Despite a difficult season, John O’Shea should be remembered fondly at Sunderland and the club must find a worthy replacement.
Sunderland defender John O’Shea is set to retire at the end of this season, according to the Times.
The ex-Manchester United man’s career has met a rather underwhelming end, his Champions League medal forgotten by many as the Black Cats plunder towards League One.
And O’Shea has come in for plenty of criticism this season as he has shown his age in the Championship, failing to inspire his teammates at the Stadium of Light.
But if O’Shea does call time on his career come the summer, Sunderland will desperately need to find more characters like the former Republic of Ireland international for the fight ahead.
The 36-year-old’s legs may be letting him down in the twilight of his career, but his heart is still in the right place, desperate for the Wearside club to succeed.
“It makes you sick when you lose,” O’Shea had told the Sunderland Echo in a wide-ranging interview on the day reports of his imminent retirement emerged.
The concern for Sunderland is that there have been too many players in recent years who have not felt the pain of defeats, scraping by as the likes of O’Shea attempt to hold things together.
And so O’Shea should be remembered fondly at the Stadium of Light, regardless of how his career ends, having been a good servant in numerous Premier League campaigns before this unfortunate slump.
If Sunderland cannot bring in a player of similar character for next season – perhaps in League One – this streak of misery could well extend into another campaign.
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