Former Sunderland star Kevin Phillips had plenty of admiration for one star player from the 1999/00 campaign.
Sunderland’s golden 1999/00 Premier League season saw the Black Cats finish 7th in the league, a remarkable feat for a side that had just achieved promotion the season before the top tier.
The Black Cats were certainly the outsiders for any form of success, but a striker partnership of Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn made Sunderland unstoppable when at the peak of their powers.
Alan Shearer has hailed Phillips and Quinn and the goals they scored in that campaign, with the former bagging 30 Premier League goals to earn the Premier League golden boot.
It was clear that both Phillips and Quinn were the main focal point for any attacking threat, but Phillips has regarded another player who ‘was unbelievable’ during the campaign.
Sunderland star Kevin Phillips praised Nicky Summerbee as he makes David Beckham comparison
Quinn and Phillips’ partnership accumulated a total of 194 goals across five seasons, including 44 together in the 1999/00 campaign which was over 77% of Sunderland’s 57 goals scored that season.
Nonetheless, Phillips has turned towards fellow former Sunderland man Nicky Summerbee as one player that was truly brilliant in that side.
Like Phillips, Summerbee endured his most success in the 1999/00 season, notching six assists and a goal.
Talking to Under The Cosh on YouTube, Phillips said: “I never saw that happening [scoring 30 Premier League goals]. As I said earlier, I always believed in my own ability, but to actually come up with the goods, especially in the Premier League, is, but I can’t do it all on my own, we had a good team.
“We surprised a lot of teams certainly in that first year in the Premier League, at times people couldn’t handle the dynamics of me and Niall Quinn because they probably hadn’t come up against a little and large combination. We had Nicky Summerbee on one wing, and I was lucky enough to play with David Beckham in the England setup in terms of crossing a football, Nicky Summerbee was unbelievable at delivering a ball in the box.
“As a striker, you know that nine times out of 10 if I made the run, he’d find me but he could cross a ball without taking the full-back on so he’d shift it and then whip it around the back of the defenders, and he was unbelievable at it.”
Nicky Summerbee was crucial in getting the best out of Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn
Like Phillips says, you could always rely on Summerbee to pop up with an inch-perfect pass or cross to set up either of the Sunderland strikers, and he did this in crucial situations as well.
Notably, a Summerbee free-kick in the 2-1 away win against Newcastle United to tee up Quinn for an equaliser, which he replicated to set up Phillips against West Ham away later that season showed the ability that he had from dead-ball situations.
The Sunderland team of 1999/00 will always be remembered for Quinn and Phillips, but there is no underestimating how much of an impact the likes of Summerbee had on the side.