Ross is not relying on good luck but calm and control as window brings upheaval for Cats
BEDDING IN TAKES TOLL ON RESULTS
JANUARY transfer windows tend to be desperation windows.
Sunderland chairman Stewart Donald got jittery on deadline day, and now it is Jack Ross’ job to make the most of his embarrassment of riches. It is not as straightforward as it sounds.
The Black Cats should be stronger for the mid-season addition of Jimmy Dunne, Grant Leadbitter, Lewis Morgan, Kazaiah Sterling and Will Grigg but it has turned the busiest part of their campaign into a bit of a getting-toknow-you period.
It partly explains why the Black Cats have only won two of their eight League One matches in 2019. The only new signing to have found the net is centre-back Dunne.
On Friday night they again failed to find a winning formula at home to Accrington Stanley, drawing 2-2.
It is not just about the additions in defence, midfield and attack finding their feet, adjusting (or in Leadbitter’s case, re-adjusting) to new surroundings and getting back into the rhythm of the regular first-team football none had in the first half of 2018-19, it is also about those around them striking up partnerships and building relationships.
That takes time, but Sunderland do not have it. A two-games-a-week schedule is great for a team in form, not so handy for one familiarising itself with new players.
It explains why Ross is flailing around a bit in his team selections, switching personnel and formations in the search for the right chemistry. So far this calendar year it has been decent but the flying form of table-toppers Luton Town and Barnsley means the Wearsiders need a bit more than that.
Luckily, not much fazes Ross, who once signed 10 players and moved 10 on in a genuinely panicky window, his first as St Mirren manager in January 2017. “The ones we brought have hit the ground running to a degree – I don’t think any of them have struggled or looked like they’re not comfortable playing here – but what you really want as a manager is for the 11 you pick to blow you away,” he admits. “You want to be able to go, ‘That’s great, same team, same subs.’ No one can complain when you’ve just won 5-0 and everybody’s been brilliant. That doesn’t happen that often.”
In keeping with his day job, Donald spent deadline day looking for insurance while Ross was more interested in stability. In the last hours of trading, the chairman wrote Wigan Athletic a £3m
You need an element of luck to bring it all together and this one has been a lot more controlled Jack Ross