Jobe Bellingham is set for his second full season at Sunderland, after taking up a new position.
The midfielder only made a handful of starts for Birmingham City before his move to Sunderland, but was thrown in at the deep end as he made 47 appearances.
Jobe started all but three of the Black Cats’ matches in the Championship, netting seven goals as he was deployed as a striker.
Sunderland’s recognised forwards failed to impress in their first season at the club, and so they relied on the 18-year-old to lead the line.
Despite finishing the campaign as Sunderland’s second top goalscorer whilst playing out of position, he received a lot of criticism for his performances, while Mike Dodds came under scrutiny for continuing to play him.
Second Tier podcast host Ryan Dilks believes Jobe was unfairly treated and has tipped him to become a very ‘important player’ for them next term.
Sunderland fans were ‘so unfair’ on Jobe
Speaking on the podcast, Dilks said: “I’ve seen some of the fans giving Jobe quite a bit of stick after the season that he’s just had. But I think it’s just so unfair because he’s quite clearly being compared to his brother, isn’t he? Which is just ridiculous. How old is he? 18? 19?
“I think I’m right in saying only Archie Gray played more minutes out of every teenager in the Championship last season. Any other player who didn’t have the last name Bellingham would be getting loads of praise for that and would be a really exciting player. But because he’s, let’s be honest, in the shadow of his brother, it makes all criticism heading his way completely unfair.
“So I think we’ve just got to forget that he’s Jude Bellingham’s brother and just appreciate that this is a very, very talented player who will probably go onto play in the Premier League. He’s such a talented boy and I’m looking forward to seeing him hopefully make that step up with Sunderland this season and become an even more important player than he has been.”
Sunderland fans need to remember Jobe’s age
Jobe did a very good job as a striker, despite going into his breakthrough season out of position.
The youngster had heaps of pressure on him due to his family name and was often made a scapegoat, with other young players around him not receiving as much attention or criticism as he was getting.
There is no denying that he did put on some poor performances and shouldn’t have started as many games as he did, but that was down to Dodds and the club’s poor mismanagement of the young ones.
Jobe didn’t have an amazing season, but he turns 19 years old next month and still has plenty of seasons to make up for it.
Dan Neil took a while to get it right and made some big mistakes in his early days, but fans were prepared to wait it out and give him a chance to grow and develop, because he was from the academy.
Jobe deserves the same respect and there is no doubt that he will shut up some of the haters this term.