One Sunderland star has seen a huge ‘drop off’ since he signed a new contract in the summer.
There has been very few Sunderland players that can end this season feeling like they have performed well.
The Black Cats have lost a whopping 19 of their 41 games in the Championship this term – almost half of their fixtures so far.
Mike Dodds‘ side have won just one of their previous 10 outings and have struggled to maintain a regular starting line-up due to the players’ poor form.
Jobe Bellingham is the only summer signing who can be argued as a success, while the likes of Pierre Ekwah and Anthony Patterson have come under occasional criticism.
Jack Clarke’s impending summer exit makes things dramatically worse for Sunderland too, while a number of their key players have also been linked with moves away.
The Wearside outfit did make sure to tie down some of their biggest stars to new contracts over the last year, with Anthony Patterson, Dennis Cirkin, Dan Ballard, Luke O’Nien, Trai Hume, Aji Alese, Patrick Roberts and Dan Neil all putting pen to paper since last March.
While a majority of those players have remained important to the club this season (bar injuries), one man who appears to have gone downhill since committing his future is Patrick Roberts.
The ‘signs of discontent’ from last summer are still ‘obvious’
The winger’s future looked in doubt last summer when Sunderland Nation reported that the club had delayed contract talks due to ‘signs of discontent’.
Roberts did go on to sign a new deal, but has since looked a shadow of his former self, failing to score a goal in almost a year.
Journalist Michael Graham has now addressed the ongoing problem with Roberts, claiming it’s ‘obvious he’s not been right’ since last summer.
Writing on X, Graham said: “I reported last summer that #SAFC had seen a drop off from Pat Roberts and he maybe wasn’t quite at it mentally. Got butchered at the time and I get it because I was a lone voice with unpopular news. Nearly a full season later, though, it’s obvious he’s not been right at all.”
A huge ‘drop off’ from the ‘best footballer in the Championship’
Patrick Roberts was labelled the best footballer in the Championship by Tony Mowbray last season, having bagged five goals and seven assists.
The 27-year-old formed an exceptional partnership with Amad Diallo and was undeniably one of our best players following our promotion.
His poor form since would suggest perhaps he wasn’t happy at the Stadium of Light, but it was him that chose to sign a new contract only nine months ago.
Roberts’ talent is undeniable and that’s what makes his recent form so frustrating.
If we were to sell a player of his quality (probably at a bargain price) then he could well go onto become the Championship’s best player again – just at a different club.
Perhaps this has something to do with why he constantly changes clubs and rarely ever stays at one for longer than a season.
Given the joy he has brought us since moving to Wearside, I certainly don’t think we can give up on him yet.
Just like the rest of the squad, if he can get a decent pre-season under his belt then hopefully he can get back to his best.