Sunderland Squad are now Moyes’ Boys!

By on July 26, 2016

David Moyes has been appointed Sunderland manager on a four-year deal to replace new England coach Sam Allardyce at the Stadium of Light. The fifty-three-year-old manager had been out of work since being sacked by Spanish side Real Sociedad in November 2015.

Chairman Ellis Short said that Sunderland have courted Moyes on numerous occasions in the past and that he was their first choice man to succeed Allardyce. The former Everton and Manchester United coach will be the North East club’s fourth manager in less than three years, following short spells at the red-and-white striped helm by Gus Poyet, Dick Advocaat, and Allardyce.

Big Sam was unveiled as Roy Hodgson’s replacement as the England manager in Monday afternoon’s press conference and announced that his first match in charge will be in a World Cup qualifier against Slovakia, shelving rumors that England will play a friendly at Wembley on September 1st.

League One’s Southend United manager Phil Brown has stated he would like to work with Allardyce again in the England set-up and Paul Clement, who recently joined Carlo Ancelotti’s backroom staff at Bayern Munich, has also been linked with the assistant manager position under Allardyce.

Moyes has already been linked with numerous transfer rumors and the Scottish manager will look to use his brief spell in charge of Manchester United to lure promising young stars Will Keane and Adnan Januzaj to Sunderland. Januzaj’s career blossomed under Moyes, having scored a brace for the Red Devils against Sunderland on his full debut in a 2-1 victory in 2013, yet his United career has come to a halt under Louis van Gaal and he may now be seeking a move elsewhere.

The twenty-one-year-old spent time on loan at Borussia Dortmund last season after a lack of playing opportunities at Old Trafford and is facing an uphill battle to earn starting time following the £26 million signing of Henrikh Mkhitaryan from the German club, who recently beat Mourinho’s men 4-1 in a recent friendly in China.

Newspaper reports suggest Moyes would potentially want a loan deal for Januzaj and would be keen to buy twenty-three-year-old Keane for £6.5 million. The English forward was expected to participate in the highly anticipated Manchester derby pre-season match in China, yet the game was called off as a result of adverse weather conditions.

The Sunderland Squad compared with Suicide Squad:

Niall Quinn (ex-chairman of Sunderland) as Harley Quinn (The Joker’s girlfriend from the DC universe).

Jermain Defoe (The Premier League’s most accurate goal-scorer) as Deadshot (DC’s deadliest and most accurate marksman).

Sebastian Larsson (His boomerang free-kicks bend and bounce into the back of the net) as Captain Boomerang (His boomerang weapons always bounce back).

Wahbi Khazri (Was on fire in the second half of last season with some red-hot performances) as El Diablo (He is on fire as his skills are flames).

Lee Cattermole (A footballer with rage issues) Killer Croc (A cannibal with rage issues).

Ellis Short (The business chairman of the troops) as Rick Flag (The all-business leader).

Jan Kirchhoff (A super tackling midfielder playing with a smile back on his face but with a lack of pace) as Joker (A psychopathic supervillain with a fixed smile on his face).

Suicide Squad will be released on 5th August 2016, while Sunderland start their new season under David Moyes against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on August 13th at 17:30 BST. City will debut their new club badge and kit in the Saturday evening encounter and Spanish attacker Nolito could also make his Sky Blue competitive playing debut, having revealed he turned down La Liga giants Barcelona this summer to work with Guardiola again.

Homepage photo credit: Giovanni Batista Rodriguez [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

About Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis can relate almost anything to football and quite often does! You may have seen Richard's previous ideas and work in the BBC Match of the Day Magazine, from 2011 to present. He is a Manchester United and England fan, but has gone to see Leyton Orient play with his O's season ticket in the 2013/14 campaign. Aside from football, Richard has written articles on Doctor Who and studies English Language and Linguistics at the University of Westminster. Aspiring sports journalist.