Marked for Dan Ballard
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Thomas Meunier out for 54 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Age has not caught Granit Xhaka yet — 8.17
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Melker Ellborg: 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Enzo Le Fée and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Dec 2026
Dan Ballard wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Sunderland hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Match5 Dec 2026
Three points for Sunderland, 1‑0 the final word against Tottenham in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Chemsdine Talbi
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Chemsdine Talbi has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sunderland have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Ahmed Abdullahi falls out with a teammate over standards
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The dugout
A promise honoured at Sunderland
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Thomas Meunier out for 69 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Chuba Akpom: 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Dayann Methalie and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Sunderland training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Abdullahi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Harry Matthews after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Bookings catch up with Kevin Danso
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Sunderland will feel it on Saturday.
Market23 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Omar Alderete signs something — a contract at Sunderland or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match21 Nov 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Aston Villa came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Nov 2026
The small margins put Sunderland out
Out, 0‑1 to Oxford United, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market9 Nov 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sunderland heard it as anything else.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Kevin Danso in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sunderland this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match7 Nov 2026
Brighton made Sunderland work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Habib Diarra was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dan Ballard, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
91 days out for Thomas Meunier 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sunderland heard it as anything else.
Market2 Nov 2026
No place for Dan Ballard in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dan Ballard has his answer from Sunderland; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Nordi Mukiele named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nordi Mukiele is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match31 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Sunderland
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Abdullahi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Thomas Meunier out for 99 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Omar Alderete and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Omar Alderete
7.61, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Sunderland had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Romaine Mundle, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Sunderland are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Sunderland training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Abdullahi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Harry Matthews was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Sunderland dressing room was either.
Market26 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Omar Alderete signs something — a contract at Sunderland or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Thomas Meunier breaks a bone — 108 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.50, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Melker Ellborg is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match17 Oct 2026
The drought breaks for Sunderland
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Leeds United were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Granit Xhaka. 2‑0 against Leeds United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Harry Matthews on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Enzo Le Fée beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market19 Oct 2026
The Robin Roefs talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sunderland know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The plan did not have a place for Dan Ballard
Nobody at Sunderland is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Thomas Meunier breaks a bone — 115 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lewis Campbell is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dayann Methalie and Sunderland agree another 5 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dayann Methalie was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market12 Oct 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Romaine Mundle has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Sunderland.
Market12 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Brian Brobbey signs something — a contract at Sunderland or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes Dan Ballard a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sunderland. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Romaine Mundle asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
The goals keep arriving from Trey Ogunsuyi’s exile
3 goals in 7 games at Shrewsbury Town — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sunderland updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Sunderland
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sunderland are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Chemsdine Talbi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Robin Roefs
“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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Bournemouth left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Sep 2026
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Harry Matthews left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Sunderland
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed Abdullahi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market21 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Chemsdine Talbi signs something — a contract at Sunderland or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Sunderland ran out of time with Crystal Palace. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chemsdine Talbi and Sunderland agree another 5 years.
Market14 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Harrison Jones to Peterborough United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Sunderland with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 17 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad14 Sep 2026
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sunderland, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Ahmed Abdullahi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Harry Matthews chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sunderland have done the hard part with Crystal Palace, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sunderland, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Sep 2026
The bid was some way short and Sunderland did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Noah Sadiki reports back to Sunderland with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 6 in, 13 out at Sunderland
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 13 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $19.9M — a club that wants Tyrick Mitchell enough to be asked twice.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Malick Fofana slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Malick Fofana is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chemsdine Talbi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.