"Apologies to the fans and my teammates. I will learn. Onto Saturday to put it right."
They were the words of 18-year-old Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham on social media on Sunday night following the Black Cats' 4-2 defeat to Southampton. Their sixth league defeat in a row - the last time that happened was in 2013 - and no matter which team you support, at any level, it's unacceptable.
However, the Black Cats midfielder shouldn't find himself being the one to apologise. There's been so much talk and confusion around the young age of the squad, and whether or not it's right to mention. There needs to be a moment to take stock.
READ MORE: Ste Aziz lifts the lid on 12 years at Sunderland as kitman
For all Jobe didn't enjoy his best game in a red and white shirt, his misplaced header leading to Southampton's opener and he was found wanting tracking back as the Saints wrapped up all three points, he scored a brilliant solo goal to draw Sunderland back level. In football, you have moments, good and bad.
Jobe has six goals and one assist, in 3,047 minutes of football in 36 matches, starting 34 of those games. A staggering feat for someone that only celebrated his 18th birthday back in September. He may not want to be compared to his superstar brother Jude Bellingham in an attempt to forge his own career, but on this occasion, it's worth doing so.
At 17-years-old, Jude sealed a move to Borussia Dortmund and would go on to make 29 appearances for BVB in his first season in Germany. He'd play 1,697 minutes, starting 19 games for the Bundesliga giants, with one goal and three assists that season. At 16, Jude made 41 appearances for Birmingham in the Championship, playing 2,694 minutes of football in 32 starts with four goals and two assists to his name.
Both seasons were huge for the current England international in terms of propelling him onto the world stage. Interestingly, his younger brother has already played more minutes than Jude in his first full season in professional football, and again if we compare his first season in Dortmund at the same age in isolation.
Mike Dodds - someone who knows both brothers well - played down talk of Jobe being tired and in need of a rest after fans called for him to be taken out of the side for his own benefit. But there remains an interesting dialogue to be had around not just Jobe, but the squad as a whole.
Are the youngsters being subject to too many minutes, with too much pressure?
Former Sunderland boss Michael Beale rested Jobe in their 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle, who then produced one of his best half hour of football, coming off the bench alongside Chris Rigg to help turn the screw and claim a vital three points.
"The eyes are on the future of one or two of them, if we put them in now for a club our size, maybe we’ll kill them a little bit so you’ve just got to trust us," Beale said at the midway point of January as he clamoured for more experience to be added to Sunderland's side in the winter transfer market.
Instead, they would finish the month with less 'grey hairs', losing Alex Pritchard to Birmingham City.
There’s the age old saying, if you’re good enough then you’re old enough. There’s no denying this young group has talent, but after six defeats on the bounce, Sunderland's youngsters look void of confidence and the club, as warned by Beale are in danger of creating problems for their promising talents. Losing six games on the bounce is no good for any team, let alone the mentality of such a young squad.
While we’re talking about Beale, his press conference vow to not mention the age of his players, and then mention it in almost every single interview that would follow was a real head scratcher.
When the Black Cats win games, there’s praise for the ‘young group’, and yet when they lose games it feels like their age is brought up as the reason behind defeats, with inconsistencies to be expected. Whether that's intended or not, it's causing confusion outside of the club.
READ MORE: Ellis Taylor: Dealing with adversity and my Sunderland journey
Dodds has done his best in press conferences to maintain positivity, but Jobe's apology - again not that it was needed - is a sign that current results are getting to the squad. The effort from the youngsters was never in question from the red and white fanbase.
It's clear Jobe cares but has found himself on the end of some unfair criticism on social media.
What's clear, is these young players need protecting from scrutiny.
In the defeat to Southampton, Sunderland fielded their youngest starting XI of not just the season, but Championship history with an average age of just 20.36. Rigg the youngest at 16-years-old and Dan Ballard the oldest at just 24. Anthony Patterson was the second oldest at 23 and Dan Neil the third oldest at 22. Trai Hume (21) was the only other Sunderland player over the age of 20 in the starting XI.
Two of those named on the bench, Thomas Lavery (18) and Harrison Jones (19) had played for the Black Cats' Under-21s the night before, in their defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League Cup. A pathway to the first-team, but it was unlikely they'd ever be called upon.
