Cattermole was taught the best lesson by Poyet
GUS Poyet has described Lee Cattermole as ‘the best’ player he worked with during his time in charge of Sunderland.
However, the former Middlesbrough midfielder had to learn a valuable lesson early into Poyet’s reign.
Poyet took over from Paolo Di Canio midway through the 2013/14 season and inherited a Sunderland side bottom of the league and a squad left disillusioned by Di Canio’s methods.
The former Chelsea midfielder managed to galvanise the squad to secure Premier League survival against the odds, as well as reaching the League Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.
The performances of Cattermole were integral to Poyet’s success but it was the display of Liam Bridcutt in the 3-0 derby win at Newcastle which helped transform the 32-year-old’s fortunes.
Bridcutt’s spell at Sunderland can be filed as ‘underwhelming’ but his debut in the win over Sunderland’s fierce rivals was undoubtedly the highlight of his Black Cats career.
Poyet has revealed Cattermole used it as a template to improve his performances.
He said: “That was a point for Lee to be better and I will tell you why.
“Liam Bridcutt was my main central midfielder at Brighton and he knew the role better than anyone.
“Even if in terms of the standards we didn’t know if Liam could be able to play in the Premier League week in, week out, we knew he knew the role better than anyone.
“So bringing him into the club, and playing him in such an important game and doing what he did on that day by putting everybody in place made Lee see it with us on the bench. What I mean is he could see directly the team he was playing with week in, week out and seeing that performance of Bridcutt was like saying to him: ‘I can do that.’ It was something which was missing from his game.”
Cattermole (right) recently said he felt he played his ‘best football’ under Poyet and the Uruguayan has explained how their ‘exceptional’ relationship helped the VVV-Venlo midfielder to transform his Sunderland career. He added: “My relationship with him was football-wise, not personal-wise because I am not in touch with Lee nowadays so it wasn’t personal where we become friends. “Football-wise, my relationship with Lee Cattermole was exceptional. “The way he started embracing a new way for him to play football, he brought something into the team where he was the best. First and foremost it was on him.
“I had to do my job but if he doesn’t want to, or if he doesn’t like it, or doesn’t buy into it, or cannot do it, then you have no chance.
“So first, you need to give the praise to the player.
“I wouldn’t be able to see this if Lee didn’t say it himself where he explained why he started to enjoy his football again.
“I think we gave him a role and a responsibility. He started taking that role into his character and embraced it. It was a big turning point for us.”