Born on this day is a man who was signed in the Premier League but still looked out of his depth in League One, Donald Love.
Love was signed by David Moyes from his former club United, where incidentally he made his debut against us. He arrived in a joint deal with Paddy McNair, with the pair costing £5.5 million combined. No doubt the majority of that price was Paddy rather than Donald.
In his first season at the club, competing with Billy Jones and Manquillo at right back, Love made 12 appearances. Probably 12 too many. Despite his best efforts, he just couldn’t contain the top-class wingers he was facing week-in week-out.
When we were relegated, and Jones and Manquillo were both shipped out, Love was expected to be a regular. Surely a Manchester United academy graduate with some Premier League experience would be a solid player in the Championship. But sadly for Donald Alistair Love, he continued to struggle. His effort couldn’t be doubted. But he didn’t have any positional sense, and one good piece of defending would soon be cancelled out by a lapse in concentration at a crucial moment.
He did start the first four games in League One, but an ankle injury sidelined Love for the rest of the season. We lost in the play-offs and with the club looking to cut costs where possible, Love did the amicable thing and agreed to mutually cancel his contract in 2019.
Since leaving Sunderland he’s played at Shrewsbury, Salford and now Morecambe. He seems to be thriving at smaller clubs with less pressure, where he’ll have more time on the ball to think about what he’s going to do next.
Despite failing on Wearside, Donald Love seems to be a nice guy and he became a bit of a cult hero at SAFC, always putting in a shift even when the gulf in quality was there for all to see. After all, all you need is Love...
