Jack Clarke has heaped praise on ‘brilliant’ Tony Mowbray following his eighth goal of the campaign for Sunderland.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Sunderland winger revealed exactly why he ‘loves’ playing for the 59-year-old manager.
Jack Clarke didn’t quite live up to expectations during his loan spell on Wearside, scoring only once as they won promotion to the Championship.
However, Sunderland went on to make his stay permanent and he has since looked like a much more confident and talented player following Tony Mowbray‘s arrival.
The 22-year-old picked up an impressive 21 goal contributions last season, but is already on track to beat his goal tally, after netting eight goals in only 12 games this time round.
While Clarke has been heavily linked to a number of Premier League clubs including Burnley, Brentford and Brighton, the winger was keen to show his love for Mowbray and has praised him for ‘giving him the platform’.
“I love playing for the gaffer,” Clarke said. “He’s been brilliant with me and all the other boys. For a young attacking player he gives you the freedom to express yourself, and that’s all I want to do.
“I think he identified what our strengths are as a squad. We worked a lot on what we are good at and what will help in certain games. Getting the ball in the right areas, doing the right things at the right time.
“I’m going out there every week and trying my best. Sometimes things come off, and sometimes they don’t. To experiment, and enjoy playing football. He gives you that platform.”
Mowbray has created an absolute monster in Jack Clarke
Nobody expected Tony Mowbray to bring so much joy to this football club, but he has done exactly that.
It would have been very interesting to see how we handled all these young players if we had kept Alex Neil or got another manager in, but fans are certainly very thankful that the former Middlesbrough boss ended up on Wearside.
Mowbray has completely transformed Jack Clarke and has already given fans so much to shout about in regards to Jobe Bellingham too.
While Clarke seems likely to leave Sunderland by next summer, I’m definitely trust Kristjaan Speakman and Mowbray to bring in a new, young talent and develop them to an extremely high standard once again.