Flying Kiwis – Sam Brotherton Signs For Sunderland
It’s a good day when you wake up to news that there’s another New Zealand footballer in the Premier League. It’s pretty rare that it happens but it did here, All White Sam Brotherton putting pen to paper on a two and a half year deal with the Black Cats.
To do that he’s had to forgo his final year of eligibility at his US college side for the University of Wisconsin, where he’s become one of the team’s top players. As the press releases all say, he was named the National Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Week back in October 2016. Dunno what that’s supposed to mean but he’s the first dude from his school to win the award. Eh, he can always go back and get his degree another time. This is a fantastic opportunity, gotta lap it up.
The main thing to say now is that he’ll be joining the U23 side to begin with. A 20 year old kiwi who is yet to play professionally does not walk into a Premier League side, not even one at the dead bottom of the table. Still, the under-23s are a fairly strong level of footy. Senior players returning from injury (or exiled from the top team) regularly make appearances there. Plus while Sunderland’s senior team is complete trash at the moment, their reserves (which is effectively what this is) are very decent. They’re sixth in the first division currently, which is ahead of the esteemed academies of Manchester United, Southampton and Tottenham. The other day they drew 0-0 with Liverpool U23s.
Another thing that’s gotta be said is that he won’t be the only kiwi at Sunderland either, as young goalie Michael Woud also plies a bit of trade there. Like Brotherton, Woud is a NZ youth international and after impressing enough in his first season on Wearside, he was offered a three year contract in July 2016. Woud is two years younger than Brotherton and has played more than a dozen times for the U18s this season, as well as featuring in the FA Youth Cup.
Also of note is that there are a couple Aussies at the club. Oliver Pain is one, a 19 year old goalie who’s been there about 18 months, and he’s just gone on loan for the rest of the season to Scottish side Motherwell. The other is centre-back Tom Beadling who is 21 and just signed a temporary deal with Bury. Interesting that those two players occupy the same positions as the two kiwis at the club and both of them have just left on loan, pushing the kiwis a spot up in the depth charts each.
Sunderland’s transfer business recently… well it ain’t been that great. Stuck in the relegation zone, more or less all of their rivals down there have used the January window to strengthen their squad. Sunderland themselves relied on some clever acquisitions in the 2015-16 season to help them survive, guys like Jan Kirchhoff, Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri. This season they grabbed a three-man haul consisting of Joleon Lescott, Bryan Oviedo and Darron Gibson. All players that manager David Moyes has worked with in the past, none of them likely to help a whole lot. Oh, and they sold Patrick Van Aanholt, one of their best performing dudes this season, to rivals Crystal Palace. Yeah… they’re probably getting relegated.
That might not be the worst thing for Brotherton though. Michael Woud has his path to the top firmly blocked by Jordan Pickford, the young Englishman who has emerged as one of the first names on the Sunderland team-sheet with some outstanding performances earlier in the season… right up until he got injured. There’s every chance that a bigger team prises Pickford away with a large cheque but for now he’s clearly the number one and fares to hold that spot for the next decade. Anyway, Woud is really young and despite some positive words from inside the club, he’s a long way from the top. He’s probably still a couple years from getting a decent loan out, even.
Not so much for Brotherton, who was arguably NZ’s finest performer at the FIFA U20 World Cup in 2015 and has already played six games for the senior team having debuted in a 1-0 win against Oman, also in 2015. He’s a tall guy, pretty well built, and physically not that far away from being ready for senior football. Having been in the college system the last couple years, the U23s will be a step up for him but given the dramas in the first team at Sunderland it’s not inconceivable to think he might sneak onto the bench a time or two. A shame that Sunders aren’t in any cup competitions anymore.
With 42 goals conceded in 23 games, only Hull and Swansea have worse defences this season… and both of those have at least tried to improve their back units – and recent results suggest it’s working too. Plus both are working with new managers who seem to be helping things, a category you can probably chuck Crystal Palace in as well.
There are some quality defenders in this Sunderland side. Only a couple of them, but still. Lamine Kone, when he’s bothered, looks a superb player while Jason Denayer is a youngster with huge potential – good on the ball and strong in the challenge. John O’Shea is a proper veteran, Joleon Lescott has been signed to offer the same qualities. Also Jan Kirchhoff can do more than a job there when required, though has had most of his Premier League success in central midfield. As far as fullbacks go, it’s not very pretty… but Sam Brotherton’s not a fullback so whatever.
Point being that Brotherton has signed a contract that takes him through to the end of the 2018-19 season. His is not an investment for the short term, he’s been brought in with the hope that he might come through a year or two down the line. If/when they get relegated, Kone is likely to leave. He’s been rumoured away all season and dropping down to the Championship should be the last straw for him., especially when he’s one of the guys here who can demand a decent price and relegation… well, it’s very expensive. Who else was there, John O’Shea and Joleon Lescott? Yeah, they’re 35 and 34 years old respectively. As for Jason Denayer, he’s on loan from Manchester City. There’s close to a 0% chance he’s at Sunderland next season, regardless.
Winston Reid signed for West Ham in 2010. He made his debut at right back against Aston Villa and couldn’t have played much worse, West Ham losing 3-0. He’d play 12 times that season in all competitions and the Hammers were relegated finishing 20th on the table. The next season he forced his way into the first team and he’s been there ever since (excepting for his many, many injuries). In a lot of ways, getting relegated was possibly the best thing that happened at that stage of Winston’s career as it gave him an opportunity. There’s a chance that the same thing could be true for Sam Brotherton. Fingers crossed, anyway.