Tommy Watson ( ...off to Brighton)

[Happy_Layabout]

I don't think its necessarily being bothered. Its more a discussion about how best careers can be developed and, with Watson, maybe the influence of agents. There has been a long list of young talent which has left Sunderland (either because they had ambition beyond Sunderland or because they were touted by Stewart Donald). Not one of them has gone on to develop great careers to date and they are all around 20/21/22 where they really should be playing regualr first team football. Greenwood, who is well paid no doubt, is not wanted by Leeds, Boro or Preston and at 23 has seen his career on a downward trajectory. Hugill is 21 and couldn't get in the Carlisle team. Turner-Cooke will no doubt be cast off by Newcastle this summer and so on. McConnell at Liverpool is the only one where you could say the move looks a good one in terms of career development but he's 20 and only played a 3 or 4 first team games this season. Yes, these lads have made some money but some are in danger of drifting out the game. Whereas Sunderland with the likes of Rigg, Jobe and Watson and others are as good a club as there is to develop your career. I think the ages from 17 - 21 are key for development and a few of the lads who have left have wasted those years. Obviously there would be no guarantees but people like Hugill and Turner-Cooke are great examples of players who don't look like reaching anywhere near their potential.

I think this is the point.

Careers can stall. Been suggested in various quarters that he gets £1M signing on then maybe 15K pw on the 4 year contract. That's £4M guaranteed irrespective of form, development or injury.

At the same age Embo had 40+ appearances at England U17, 18, 19 and 20 (Tommy has 7) and now cant get a start for a relegated L2 team.

IMHO taking the money now rather than gambling on career development with potential big money in the future is a reasonable bet.

 

[Geppetto]

He'll score the winning goal in the final and celebrate flapping his wings like an alpha seagull.

 

[Lucky1985]

Some people just not getting how young he is

Listen I understand players move on and the world moves on, I just don’t get why he was so desperate to leave before the end of this season,

Nobody in the country id argue gives more starts to kids than Sunderland

Have I missed this? Has he left us now? I thought he was in the bench on Friday?

 

[Chewit]

I think this is the point.

Careers can stall. Been suggested in various quarters that he gets £1M signing on then maybe 15K pw on the 4 year contract. That's £4M guaranteed irrespective of form, development or injury.

At the same age Embo had 40+ appearances at England U17, 18, 19 and 20 (Tommy has 7) and now cant get a start for a relegated L2 team.

IMHO taking the money now rather than gambling on career development with potential big money in the future is a reasonable bet.

Particularly when you are trying to secure your daughters future, this transfer has nothing to do with his football career for sure

 

[BarrySheensAutograph]

Is this Macca fella a reliable source or just another one of these twittee accounts posting shite for engagement

 

[Mboma]

It's alright saying they expect him to be part of their first team, but the fact is they've yet to see how he does in training, and how he copes on a personal level moving down to the other end of the country for the first time in his life. There's a lot of variables on top of the main one of which, he just might not be able to make the step up under such pressure.

He'll have the pre-season to impress, but so will the other lads in the squad, as well as other likely new signings.

 

[brains]

Some people just not getting how young he is

Listen I understand players move on and the world moves on, I just don’t get why he was so desperate to leave before the end of this season,

Nobody in the country id argue gives more starts to kids than Sunderland

As an above poster pointed out. A life changing contract that a footballer simply can't turn down. There should be no animosity between our club / fans and Watson.

Particularly when you are trying to secure your daughters future, this transfer has nothing to do with his football career for sure

Are we really expecting a player to stay and accept for arguments sake £3k per week as oppose to a £20k per week one? We need to stop looking for excuses for the transfer or to shoot down his agent / attacks on the lad's personal life.

Brighton obviously rate him better than our staff do and are willing to give him a contract to set him up for life. There should be zero surprises as to why the transfer has gone through.

The transfer happened in January because we wouldn't have matched it regardless of division. And Brighton wanted to tie him down incase he had a storming end to the season and his stock went up. Believe it or not there has been contact from other clubs as well.

