Sam Allardyce eyes up El-Hadji Diouf

Dec 23 2008 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

SUNDERLAND are facing a battle to keep hold of marquee summer signing El-Hadji Diouf after Sam Allardyce identified him as one of his priority transfer targets during the January transfer window.

Diouf’s name was near the top of the list presented to Blackburn chairman John Williams by Allardyce upon taking the job and with the midfielder unhappy that he has struggled to get into the Sunderland team since signing in the summer, Rovers believe he can be persuaded to leave.

That is likely to meet with resistance at the Stadium of Light where, despite a disappointing start to his time on Wearside, there is still a belief that Diouf will eventually reproduce the form he exhibited towards the end of last season.

Allardyce was the man who originally signed Diouf at Bolton and he will have money to spend if, as looks increasingly likely, Roque Santa Cruz leaves Ewood Park during the January transfer window.

With Rovers likely to make an approach in the coming weeks, much will depend on whether Diouf wants to remain on Wearside and fight for his place. Although Sunderland are looking to trim their squad in January there is no pressure to let first-team players go and Sunderland would prefer to keep the mercurial attacking midfielder.

Ricky Sbragia admitted a fortnight ago that his Senegal star was unhappy at being regularly left out of the Sunderland team and the situation has not improved since then, with Diouf omitted from the side which defeated of Bolton and West Brom.

The Black Cats caretaker boss is popular in the dressing room, however, and may be able to persuade Diouf that his future lies at the Stadium of Light.

Sbragia’s own future will be up for this discussion this week, with Sunderland understood to be considering handing him the job until the end of the season.

Kieran Richardson believes Sbragia has a good claim on the job, but says that it is wrong to talk of a ‘fear factor’ under the previous manager.

“We were just having a bad run, I don’t think it was anything to do with fear or anything like that. It’s still the same. Ricky was on board when Roy Keane was the manager, so there hasn’t really been any difference,” he said.

“We’ve got some good results and we’re picking up points at the moment. Hopefully, that will continue. But it’s not like a lot of massive things have changed.”

Richardson has flourished under Sbragia, playing a more central role and prompting the second-half fightback which helped the Black Cats to an impressive 4-1 win at Hull.

“I enjoy playing in a more central role. I like to be on the ball, and you tend to see a bit more of it when you’re not out on the wing,” he said.

“I feel comfortable wherever I play on the pitch and I’m really enjoying my football.”

With the team having built up some momentum since the departure of Keane, Richardson is looking to the Christmas fixtures as the key to pushing the Black Cats up the table and further away from the bottom three.

“We’ve got a bit of momentum going now and that’s made a big difference to where we are in the table. It’s the first time this season we’ve got back-to-back wins and that’s great for us,” he said.

“We struggled to do that right the way through last season, so it’s important that when you get on a run like this, you keep it going. If we do that, we’ll shoot up that table.”

Meanwhile, The Journal understands that, while there may be a further boardroom reshuffle in the New Year, it is unlikely to lead to the end of the involvement of the Drumaville consortium at the Stadium of Light.

Majority shareholder Ellis Short may, however, increase his stake in the Black Cats through another share issue as the club look to raise further capital.