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Cascarino praises Sunderland’s Cattermole, critical of McGeady and Kone

A general view of the Stadium of Light before the Premier League match between Sunderland and Middlesbrough at Stadium of Light on August 21, 2016 ...
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Chris Coleman’s Sunderland have been relegated from the Championship to League One.

Lee Cattermole of Sunderland reacts during the Premier League match between Sunderland and West Ham United at Stadium of Light on April 15, 2017 in Sunderland, England.

Former Aston Villa and Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has praised Sunderland defensive midfielder Lee Cattermole in The Times.

Cascarino, who now works as a pundit for talkSPORT, has praised the attitude of the 30-year-old defensive midfielder.

The former Middlesbrough midfielder has been on the books of the Black Cats since the summer of 2009 when he joined from Wigan Athletic for a transfer fee reported by The Guardian to be worth £6 million.

The former Republic of Ireland international striker has also suggested that Sunderland should part company with Aiden McGeady and Lamine Kone in the summer transfer window.

Winger McGeady, 32, joined the Black Cats in the summer of 2017, while 29-year-old central defender Kone has been at Sunderland since January 2016.

Aidan McGeady of Everton (2L) is shown a red card and is sent off by referee Neil Swarbrick after a challenge on Mark Noble of West Ham United (R) during the FA Cup Third Round Replay...

Cascarino wrote in The Times: “Despite the clear off-field problems at Sunderland, Chris Coleman has to take responsibility for the club being relegated to League One.

“They have only won five of 27 league games since he took over and if they want to bounce straight back up next season they need to get rid of players such as Aiden McGeady and Lamine Kone, who are talented but think that by playing for Sunderland they are doing the club a favour.

“They need to find more players with great attitudes like Lee Cattermole, who are desperate to improve the club’s fortunes.”

Lamine Kone of Sunderland in action during the pre season friendly between Hibernian and Sunderland at Easter Road on July 9, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Hard times ahead

Sunderland have suffered back-to-back relegation and will be playing in League One next season.

The Black Cats were hugely disappointing in the Championship this season, and the Stadium of Light faithful will expect the team to fare much better during the 2018-9 campaign.