 

[Vauxie]

Whee gives a f..k man we got a game the neet and win this and win the next then we are in the prem with his 11mill in the pot.
Hope he plays for us and helps get us there like.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I don't think its necessarily being bothered. Its more a discussion about how best careers can be developed and, with Watson, maybe the influence of agents. There has been a long list of young talent which has left Sunderland (either because they had ambition beyond Sunderland or because they were touted by Stewart Donald). Not one of them has gone on to develop great careers to date and they are all around 20/21/22 where they really should be playing regualr first team football. Greenwood, who is well paid no doubt, is not wanted by Leeds, Boro or Preston and at 23 has seen his career on a downward trajectory. Hugill is 21 and couldn't get in the Carlisle team. Turner-Cooke will no doubt be cast off by Newcastle this summer and so on. McConnell at Liverpool is the only one where you could say the move looks a good one in terms of career development but he's 20 and only played a 3 or 4 first team games this season. Yes, these lads have made some money but some are in danger of drifting out the game. Whereas Sunderland with the likes of Rigg, Jobe and Watson and others are as good a club as there is to develop your career. I think the ages from 17 - 21 are key for development and a few of the lads who have left have wasted those years. Obviously there would be no guarantees but people like Hugill and Turner-Cooke are great examples of players who don't look like reaching anywhere near their potential.

I think you've made some good points there - I forgot all about Hugill . Definite argument for young players putting opportunity over financials but don't think it's a worry for the fans when the agreed business brings in a good wedge to the club outside of asset stripping activities of the Donald era.

 

[10 Gary Rowells]

Playing devils advocate, but look at Embleton and Denver Hume. Both players who broke into the first team, then got injured and never made anything of themselves. Now languishing in lower leagues on presumably shite wages.

In football, sometimes it’s better to take the larger contract when it’s on offer as your career could end tomorrow.

You are correct but Sunderland seems to be the club to develop your career at the moment. And Watson appears to have been itching for a move since his first offer as a pro.

 

[Lucky1985]

You are correct but Sunderland seems to be the club to develop your career at the moment. And Watson appears to have been itching for a move since his first offer as a pro.

None of us know what was offered by us and Brighton though. If the contract offers were the same from both clubs, then he’s a Judas twat and can fuck off. I suspect Brighton offered a reasonable amount more money than we did though, as we have form recently for being relatively hard lined with contract renewals these days.

 

[brains]

You are correct but Sunderland seems to be the club to develop your career at the moment. And Watson appears to have been itching for a move since his first offer as a pro.

Or itching to secure himself financially for life, which we weren't prepared to do yet...You have to consider all sides of a story at all times. Worst case scenario a pro-footballer could be 1 injury away from the end of his career. There are all sorts of other variables, he might show promise young and never develop into a better player. I don't think some people realise some of the sacrifices that youngsters and their families make when they realise that they might make it as a footballer at such a young age. A lot of the time, education takes a back seat and parents invest time, money etc following the kids all over the country. The ultimate aim will always be to "make it" as a professional. In the current economic climate, financial security is vital. So I can never blame any player who is chomping at the bit to get that first big, life changing contract. Up until that point there would always be a lot of uncertainty and 'what ifs".

 

[MustardAndOnions]

Have I missed this? Has he left us now? I thought he was in the bench on Friday?

eh?

As an above poster pointed out. A life changing contract that a footballer simply can't turn down. There should be no animosity between our club / fans and Watson.


Are we really expecting a player to stay and accept for arguments sake £3k per week as oppose to a £20k per week one? We need to stop looking for excuses for the transfer or to shoot down his agent / attacks on the lad's personal life.

Brighton obviously rate him better than our staff do and are willing to give him a contract to set him up for life. There should be zero surprises as to why the transfer has gone through.

The transfer happened in January because we wouldn't have matched it regardless of division. And Brighton wanted to tie him down incase he had a storming end to the season and his stock went up. Believe it or not there has been contact from other clubs as well.

Who is to say he wouldnt get that if we went up?

 

[Billy Batts]

Some people just not getting how young he is

Listen I understand players move on and the world moves on, I just don’t get why he was so desperate to leave before the end of this season,

Nobody in the country id argue gives more starts to kids than Sunderland

Money id imagine. Plus other benefits etc.

