Is it the perfect time to bring Lee Cattermole back to Sunderland?

Former captain Lee Cattermole is going to be available soon, and surely a coaching role at Sunderland is a perfect fit?

Author:
Michael Graham
Publish date:
Feb 10, 2023 10:48 PM EST

Former Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole has decided to leave Middlesbrough, and it is surely a perfect time to bring him back to Wearside.

Cattermole played for Sunderland for ten years, making more than 250 appearances in the process – many of them as captain.

Since retiring from playing, Cattermole has been working with the Middlesbrough academy, but he left this week to seek a more senior role at a club.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time with the U18s and can’t thank the club enough for giving me the opportunity,” Cattermole told the official Middlesbrough website.

“Over time I’ve realised how important this role is and for the club to give me that trust is something I’ll always be grateful for.

“I’ve never made any secret of my ambitions as a coach and I feel now is the right time for me to explore what’s out there and consider fully my next step.”

When it comes to players, I think we have probably all learned by now that it’s not good to go back.

The Jermain Defoe affair was stinging to say the least, but he is not alone in disappointing in a second spell. Michael Bridges, Fabio Borini, George McCartney and Stan Varga are among those who came back and it never really worked out. Somehow, Danny Graham came back and was awful each time.

When you go further back there are successes, such as Bryan Pop Robson and Paul Bracewell, but they are few and far between.

Players coming back as coaches, though, is a different matter entirely, and even more so when it is someone like Lee Cattermole.

Right now, the bond between club and players is about as strong as I can remember in my time as a supporters, certainly in the modern social media age. That is to the credit of Kristjaan Speakman and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.

For years we were told we needed to establish ‘an identity.’ I was guilty of believing that myself too. The truth is, though, and always was, that Sunderland didn’t need a new identity at all – they just had to remember the one we have always had.

What we are seeing on the pitch now – pride in the shirt, desire to tackle, leave everything on the pitch, aggression, heart, honesty… that is the Sunderland I was brought up on. That was what made Kevin Ball a legend and it is what Luke O’Nien is doing now.

Between those two, was Lee Cattermole.

Cattermole played for Sunderland during some very tough times, but he was always one of the few who upheld his side of the bargain. There was never once that his commitment or effort was questioned, and he was a crucial leader off the pitch.

Behind the scenes, as played out during the Paolo Di Canio days, he was a stoic defender of what the club stood for and his love for Sunderland is very real. Anyone who has spent five minutes in his company willvouch for that. In fact, anyone who saw him play for five minutes will tell you that too.

Who better, then, to help instil that into the young players in Sunderland’s first team squad than him? He knows the club, he gets the club, he loves the club.

By all accounts he is a talented coach as well, which some come as little surprise given his natural leadership skills.

It’s impossible to know whether Cattermole is leaving Middlesbrough because he has something lined up. Perhaps he wants a top job somewhere.

However, if he is available and is open to it, Sunderland would be missing a big opportunity if he wasn’t added to Tony Mowbray’s coaching staff. It would fit with the remit too.

After all, developing talented young coaches should be as big a part of the plan as developing players. There are not many coaches out there either who truly have Sunderland in their heart and knows the club inside out.

Hopefully it happens. I suspect it won’t, but it’s a nice thought nonetheless and one I hope is at least being explored.

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