Exit door closed as Cats focus on survival

Jan 12 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

RICKY Sbragia admits that his decision to slap 'not for sale' tags on some of his fringe players has not pleased all of them, but has urged them to follow the lead of Carlos Edwards and David Healy and force their way back into contention.

Healy and Edwards were two of the players expected to attract interest during the January transfer window and with both struggling to get starts at Sunderland, their desire for first-team football could have led to a move.

But Sbragia is adamant that he will not let 20 squad members he feels will play a part during the final months of the season leave during January.

Sbragia admits that his approach has not pleased all the players – Edwards was “disappointed” to be recalled from his loan spell at Wolves and Michael Chopra had expressed an interest in staying at Cardiff – but he feels that it is necessary for Sunderland’s survival hopes.

“At the end of the day I make the decisions as to who comes and who goes. If I want a player out I’ll get him out, at present I’m happy with them all,” said the boss.

“It’s been difficult for someone like David Healy. I’ve got Chopra obviously in that situation and I’ve got David but credit to them for the way they’ve reacted. Since Michael’s come back and since I took over, they’ve both been excellent in training and they’ll get their chance.

“We know they’re going to get their chance. We’ll have injuries, suspensions, whatever it may be, from my point of view they have to be fit and ready.

“Kenwyne and (Djibril) Cissé are the two main men but the other two are forcing them, they’ll have to work hard in training to get their name on the team-sheet. It’s good backup and honest work-rate from the two of them.

“Carlos Edwards, too, has just come in and looks a good player now. He went to Wolves and he came back and looked a bit unhappy at the fact that he was called back but we’ve explained that to him, I spoke to him on Friday and said that we want him to stay. He’s happy with that now.”

As well as having a large squad with players capable of coming into the side, Sbragia believes that mental resilience will be key to his side staying in the Premier League.

Sunderland remain just above the relegation zone after a much-needed point at Middlesbrough but Sbragia believes the battle for safety will go down until the final few games for both the Black Cats and a clutch of other teams involved.

“I think that all the teams in there will go all the way now,” he said. “I think it’s important you get on a run.

“We have a difficult game at Villa and it’d be nice to be unbeaten there, we just have to take it as it comes. I’d have been disappointed if Middlesbrough had been above us and we’d lost the game, so it’s importance that we’ve got something out of the game.

“Every team’s getting nervous, they’re all nervous, there’s a lot of pressure on them and we’ve just got to be strong mentally and get on with it.”

Sbragia will hope to make progress on the transfer front this week as he continues his search for a defender with Premier League experience to battle Nyron Nosworthy for a place in the back four alongside Anton Ferdinand.

“That’s an area where I haven’t got a great amount of experience,” Sbragia admitted.

“But if I’m going to sign a player I’d need to know everything about the player. I would never take a gamble to buy somebody for a lot of money and not know his background. I need to see the player I feel maybe three or four times.”

CRISTIANO Ronaldo is the favourite of five candidates to walk away with the Fifa World Player of the Year award tonight

The Manchester United forward, who has already picked up the FIFPro and Ballon d’Or awards this season, has been nominated along with Fernando Torres, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and current holder Kaka. After scoring 42 goals en-route to Champions League and Premier League titles last season Ronaldo seems set to improve on his third place last year.

The closest challenger appears to be Barcelona’s Messi, who despite an average season with his club last season has been on blistering form since winning gold at the Beijing Olympics, helping Barca storm to a 10-point lead at the top of the Primera Liga before the winter break. Spain duo Xavi and Torres feature after playing key roles in their country’s success at Euro 2008, while Kaka is among the candidates again despite a under par season last year with AC Milan.

The award will be made at Fifa’s world player gala in Zurich, the first time the event has been held in January.

It is also the first time five finalists have been chosen as opposed to three.