at the club, but then came Villa away. He grabbed the equaliser in our rapid turnaround which in very typical Sunderland fashion meant nothing after conceding a late winner anyway. However, it showed that Isidor still had something to offer at this level and it saw a run of promising substitute appearances.

Scoring an important goal away at Everton as well as a good bit of trickery causing Wesley Fofana to be sent off on the final day in the game that helped us secure Europa League football.

It was clear Wilson felt he had a point to prove, and he has done so in the biggest tournament in football with Haiti last night. Sunderland fans already know Isidor is not one for tap ins with a rather brilliant catalogue of goals in Red and White already, but in a game that meant very little yesterday, Isidor showed the world what he is capable of. Rifling one in from the edge of the area as if he had a foot like a traction engine putting it about as top corner as you can get. While everybody was watching the Brazilians dint the Tarton Army’s chances of progression, Wilson made those Mackems who chose to tune in to watch him and possibly Talbi, very happy with their decision.

With Haiti now out, Isidor can enjoy his summer but the question is where will he be come the end of it? With what is undoubtably going to be a busy season on Wearside, with a lot of games to manage, surely we would be silly to let him go?

The way we played in the run-in suited Isidor much more than the largely hold up play reliant stuff that was asked of him earlier in the campaign and it is likely this is the way we want to play going forward.

Brobbey is always going to be first choice should he remain in the North East come the closure of the window in September. I do believe though that you need different types of strikers for different games and with a European campaign coming up I genuinely do believe Isidor could still play a massive part for us.

Yes, he can be frustrating but he can also produce moments like he did yesterday and for me those sorts of players are not easy to find. On the other hand, Wilson might not want to play second fiddle.

As a big fan of the Haiti international, I would love nothing more than to see him continue at the Stadium of Light and I do believe having Brobbey and Isidor is already two solid options going into next season. With Mayenda already likely on his way out it makes Wilson’s future slightly more promising but it all depends what the club have planned.

In a World Cup that has seen the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland flourish, it was certainly nice to see one of our Lads making the headlines and who knows, possibly winning himself the goal of the tournament, we will see.