Tony Mowbray insists he must live or die by his selection decisions, amid questions as to why he did not bring on Bailey Wright to help shore up his defence against Burnley last weekend. Sunderland were 2-0 at the Stadium of Light up and cruising at the break, with Burnley barely laying a glove on them.
But in the second half there was a dramatic turnaround as the Clarets came back to win 4-2, and that prompted some fans to ask why Wright was not brought on as an extra defender. "It goes through my mind at half-time, at 2-0 up, to put Bailey Wright on to shore it up," said Mowbray.
"And yet if you go on to lose 4-2 and you've changed your system and put more defenders on, I'm sure the very same people who were asking why Bailey Wright wasn't brought on would have been asking 'why the hell did he put Bailey Wright on?' That's football management, you have to accept that.
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"You make your decisions and you live and die by them. Bailey is a professional footballer, he is an amazing human being, an amazing guy, and he is probably the most vocal, supportive, player in the dressing room pre-game and post-game whether he has played or not.
"He's a diamond of a lad. He's a model pro, really.
"But the decisions as to who I play are made with logic, in my mind, and whether people agree with them or disagree with them, they can have their opinion - of course, every supporters can have his or her opinion. At the end of the day, for whatever reason, I find myself in a position where I pick the team and I can't listen to 40,000 opinions as to who plays and who doesn't play.
"I pick the team, and that's it."
It is part of a wider debate amongst Sunderland fans given that Australia international Wright - who was a mainstay of the side that won promotion last season - has yet to start a Championship game this season, and he has played just 23 minutes of football since Mowbray arrived at the end of August. Mowbray insists he has no agendas and it simply comes down to the options available to him at centre-back, where Danny Batth has been a constant while Daniel Ballard, Aji Alese, Luke O'Nien, and Dennis Cirkin have all featured at various times.
Mowbray said: "When his opportunity comes, he has to grab it. I don't have agendas - it's not a case of saying 'he's not going to play'.
"He knows he's got some competition when Aji gets fit and Ballard gets fit, and Danny Batth has been doing well and Luke O'Nien and Dennis Cirkin too, it's a challenge to get in the team. He knows that, but if he gets in the team and the team keeps on keeping clean sheets, somebody else will be on the outside."
Sunderland's season continues tomorrow, when they take on Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.
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