After a honeymoon start to his Sunderland tenure, the cracks are starting to show somewhat for Regis Le Bris in the Black Cats hot seat, with two away defeats on the spin.
The Wearside outfit do still find themselves occupying second in the early Championship standings, but the 2-1 collapse away at Watford last time out would have worried those with a Sunderland connection watching on, as a number of key performers struggled at Vicarage Road.
Notably, the likes of Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg had a quiet day at the office in the midfield ranks, but Dan Neil’s display would have been really under the microscope at the full-time whistle after the Black Cats captain fouled Kwadwo Baah late on to gift the Hornets a game-winning penalty.
Neil's performance vs Watford
Neil hasn’t had the finest of seasons so far, despite his side being in and around the top two spots, with a red card against Burnley towards the end of August irking the Black Cats and now this sub-par performance against Tom Cleverley’s side.
Away from the incident that handed the hosts a slim victory, the 22-year-old wasn’t at the races whatsoever, with possession squandered a costly 11 times, on top of only three duels being won from 11 attempted.
Of course, Neil gifting Watford a penalty after rashly tackling a tricky Baah, would be the main reason why the Sunderland captain trudged off devastated at the final whistle, with Baah confidently tucking away the spot-kick in the final ten minutes of the clash.
Only managing one shot on the Hornets net too, it wouldn’t be wild to predict that Neil is axed for this week’s match against Derby County, which will be seen as a great chance for Le Bris’ men to immediately bounce back with a confidence-boosting win.
It remains up in the air as to who could replace Neil, who was on the receiving end of a low 4/10 rating after the Watford game by Roker Report writer Andy Tomlinson, with a wildcard pick potentially on the cards.
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The players who could replace Neil
The options aren’t endless for Le Bris to choose from in the central midfield spots, with Alan Browne not fit enough for a space on the bench against Watford.
However, the experienced midfielder might well be back and available for selection here after wriggling free of any injury concerns, but the Frenchman may opt for a rogue option instead in the form of young hotshot Tom Watson.
Newcastle United
RW
0
0
Middlesbrough
DM
1
1
Liverpool
AM
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0
Everton
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1
Although Watson would enter into the contest away at Watford down the left wing, the promising 18-year-old is more than capable of lining up in the middle of the park as well, as can be seen by looking at the table above which shows off his adaptability playing in the Premier League 2 this season.
Le Bris has also managed to get a lot of joy this campaign so far in the senior mix playing both Rigg and Bellingham as youthful central midfielders, and so Watson could complement this pair well against the Rams on Tuesday night, with Rigg amazingly one year younger than the U21 regular.
It’s also unlikely that Watson will usurp Mundle going forward, despite being substituted in his place late on versus Watford, and so this unique role could be one way to finally get the “superb” – as he was labelled by football journalist Josh Bunting earlier this year – youngster into the men’s team, at the expense of an underperforming Neil.
Le Bris might well stick by Neil despite his lapse in concentration, but if he is to shake things up and drop his captain, he could have more surprises up his sleeve by unleashing Watson from the start.
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