Simon Watson

Right Midfielder - Sunderland U18
21 Dec 2030
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Marked for Simon Watson

172 Edition

The Sunderland Chronicle

12 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match6 Nov 2029

Sunderland through in the cup

A 3‑1 win over West Bromwich Albion, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Squad12 Nov 2029

The knee: Simon Watson out for 20 days

20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sunderland lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings12 Nov 2029

No sign of nerves from Luca Williams-Barnett at 21 — 8.19

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luca Williams-Barnett did not need any: 8.19, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

The dugout12 Nov 2029

No hiding place for Davinson Sánchez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davinson Sánchez, and the manager let it.

The terraces12 Nov 2029

Sunderland supporters have found a favourite in Luca Williams-Barnett

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Luca Williams-Barnett has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad12 Nov 2029

7 Sunderland players away with their countries

The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 7 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.

Player ratings12 Nov 2029

A masterclass from Max Bird

Marked 8.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings12 Nov 2029

A masterclass from Wilson Isidor

Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings12 Nov 2029

Elliot Lee ran the middle of the pitch — 7.30

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 7.30, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

In brief

Back issues
171 Edition

The Sunderland Chronicle

5 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad5 Nov 2029

A knee injury of the worst kind for Simon Watson

28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sunderland lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad5 Nov 2029

A fracture rules Ayman Benarous out for 17 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sunderland will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout5 Nov 2029

Max Johnston says Sunderland went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match3 Nov 2029

No end in sight to Sunderland's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sunderland has to find a result from somewhere.

Match3 Nov 2029

Sunderland cannot find the net

6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Loan watch5 Nov 2029

Joseph Cowan wants to come home

“I did not go to Barnet to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sunderland and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.

Match3 Nov 2029

Brighton take the points off Sunderland

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market5 Nov 2029

Max Johnston wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Loan watch5 Nov 2029

Michael Obafemi wants his own locker back at Sunderland

“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Preston continues; the message travels home.

In brief

170 Edition

The Sunderland Chronicle

29 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad29 Oct 2029

The knee: Simon Watson out for 35 days

35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sunderland lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad29 Oct 2029

26 days out for Ayman Benarous after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sunderland will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout29 Oct 2029

Dan Neil: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sunderland have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match27 Oct 2029

The wait goes on for Sunderland

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match27 Oct 2029

The goals have deserted Sunderland

5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sunderland can tell you which week it ends in.

Match27 Oct 2029

A bad afternoon for Sunderland against Crystal Palace

0‑1 to Crystal Palace, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout29 Oct 2029

The manager makes an example of Sam Dalby

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings29 Oct 2029

Simon Adingra was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad29 Oct 2029

Sunderland lose Triziano Wilson

16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief