Sunderland fans aren’t too pleased with captain Dan Neil following the 2-1 defeat v Watford.
Having graduated through the academy, played well over 100 league games for the club, even being linked with Liverpool at one point, Dan Neil is now enduring a rough patch.
During the summer, Neil was named Sunderland captain. But so far this season he’s been poor by his standards, with the Watford game really highlighting his slow start.
Sunderland fan were critical of Neil during the game. The 22-year-old had a poor 90 minutes and capped it off by giving away the penalty that led to Watford’s eventual winner.
It comes after Neil was recently suspended following a red card in the 1-0 win v Burnley last month, with red and yellow cards becoming an unwanted trend for Neil.
There were no complaints about the penalty. But journalist Michael Graham has since shared a damning verdict on Neil.
Michael Graham rues Dan Neil after Sunderland defeat v Watford
Sunderland could easily have take something from that game. A point may well have been deserved on the whole, and a point would certainly have been taken after a poor first half.
But Neil’s poor challenge inside his own box gave Watford all three points and now Sunderland have to bounce back from what is a second-straight defeat on the road.
The Black Cats have also dropped out of the top two and into 3rd place of the Championship table following Blackburn Rovers’ win against QPR.
Posting on X, Graham had this to say about Neil:
Regis Le Bris must drum professionalism into Dan Neil
It may be coincidental that Neil is experiencing perhaps his poorest run of form with the club, so soon after being made captain.
Le Bris clearly thought Neil could handle the role. But so far he’s not lived up to expectations, and maybe the weight of being captain of his boyhood team is dawning upon him.
Like Graham says, Neil has enough experience now to not be making these kind of mistakes, and the one v Watford proved to be a very costly one indeed.
For Le Bris, he now has the task of managing Neil correctly; he remains a very talented player, but he lacks professionalism right now.
If Le Bris can get Neil acting more like a captain then he’ll have a very well-rounded player on his hands.