Although there’s been a clamour to see Rigg start games - his performance against Leicester a clear sign of his talent – he struggled at Southampton. Dodds spoke about needing to protect the rising talent and that should be the case for the rest of the squad as well. The 16-year-old can’t become the poster boy for turning this poor run of form around, with too much expectation placed on such young shoulders.
Speaking following the defeat to the Foxes, Dodds said: “I left him on for as long as I possibly could, taking into account that he’s a first-year scholar. People should be excited by Riggy. I’m excited to work with him over the next few years, I think he’s potentially a wonderful talent.”
Again, the following defeat at St. Mary’s doesn’t lie on the shoulders of Rigg who started just his second game in the Championship. As a collective, the lack of experience was their downfall, pushing for a winner themselves when a point would have been a good result on the balance of the game, given Russell Martin's side ran riot.
“I feel they have such a talented squad, a very young squad,” the Saints boss said in his post-match press conference. “Jack Clarke makes them a very different proposition. I think he's one of the best players in the league so when he's not in the team they're a different proposition.
“That's not being disrespectful because I think they're a really good team and not a one-man team. His numbers are huge and what he does for the team, gets them up the pitch and has that fear factor.
“I really like them as a team, really, really like them. They've paid the price a bit with a lack of momentum with the managerial changes but that's their prerogative.”
READ MORE: Sunderland's fightback not enough to end dire run of form
Which leads us nicely into our next point and Martin’s assessment is a fair one. There’s clearly talent within the group, but at the moment it feels like they have too many players whose best years are ahead of them and not quite consistent enough to reap the rewards in the Championship.
That’s not to say that won’t happen at some point in the future, but Sunderland’s next managerial appointment must be someone who can get the best out of these young players and tie everything together.
For all the talk of the model and priding themselves on handing opportunities to young upcoming talents, what does that mean for the club, if on the pitch, Sunderland are struggling? This season, all signs point back to the transfer dealings in the last two windows and the need for older heads.
After all, there’s no end of season award for finishing mid-table nor promotion for having the youngest squad in the EFL, no guaranteed return to the Premier League which remains the long-term aim for Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.
The core of the Black Cats squad is generally quite robust, with Anthony Patterson, Dan Neil, Trai Hume and Jack Clarke prior to his injury, having played the most minutes in the Championship.
Injuries to Sunderland have no doubt played a part in their current run of form, with Dennis Cirkin, Aji Alese and Niall Huggins all long-term absentees. But again, the over reliance on certain players this season could open up problems later down the line.
As we're seeing at the minute, when you lose an experienced player like Clarke or Ballard through injury - who are still in the early years of their careers when you compare the squad to the rest of the division - your replacement is even younger, with less experience and nous. Something both Mowbray and Beale mentioned repeatedly during their tenures.
An interesting stat was doing the rounds on social media the other day, relating to Barcelona youngster Pedri, who played a staggering 73 matches for club and country in 2020/21. Since then, he’s missed 75 matched through injury and has played just 24 games this season.
Of course, Sunderland’s youngsters won’t be playing anywhere near that amount of games, but there’s a clear sign that rest and rotation is just as important as game time – even if stats from the medical department state otherwise. Defeats, especially six on the bounce, will take a mental toll on young players given the sink or swim nature of the Championship. At the moment, the club are sinking down the table.
Recommended reading:
-
Sunderland's losing streak continued with poor defeat at Southampton
-
We Are Sunderland briefing: Southampton review and Dan Ballard injury
At the moment, Sunderland aren’t able to call upon older heads and the pressure is on young shoulders. The likely sale of Clarke this summer should hand Sunderland money to reinvest back into the playing squad, spending it on more experienced players, having already recruited a vast amount of young talent.
Buying young and cheap to sell for a profit remains a sensible, sustainable approach, but that does nothing to temper expectations and meet the club’s own criteria of improvement when you’re languishing in mid-table casting one eye over your shoulder.
A repeat of last season was always going to be a difficult task but at the start of the campaign there were signs of positivity. If anything, this current run of form should serve as a stark reminder of how frail 'the model' can be.
Read the rules here