Jack Clarke showed Sunderland exactly what they had been missing when he returned against Bristol City.
Sunderland’s year got dramatically worse when it was confirmed that Jack Clarke was set for a spell on the sidelines, leaving the team without their top scorer for six matches.
The winger has netted 15 goals in the Championship this term – almost 30% of Sunderland‘s goal tally for the entire campaign.
Fans expected Clarke’s absence to leave a gaping hole in their attack and they weren’t wrong. The Black Cats scored only five goals while he was out injured – winning once.
After making a brief and unexpected cameo against Blackburn Rovers, Clarke made his long-awaited return to the starting line-up yesterday.
While he failed to find the back of the net and Mike Dodds‘ side were forced to settle for a point, Clarke’s speed, flair and goalscoring prowess made all the difference.
A dominating performance from Jack Clarke
Sunderland managed 20 shots in total and created a host of chances that they probably should have put away.
Clarke was at the centre of everything happening in the final third – making 57 touches, six key passes, six shots and six successful dribbles.
The‘super’ 23-year-old was taking on defenders, pulling off his trademark ‘cut inside and curl it’, picking out passes and just generally making life difficult for the Robins.
His ability has been something we have really struggled without and his return to the side just shows exactly how important he is to us.
His immediate impact shows promise for the remainder of the campaign, but is a huge concern for the next one.
Clarke will undoubtedly, and deservedly, leave the Stadium of Light for the Premier League this summer and Kristjaan Speakman will be tasked with finding a capable replacement.
Can Sunderland find a decent replacement?
I think it’s fair to say that not many fans have much trust in Speakman to find Clarke’s replacement, but his importance to us may make it impossible anyway.
There are probably a number of very talented wingers that would cost around £20 million, but picking one up of Clarke’s quality that would also be willing to join Sunderland seems very unlikely.
The former Tottenham Hotspur man was far from the quality he is now when we bought him, and if we wanted a player like him now then we would have absolutely no chance.
We have been extremely lucky to have Clarke at Sunderland this season and we probably have to accept that his replacement probably won’t fill his boots. But that isn’t to say they won’t eventually, if he can grow and develop into a much better player, just like Clarke did.
But what we definitely don’t want is to sign another 18-year-old from France who has played four games of senior football and has never scored outside of the U23s.
Do your job properly this time, Speakman.