Mike Dodds must ditch one ‘frustrating’ player from his Sunderland squad for the rest of the season.
Sunderland have only three matches left of what has been an exhausting season for supporters.
The Black Cats have been through two permanent managers, while Mike Dodds has also taken charge for two different spells.
They have gone from fighting for the play-offs to settling for mid-table, Alex Pritchard demanded to leave, Jack Clarke got injured, and they got thrashed by the likes of Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Coventry.
While there is huge frustration that they were able to push for promotion, there has been less pressure on the players in recent weeks and performances have started to turn.
With now nothing to play for, we have seen the likes of Chris Rigg and Timothee Pembele given starts, while there has been plenty of fans urging Dodds to give Tom Watson a chance too.
Why is Mason Burstow still in the squad?
Watson isn’t the only academy player that is deserving of some minutes too, with both Harrison Jones and Oli Bainbridge surely on the fringes of the first team.
The trio haven’t even been named as substitutes though, remaining in the U21s as the likes of Mason Burstow, Bradley Dack and Luis Hemir Semedo take their places on the bench.
The latter two are understandable as they are our players, but it is baffling that Burstow remains in the squad given that he will return from his loan spell to Chelsea in just a few weeks time.
The striker was an exciting signing back in the summer but has been very ‘frustrating’ and underwhelming since, scoring once and making only four starts this year.
Burstow has been an unused substitute in four of our last five games, meaning he has simply wasted a space that could have been given to one of our academy players.
The 20-year-old isn’t going to make a positive impact from the bench and we certainly don’t need to help develop him when he isn’t ours, so why are we continuing to include him in the squad?
Who should replace the Chelsea loanee?
Dodds needs to drop Burstow for good now and bring in Tom Watson, because he is really impressing with the U21s and should be rewarded for that before the end of term.
Watson has already attracted interest from some top clubs, so if we can make him realise that he has a chance at picking up first team football like Chris Rigg, then he could be tempted to stay.
Meanwhile, Burstow can return to Stamford Bridge and have a crack on loan somewhere else, because unfortunately it hasn’t worked out for him here.