Sunderland ended their 2023/24 season with a rather predictable 2-0 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday.
Danny Rohl showed Sunderland exactly what they’re missing on Saturday, guiding his Sheffield Wednesday side to victory and to Championship safety.
It’s a miraculous turnaround with the Owls finishing just three points behind Sunderland in the final standings.
Mike Dodds oversees a 16th place finish in the end.
The Black Cats go into the summer without a manager, a depleted and out of form first-team squad, with certain names nailed on to leave, and just two wins from their last 15 games.
Names like Jack Clarke and maybe Anthony Patterson look as though they’ll be on the move this summer.
But then some fringe names could be offloaded by Kristjaan Speakman to make way for another wave of youngsters.
One such player could be Patrick Roberts.
Patrick Roberts rated 4/10 vs Sheffield Wednesday
Roberts, 27, has been a huge talking point this season, as he’s been a huge disappointment for Sunderland in the Championship.
He remains a well-liked name among fans but his performances this time round have experienced a sharp drop-off from last season’s.
Last time round he scored five and assisted seven more in the Championship, though he’s not scored in 32 Championship outings for the Black Cats in 2023/24, claiming just two assists.
He was handed a staring spot for the game vs Sheffield Wednesday but was brought off at half-time.
Sunderland Echo rated his performance 4/10, with Phil Smith adding:
“Missed a big chance to halve the deficit when he blazed over from [Aji] Alese’s cross from a matter of yards out. Still a long way short of his sharpest and was replaced at the break, though you could argue that he was a little unfortunate on that front given some of the other performances on the pitch.”
The sad reality for Patrick Roberts at Sunderland
Roberts has been a great servant for Sunderland.
Barring the season just concluded, he’s been a real asset for the club, scoring some important goals during his time.
But the fact of the matter is that Roberts has been very poor of late.
And at 27 years old, he’s certainly pushing out of the age range of players that Speakman and Sunderland want.
Dodds himself has said that Sunderland need Championship-experienced players in their ranks and Roberts is just that.
Though it’s debatable whether or not they keep him around purely for his experience, after such a poor season in terms of his individual performances.
It’s a difficult one to weigh up.
But given the facts, and with his contract out in 2026, Speakman and Sunderland might fancy cashing in on Roberts now, clearing some space in the wage bill, and replacing him with some younger.
If he leaves though, Roberts will certainly leave with the well wishes of Sunderland fans.