Does Maguire deserve a place in the Side for trip to Lincoln?
CHRIS Maguire’s campaign on Wearside has been a strange one.
The Black Cats midfielder was one of the first names on the team sheet under Phil Parkinson, but has struggled for game time since Lee Johnson’s arrival at the Stadium of Light.
The Sunderland head coach has reiterated throughout the season that the duo have not had a falling out, rather conversations about his future have been clear, with Maguire
rejecting the opportunity to leave Wearside in the January transfer window.
The 32-year-old has been on the periphery of things since Johnson took over at the Stadium of Light, despite it looking like he’d resurrected his career on Wearside.
Maguire scored a late equaliser at Crewe and was the architect for Charlie Wyke’s winner against Swindon Town.
Coupled with injuries and some impressive cameos from the bench, Maguire was handed a surprise start at Wembley for the Papa John’s
Trophy final, but couldn’t find his groove as the Black Cats struggled against Tranmere Rovers.
Nonetheless, Johnson has said his stance on Maguire is clear, and it’s unlikely that he’ll stay at the Stadium of Light beyond the summer.
But has he been given a fair crack of the whip?
Maguire was poor in his first few appearances from the bench under Johnson, notably hitting passes out of play on a number of occasions when a simple ball down the line looked on.
You would have thought after his Wembley appearance, that the former Oxford United man would have been given another shot in the starting line-up, especially given the hectic schedule.
It wasn’t to be.
Instead, Maguire has been brought on from the bench on a number of occasions while also keeping his fitness ticking over for the under-23s.
Despite being unbeaten in their last two games, Sunderland were still poor in the final third.
Maguire looked lively when he came on against Plymouth and has been unfortunate to not start more games in the final third of the season.
He still has that moment of quality in his locker – see the equaliser at Crewe for reference – so it would be wise for Johnson to include him in the squad rather than bombing him out completely.
A start may be out of the question given what’s at stake, but he deserves more than a late cameo to show what he can do. Who knows? It could make the difference.