Sunderland: Imagine McGeady with Mowbray

Sunderland had been compelled right into a change of supervisor earlier this season after Scottish head coach Alex Neil opted to go away the membership to signal for Championship rivals Stoke Metropolis on the finish of August.

This left Kristjaan Speakman scrambling round to discover a substitute for him and he swooped to snap up the skilled Tony Mowbray, after he left Blackburn Rovers on the finish of the 2021/22 marketing campaign.

The 58-year-old arrived on Wearside on the tail finish of the switch window and this meant that he was unable to have a significant say in how the squad was formed in the summertime.

Sunderland allowed a variety of gamers to go away the membership forward of 2022/23 and one of many faces they launched was 36-year-old Irishman Aiden McGeady, who was signed by Simon Grayson again in 2017.

The winger’s time in England got here to an finish as he moved to Hibernian however think about what he may have achieved beneath the ex-Rovers coach if he had performed for him within the pomp of his Black Cats profession.

Would McGeady thrive in a Mowbray workforce?

Mowbray’s favoured formation is an attacking 4-3-3, in line with Transfermarkt, however the supervisor has used a 3-4-2-1, a 3-5-2, and a 4-4-2 set-up in his time on the Stadium of Gentle thus far.

McGeady can be best in a large or attacking midfield place in a 4-3-3, 3-4-2-1, or a 4-4-2 as that’s the place he has played for almost all of his profession.

Journalist Josh Bunting described him as “pure magic” and claimed that he has the standard to be a “match-winner” on his day, which is backed up by his statistics with the Black Cats.

In 92 League One appearances for the membership, the Irishman racked up 22 targets and 25 assists from out vast – a direct purpose contribution each 1.96 matches on common.

Sadly, the attacker solely performed within the Championship for one season throughout his spell on Wearside and he racked up seven targets and 5 assists in 35 outings, creating 11 ‘huge possibilities’ for his teammates and making 1.6 key passes per match in 2017/18.

In his final two third-tier campaigns with Sunderland, McGeady created 2.4 possibilities or extra per recreation and this reveals that he had the standard to frequently ship alternatives for his teammates to attain.

Ben Brereton Diaz is one participant who benefited from Mowbray’s teaching as he plundered 22 targets and arrange three in 34 begins for Blackburn final season, which means that the supervisor can get the perfect out of his attacking gamers.

Now, think about him taking part in in one of many ex-Rovers boss’ attack-minded formations within the Championship while he was within the prime of his Black Cats profession.

He would have thrived beneath Mowbray and made a big impact within the ultimate third at that degree together with his potential to attain and help targets. Sadly, he needed to play in League One as an alternative, because the membership spent 4 years beneath the second tier.