Whatever you want to say about Bolton Wanderers in the last two years, attitude hasn’t been too much of a problem.
In some cases there were exceptions but by and large Phil Parkinson has assembled a squad that cares, notable examples being Karl Henry’s leadership through last season, Darren Pratley trying to run off a broken leg, or Gary Madine not playing at full fitness for the last couple of games in the 2016-17 campaign to get us over the line and promoted, and that’s before all the off-field uncertainty.
Therefore I was a tad uneasy when the name Jack Rodwell was linked with us yesterday. The club have denied the links, but at the same time they’re hardly going to come out and say they’ve had a look, as they just don’t do that.
It would be unfair, and plainly incorrect to blame Sunderland’s fall from grace on one person. But Rodwell has become a byword for a lot of what has gone on at the Stadium of Light in recent years. It took years for him to be even on the winning side in a league game, he earned stupid money in the Championship, he got booed by his own fans in a rare appearance, he refused to tear up his contract when he wasn’t playing and didn’t want to play, finished the season training with the under-23s, with his then-boss Chris Coleman wondering where he was ‘mentally.’
Given the few years he has had, he probably even isn’t at the level now where it could be worth taking a risk. Over the years we’ve made a thing of setting perceived ‘problem players’ straight, Diouf and Anelka being two examples. But Rodwell doesn’t seem to be worth the risk.
Think Rodwell and Ireland are exactly the type of characters we should be looking to avoid. Neither could be described as hungry
— Daniel Crisp (@dancrisp82) June 29, 2018
It’s a shame, slightly older than Texieria but twice as much game time and mainly in the PL. Potential bargain of the century if somebody can sort him out.
— Philip Shortland (@PhilipShortland) June 29, 2018