Sbragia intends to halve size of squad

Jan 3 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

RICKY Sbragia is preparing a cull to reduce his squad to a more sensible size, but Sunderland’s manager will not be forced to offload anyone he wishes to keep.

The club’s official website lists 51 first-teamers including young professionals and those out on loan, but the Black Cats boss would ideally like to work with 22, plus goalkeepers. That will not be possible during this month’s transfer window, but it is an indication that the days of accumulating players en masse are at an end.

Even with eight out on loan, Sbragia has plenty to pick from for today’s visit of Bolton Wanderers in the third round of the FA Cup. He does not consider that such a good thing, however.

“We have a squad of 37 (senior players) – it is a lot. We are looking at that side of it. We can not keep them all happy, that is one of the biggest problems we have. 37 players all wanting to play. We have to manage that better.

“My ideal would be 22 plus the keepers. To work off 37 is expensive as well.

“When they do come back from loan, they want to play football and if I can not provide that, the best thing for me would be put them back out on loan, with instant call-back.” Even so, Sbragia does want to add to his squad, pointing out that for all its depth in other areas, it is very light on senior defenders. But he insists he will not pay over the odds for any of his targets, nor let his current players leave at a cut price.

“If I earmark a player and think that is a reasonable price, it won’t be a case of paying double for him,” he said. “We have a price for a player and that’s that. We will not be goaded into increasing it by 50%, 75%.” The Scot was also adamant he is under no pressure to sell, rather than loan, anyone.

“Not at all, I just feel that is what I need to do,” he said. “I have spoken to some players. Some have not played for six or seven weeks, and they need to play for their own careers. If I think two players are ahead of him, I will tell him. But they will never be pushed out, I might just advise them. It (who to sell) is purely a football decision.”

When asked about specific players, Sbragia insisted he has no plans to sell Kieran Richardson or Pascal Chimbonda and does not expect to do so with on-loan Ross Wallace. Richardson, who has occasionally captained the team under Sbragia, has been linked with Bolton and Tottenham Hotspur. “Kieran’s an important part of our team,” the Scot said. “As far as I’m concerned nothing’s happening. One thing we don’t want to do is get rid of our best players.

“Pascal is fine, he has been training. Last week he missed two days with a foot injury. He has these little niggles. I just have to make a decision if he is totally fit. I have to listen to (physio) Peter Friar and the medical people.”

When pressed on whether the defender was part of his long-term plans, he added: “Oh yeah.”

To date, Sbragia has only had one club interested in buying his fringe players. Hull City are considering making Paul McShane’s loan permanent, as Preston North End would like to with Wallace, though the Black Cats manager suspects the latter will resist.

“We have had a lot of interest in loans,” he said. “There might be a bid for a squad player. (Selling Wallace) might be a possibility but he might leave his options open and wait until he is out of contract at the end of the season.”