Simon Grayson accuses Sunderland fans of ‘scapegoating’ Jack Rodwell

Jack Rodwell is one of the most unpopular players in Sunderland history, but his former manager says fans have got it wrong.

Former manager Simon Grayson has accused Sunderland fans of ‘scapegoating’ Jack Rodwell.

Rodwell was one of the biggest flops and disappointments in Sunderland history, and those are categories in which there is significant competition.

He was a big money signing with a big price tag, and that came with a big wages too. To secure the deal, there was also no relegation pay cut built into his contact either.

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That meant that while the rest of the Sunderland squad took a 50% reduction in pay after relegation, Rodwell continued to take fortunes from the club’s coffers.

He gave nothing back for that either. In fact he was always injured and was seen in Netflix documentary Sunderland Til I Die laughing about not playing whilst in the treatment room.

The whole thing naturally enraged Sunderland supporters, but Grayson says fans got it wrong.

“It was really difficult,” Grayson told bitcoincasinos.com about his short spell at Sunderland. “We brought in around £50 or £60 million from selling players, but only spent something like £1.2 million on 12 new signings.

“It was a sign that there was no real determination to get promoted at the first time of asking.

“It was a really difficult place to be. There were players that were desperate to leave the club and some did but others didn't.

“Supporters were blaming players for not taking pay cuts when they supposedly should have done.

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“I did a Q&A once and somebody asked me about Jack Rodwell, but I reversed the question and asked how many people there would have taken a 50% wage reduction when you didn't have to?

“As I thought, nobody put their hands up, so why should Jack have to do that?

“He (Rodwell) was a bit of a scapegoat at the time, even if his performances didn't warrant the money he was being paid on occasion.”

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