The rumour mill has stepped up dramatically in the last 24 hours with suggestions that Ross Stewart will leave the club before the end of the week. And, as is often the case in football, after the initial feelings of disaster and ruin, we ask the key question… am I bovvered? And, depending on what we get for him and depending who we sign instead, I think the answer is, no. Not especially.
Sunderland and Stewart’s agent have been negotiating a new contract for about 4000 years. Other first teamers, actually let me change that, other first teamers who are attractive to other clubs, have signed contract extensions in that time so it’s not a simple ‘we’re being too mean’ situation or no one would be signing. The evidence suggests that Stewart is planning to run down his contract and get a bumper pay day in a year. A fee now rather than nothing at the end of the season is the better financial option for the club.
But is it the best option on the field? Well, sure, if he returns to his pre-injury form of a goal in every 1.3 championship games, we’d probably be better off keeping him and letting him leave on a free.
But who says he’ll return as he was? In an age of medical miracles, the Achilles tendon is still one of the great weakness of modern sports physiology – the Achilles heel I guess. He could have a permanent weakness, he could be a yard slower, he could be less flexible. We just don’t know. The club has to put a value on that uncertainty – the player valuation equivalent of cashing out early.
It’s worth noting that, in the last four years, Stewart has been out injured for over 365 days. As he ages that is unlikely to improve. Especially as those injuries were all connective tissue related.
When he’s fit and running on all cylinders, he’s a class act but in ten years of professional football he’s got past 25 games in a season on one occasion. That has to be factored in to what he’s worth to us.
For clarity, I hope he stays. I hope his agent stops being a dick and they sign on the dotted line. But if he chooses to go I’ll lose no sleep as long as… and here’s the big problem…
We use the money we get for him to replace him and extend the offering in the squad. We’ve signed two strikers this summer who, evidence suggests, will be great in a couple of years. But we need two strikers now who are ready to go. Not necessarily the 27 year old we’d be selling but certainly players with some experience. Rusyn seems to be one, perhaps an on loan striker is the other? Perhaps the extra wide players we’re being linked with help us out in there? But, with two days to go, if Stewart goes and two players come in – fine by me.
Finally, while many will say the two aren’t linked, Stewart is, at 27 one of the more experienced members of the squad. I think if he does go this week, it’s essential that Pritchard doesn’t. Not in terms of positional play or the obvious height Pritch brings but rather in terms of a mature head who will attempt to hold up play and bring others in. I can’t see any version of events where we replace that amount of experience in the next 48 hours.
