Jack Clarke is back for Sunderland but interim head coach Mike Dodds may do well to proceed with caution over his full return to Championship action.
Clarke, Sunderland’s talismanic winger this season with 15 goals and four assists, was a surprise inclusion in the squad on Easter Monday for the meeting with Blackburn Rovers having missed six weeks with an ankle ligament injury picked up in February’s defeat at Brimingham City – a game Clarke completed and added to his goal tally in what was Michael Beale’s final match as head coach.
Clarke, it was initially hoped, would only miss the following week’s fixture with Swansea City before a scan revealed the severity of the injury, causing the 23-year-old to be sidelined for over a month – a month which transpired to be every bit as daunting as was feared without him.
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If Sunderland were keen to dismiss the notion of Clarke being ‘it’ for them, or that a potential successor, should he leave the Stadium of Light in the summer, already be in the building, there has been little evidence to suggest life without Clarke will be one to look forward to.
Dodds was likely reticent to introduce Clarke against Blackburn, his name simply being on the teamsheet again enough to ignite further enthusiasm to build upon following a successful Good Friday win over Cardiff City. Yet at 4-0 down to a side fighting for their Championship status, the interim head coach had to do something.
“I just felt getting some fresher legs on the pitch might've helped,” he said of a triple substitution involving Clarke, Chris Rigg and Bradley Dack. “Let’s be honest, I could've subbed the whole team couldn't I?”
And yet there could be an argument to say bringing Clarke on into that environment was naïve. How close to 100 per cent was Clarke – particularly given Patrick Roberts’ display on his return to the starting line-up appeared short of full match fitness and sharpness. Was it worth the risk in a game which had already escaped Sunderland by some margin? Equally, it’s understandable why Dodds was inclined to proceed as he did. If your best player is deemed fit, you are entitled to use him.
But where does that leave Sunderland ahead of Saturday’s match with Bristol City?
The temptation for Dodds to rip up the playbook, as such, and make wholesale changes will be inviting – including a first start in eight games for his mercurial winger, Clarke. But Sunderland shouldn’t necessarily expect miracles from Clarke if that is the path Dodds does choose to go down.
This is a different environment from the one which he left in February. Sunderland have won just one game without him and scored just five goals – Rigg’s consolation against Blackburn coming while Clarke was on the pitch. Confidence has nosedived since he was last involved. On top of that, Dodds will have to factor in the opponent – a Bristol side who are ranked number one in the Championship when it comes to a number of defensive actions including their aggressive action which relates to any tackles, pressures and fouls made within two second of an opposition ball receipt, as per StatsBomb.
It means Clarke, invariably, is going to have little time without pressure when he does get the ball. Naturally, given his ability, that can lead to a more robust approach from Liam Manning and his defensive-minded players. The last thing Sunderland want or need is for Clarke to suffer a setback which would rule him out for the rest of the season at this stage.
Sunderland may also have to consider the commodity they have at their disposal. Although Clarke has missed a month of action recently, his stock remains one of the highest in the Championship in that Sunderland have a hefty eight-figure sum attached to him that they may well likely need this summer when it comes to the tweaks which need to be made to the squad from owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.
"He's had a remarkable season. We'll just have to wait and see what the summer brings for Jack and Sunderland,” Clarke’s agent, and former Sunderland defender, Ian Harte recently explained.
"He has two years left at Sunderland. It depends whether clubs come in and who comes in. Lazio did come in in the January window, I think they bid €14 or €15 million with €4m add-ons. Sunderland didn't think that was good enough. We'll just have to wait and see.
"We were happy to sign a deal, but that was earlier on in the summer time and it hasn't been revisited. The simple fact is Jack and myself wanted to sign an additional contract last summer. This was in his contract but unfortunately the club has a structure and didn't want to break it. We did want to engage and sign a new deal.
"Maybe in the summer that might change, we'll have to wait and see. There's always a chance. I would never close any door.
"Jack loves it at Sunderland, so we'll just have to wait and see what the next couple of months bring."
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The likelihood is, Sunderland will receive an offer this summer they are unable to refuse when balancing up the potential of retaining a player of such value that will only decrease from here on out as his contract runs down towards it’s final 18 months and beyond.
It’s why this period without Clarke has been so significant for the club. Can the likes of Abdoullah Ba, Romaine Mundle or Nazariy Rusyn step up to fill the void of Clarke? The small sample size of six games left a lot to be desired if this was their auditioning tapes.
It’s also why Dodds, again, may be tempted to tear things up to face Bristol this weekend. The interim head coach recently welcomed the likes of Dack, Aji Alese and Corry Evans back into contention of the first team squad with this weekend, potentially, the ideal time to translate that into minutes on the pitch. Sunderland were cut open at will by Blackburn through the spine, with a defence who were overrun and disjointed, despite appearing to be at its strongest for a number of weeks over the Easter weekend.
In the absence of several first team players through injury, Dodds has turned to the academy squad to fill seats on his bench – another option he could turn to in the final month of the campaign with one of those being winger Tommy Watson. The 18-year-old scored in the week in a central league win over Huddersfield Town and is a player highly regarded on Wearside having trained with the first team squad for the most part of the recent international break last month.
“He's definitely one I'm sure will come into our thinking at some point,” Dodds said prior to the trip to Cardiff. “It probably won't be this weekend but after that we'll look to potentially integrate into the group a little bit more."
As many changes as Dodds could make, however, there is also the possibility of sticking with the same hand and challenging those who failed in such a concerning way against Blackburn to put right their mistakes. The opportunity to restore an element of pride. When Sunderland were humbled 5-1 by Stoke City last season they bounced back with an efficient away display, a 1-0 success over Norwich City. Tony Mowbray, then in charge, made three changes – all of which were enforced through injury.
Whichever way Dodds intends to go to face Bristol, it is he who is under the microscope. Halfway through this 13-game interim period the 37-year-old is struggling to enhance his CV as far as appealing to potential suitors, both internally and externally, to take over a head coach position in the future go, as per his desires. Four points from a possible 21 is a damaging run of form, irrespective of the list of absentees and other obstacles he has found in his way this time around. He needs a response as much as his players.
But to turn to Clarke and hope the light switch switches remains unorthodox, as it has done all season, although there’d be no surprise if Clarke were to start and remind everyone just what has been missing these last six weeks.
In that sense Sunderland should enjoy these final six games, for they may be the last he has in a red and white shirt.
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