Lorik Cana Will Be Missed But Not All That Much
Steve Bruce will be upset by the departure of Lorik Cana although it will have more to do with hurt pride than the damage it will do to Sunderland next season.
It took Cana just a couple of hours on his return to Wearside to ask for a move - a polite way of saying demand in truth - which suggests the talks with Galatasaray were far more advanced than they should have been.
He had probably wanted to leave for a while, which might help explain his dramatic dip in form and I wonder whether he came to England to use Sunderland as a stepping stone to a more high profile Premier League only to discover English football was too quick and too demanding for him, despite his all-action aggressive style.
Cana was an anti-climax. He started well and, for the first three months he looked every inch the player Bruce claimed he was when he signing, but when the going got tough he wilted.
For all of the yellow cards and meaty tackles, he simply didn't contribute enough and was far too similar to Lee Cattermole to play alongside him.
As captain, he was unable to hold his own on the pitch in that dark winter period, let alone lead the team out of trouble.
He was a great bloke and a decent player, but he was never the player he was cracked up to be and the £5m from Galatasaray was probably a decent bit of business in the circumstances.
Bruce's judgement as a manager was sound in terms of the player he thought he was signing and, on his day, Cana was superb. But those days became fewer and far between and when the tough got going, so did Cana, to Turkey and another crack at the Champions League!
I can understand a player wanting to be near his family, but it just sounds like an excuse to me. He is an Albanian-Kosovan, but he was raised, after all, in Switzerland.
The distance didn't bother him during all that time playing in France and why come to England in the first place if you missed home so much?
So Cana goes after one good half season in a Sunderland shirt, but he goes with Bruce's best wishes. He wasn't the player he thought he was and, having decided he'd had enough after just one year on Wearside, the Black Cats were probably happy to get their money back, especially as they have David Meyler and Jack Colback coming through in that department.
However, despite all of Bruce's claims about being content the players he has already got, Cana will be replaced before the close of the transfer window and it might just be the same sort of big name signing Darren Bent was 12 months ago.
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
couldnt disagree more with this article. I thought Cana did fanastically well in his first season in England. Personified what sunderland are about and what the fans like, which is hard graft, team work and most importantly passion! which he had in abundance. He will be sorely missed i beleive.. better technically than cattermole with the same kind of drive.
Its very unfair on him to say that he came to sunderland looking to use the club as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. He gave 110% everytime he played!!
I for one will miss his never say die attitude in the middle of the park.
yeah i also thought this article was a bit harsh.
While cattermole may match his tenacity and drive there is no-one in our central midfield ranks that can match his aerial prowess. If we don't replace him with someone of the same ilk then i think we'll be found wanting against the physically stronger sides in the league like your chelseas and stokes.
And on a personal note i'm really going to miss when cana flies wholeheartedly in to a tackle and takes half the turf with him, i bet the groundsmen are glad to see the back of him!!