Danny Collins is our role model – Ricky Sbragia

Apr 30 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

“Danny was a great purchase and this club will get a great return from him. He will be at this club for as long as he wants to be at the club.”

After being made to sit through their very own ‘video nasty’ the need for improvements is understood loud and clear by the players.

Carlos Edwards, who made a negligible contribution against the Baggies, accepts that there are lessons to be learned from the defeat after admitting that on second viewing, their performance got no better.

“I didn’t even want to watch the highlights on Sky over the weekend,” he said. “But the gaffer made us watch the video – and it wasn’t good viewing.

“The gaffer told us that he had watched it a couple of times and every time he saw it, it got worse and worse.

“There are important lessons for us to learn and we have to make sure we learn them quickly.”

While staying in the division is Sbragia’s immediate priority, there have been initial discussions about the club’s summer recruitment plans.

Much will depend on whether Sunderland manage to retain their Premier League status and Sbragia is still in a job – but the Black Cats boss says everyone is in agreement that the scouting system needs to be improved.

He highlights the cut-price successes of former chief scout Bowman as proving the importance of getting the club’s recruitment right.

Bowman has been asked to return to the club several times since leaving for Wolves but has turned down every opportunity – and Mick McCarthy’s men have reaped the rewards.

“We have to plan ahead – we have to. And recruitment is the most important part of a club,” Sbragia said. “We need to get the players on the ground and on the job, making decisions on players we want to bring in. We have to think that the top players are not always the best players for this club.

“We are not so bad with recruitment. It’s just what I want now. I would prefer to buy British players but you can’t always do that. We go abroad.”