Kristjaan Speakman says Sunderland had to resist the temptation to be selfish and instead do the right thing by Bailey Wright and allow him to leave on loan last month. Australia international defender Wright made a deadline day loan move to Championship strugglers Rotherham United, joining the Millers until the end of the season.
The 30-year-old had been an integral part of the Sunderland side that earned promotion from League One last season via the play-offs, but had started just two Championship games this term and was looking to play more regularly. Sporting director Speakman says Wright's qualities as a player and as a man would have have been an asset for Sunderland this season, but admits the club had to take into account the player's desire to play first-team football.
"His impact on and off the pitch in the time I have been here has been nothing short of outstandingly positive," said Speakman. "These are really difficult scenarios because your inner-selfishness says keep him around the group because he can have such a positive impact - and I do appreciate we have a very young group, and we are taking out some of that experience.
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"But at the same time we have to be fair to Bails and he wants to play more regularly. If we are fully-fit then he probably doesn't play as much as he wants to.
"We had this discussion all the way through January as to what the best options would be and there was a good chance he was going to stay, but the Rotherham opportunity gives him a chance to play at the same level and keeps him relevant, if you like, in terms of the level we are playing at. We're really hopeful he can go there and do well.
"It's an easy one for us when their coach [Rotherham boss Matt Taylor] phones us and wants to have a conversation about what type of person he is - he probably thought I was over-egging it a bit, but that's Bails! He is the consummate professional on and off the pitch and I'm really proud he is a Sunderland player. He will come back in the summer and we'll have to review where he is at."
Wright was not the only January departure on Wearside, with midfielder Jay Matete and forward Leon Dajaku also making loan moves. Matete joined League One leaders Plymouth Argyle early in the window, while Dajaku joined Swiss top flight side FC St Gallen last week.
Neither had been playing regularly for the Black Cats and their loan moves have been designed to give them a stage to play regular football. Speakman said: "Jay and Leon are probably in a similar bracket in terms of them having an impact and being positive but the team has done so well that they have just not managed to get the opportunities that we might have anticipated they would get this season.
"I think it would be remiss of us to just carry on through the season and for them not to get the opportunity to play games and come back in pre-season in the right spot. So we made that judgement call and I think we got really good opportunities for them.
"For Jay to go to Plymouth, who are top of the league and with the pressure and expectation of getting up, is something very similar what we need him to be thinking about at Sunderland, but while he is getting the minutes and they are also taking on his development plan and delivering that at Plymouth. For Leon, it's very, very similar - we were trying to get him an opportunity to play at an appropriate level where he is getting the right amount of challenge but also hopefully some success.
"We'll be able to review and evaluate those two guys over the coming months and they'll come back in the summer and they'll both be trying to find a way to get into this team."
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