MurtyexplainsCatsroleworking with Dodds amid staff changes
Sunderland’s Under-21s boss Graeme Murty says it’s been really enjoyable working with the first-team staff while looking to improve links between the two groups.
Murty has been supporting Sunderland’s first-team coaching staff since Mike Dodd took charge of the Black Cats in February, while still overseeing the Under-21s set-up. “It’s really enjoyable because I get to see the 21s, I get to see the first team, I see what the link is, the commonalities,” said Murty.
“I see a lot of similarities in things where we need to get better. We need to get smoother as a group to move up the line.
“The first-team staff have been incredibly welcoming, making sure I know everything that’s going on. The first-team players are really good to work with, really positive, they work hard every day. For me to see them working like that and to hopefully help them a little bit, it’s been really positive for me.
“I can take some of the actions that I’m learning there and apply it further down with the younger ones. What has been really positive is the young ones have been getting on the first-team path fairly regularly. You see there’s some of them on the bench as well.
“We need to be really consistent in our standards and make sure we are pushing to get better every single day.”
On his first-team role specifically, Murty added: “My role is to support. All I’m trying to do is make sure I add value where I’m asked. My job is to go and support the guys that are in there. The guys that are in there have their ideas about how we are going to play and what we’re going to do moving forward and I’m just there to add value.”