 

[HeroHurley]

I don't think its necessarily being bothered. Its more a discussion about how best careers can be developed and, with Watson, maybe the influence of agents. There has been a long list of young talent which has left Sunderland (either because they had ambition beyond Sunderland or because they were touted by Stewart Donald). Not one of them has gone on to develop great careers to date and they are all around 20/21/22 where they really should be playing regualr first team football. Greenwood, who is well paid no doubt, is not wanted by Leeds, Boro or Preston and at 23 has seen his career on a downward trajectory. Hugill is 21 and couldn't get in the Carlisle team. Turner-Cooke will no doubt be cast off by Newcastle this summer and so on. McConnell at Liverpool is the only one where you could say the move looks a good one in terms of career development but he's 20 and only played a 3 or 4 first team games this season. Yes, these lads have made some money but some are in danger of drifting out the game. Whereas Sunderland with the likes of Rigg, Jobe and Watson and others are as good a club as there is to develop your career. I think the ages from 17 - 21 are key for development and a few of the lads who have left have wasted those years. Obviously there would be no guarantees but people like Hugill and Turner-Cooke are great examples of players who don't look like reaching anywhere near their potential.

McConnell will probably have the best career of the lot along with Rigg and Jobe. He's very highly rated at Liverpool and has struggled with injuries this season hence the depleted game time.

 

[Lucky1985]

eh?

He’s still here. He hasn’t “left before the end of the season”

 

[woodlebert]

I can't focus on this today, sorry

 

[Roker Mackem]

Is this Macca fella a reliable source or just another one of these twittee accounts posting shite for engagement

Painful page that like

 

[Nathan Gunn]

I don't think it’s necessarily being bothered. It’s more a discussion about how best careers can be developed and, with Watson, maybe the influence of agents. There has been a long list of young talent which has left Sunderland (either because they had ambition beyond Sunderland or because they were touted by Stewart Donald). Not one of them has gone on to develop great careers to date and they are all around 20/21/22 where they really should be playing regualr first team football. Greenwood, who is well paid no doubt, is not wanted by Leeds, Boro or Preston and at 23 has seen his career on a downward trajectory. Hugill is 21 and couldn't get in the Carlisle team. Turner-Cooke will no doubt be cast off by Newcastle this summer and so on. McConnell at Liverpool is the only one where you could say the move looks a good one in terms of career development but he's 20 and only played a 3 or 4 first team games this season. Yes, these lads have made some money but some are in danger of drifting out the game. Whereas Sunderland with the likes of Rigg, Jobe and Watson and others are as good a club as there is to develop your career. I think the ages from 17 - 21 are key for development and a few of the lads who have left have wasted those years. Obviously there would be no guarantees but people like Hugill and Turner-Cooke are great examples of players who don't look like reaching anywhere near their potential.

You’ve also got Dan Neil who reportedly turned down a number of opportunities to move on to bigger clubs when he was 16/17. Instead he’s chose to spend those key years at Sunderland breaking through to the first team.

He’s now 23 with nearly 200 career appearances, mostly at championship level and being looked at by premier league sides. Whether you think he’s up to that level or not is irrelevant. It’s more the fact that he’s chose to keep his progress at Sunderland going in the right direction instead of jumping for early money. Neil and greenwood were in the same age group I think and greenwood was seen as one of the better players. Jumping early isn’t always the right move

 

[Forty]

You really have to wonder what they are basing their conclusions on

Don't get me wrong he's clearly talented, but unless they have access to our training data, or someone feeding them insights, all they have to go off is u21 games, where's he's looked very good (though so did Bennette) admittedly and then a handful of senior appearances where's he's shown flashes of quality but otherwise demonstrated he's not quite there yet to be number 1 choice for s top level championship team.
I have no hard feeling sand wish him luck, but if he gets there and he's not what they expect out of the gate he's be straight into the u21s and then looking for loans in January to the championship.

I get the vibes of Jack Clarke's transfer to Tottenham. Obvious talent but bought too early when the club didn't really know what to do with him. Which set back his career by about two years really, until he dropped down to league one with us. I do think Brighton are run better than Tottenham were tbh in this regard.

Clarkes career is on the backfoot again after his move to Ipswich.