One former Sunderland attacking duo was once praised by Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer.
During the Premier League years, Sunderland had many players that took the league by storm.
In more recent years, the likes of Fabio Borini and Jermaine Defoe popped up with crucial goals, notably both bagging in wins against Newcastle United.
However, when it comes to attacking duos that have donned the red & white stripes with such quality, not many quite reach the levels of Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips during their five years together on Wearside.
Both Quinn and Phillips were at such a level, that Alan Shearer had some profound words to describe the pair, and how ‘brilliant’ they were for Sunderland.
Former Sunderland duo Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips hailed as ‘brilliant’ partnership by Alan Shearer
Accumulating a total of 194 goals across five seasons, one word to describe Quinn and Phillips’ partnership…prolific.
Under former Black Cats boss Peter Reid, the attacking duo helped Sunderland towards successive 7th placed finishes in the 1999/00 and 2000/01 Premier League campaigns, with Phillips finishing as the league’s top scorer in the former, bagging an incredible 30 goals, whilst Quinn notched 14.
This was nothing short of sensational for Sunderland, who managed their best league position in half a decade, and this success was summed up well by Alan Shearer, who, per BBC Sounds, said: “He [Phillips]had that brilliant partnership with Quinn, didn’t he. Big man, little man, and it worked perfectly for him.
“I don’t know, I think it was Watford they got him from Kevin Phillips. He was only 20 miles down the road and Newcastle fans hated him. But, they hated him for a reason and it was because he was a brilliant goal scorer.”
Current Sunderland pair have potential to live up to Quinn & Phillips standards at Championship level
For any attacking duo to notch a total of 44 goals in one Premier League season, which was over 77% of Sunderland’s 57 goals scored that season, is absurd.
Sunderland certainly don’t have a player able to live up to those standards presently, but the Black Cats could potentially form a consistent partnership for years to come with Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor.
Presently, Regis Le Bris seems adamant to use just one up top, but Mayenda and Isidor have bagged an accumulative 19 of the goals so far this season, a sign of being the side’s main focal point in regards to attacking output.
With the pair being 19 and 24-year-old respectively, they are both far from their peak and could certainly turn into a brilliant duo in the Championship, with the signs clearly pointing in that direction.