Sunderland have been criticised for continuing to persist with Jobe Bellingham.
Jobe Bellingham moved to Wearside from Birmingham City and put on some really promising performances in his first few outings with the club.
The midfielder netted a brace in a 2-1 win over Rotherham United in August, before adding to his tally against Birmingham, Leeds United and Plymouth.
Despite being Sunderland’s second top scorer behind Jack Clarke, Jobe has come under fire for his disappointing performances over the last few months.
Fans have often called for the 18-year-old to be rested, however he has now started 32 of the Black Cats’ 35 games in the Championship this term and has played the full 90 minutes on 15 occasions.
The club have previously been warned not to allow Jobe to burn out, but they have continued to play him and have now been criticised for doing so.
Taking to X, journalist Michael Graham wrote: “Obvious parallels between Jobe now and Dan Neil in 2021/22. Clearly suffering from burnout.
“Can’t do a thing about Jude comparisons and they’re not fair on him. That said, it’s all now starting to look a bit like nepotism or contractual, and that’s even less fair on him.”
Should Jobe Bellingham be dropped?
Supporters had high expectations of Jobe Bellingham because of his famous brother, but he has so far failed to impress bar a couple of decent performances early on.
It was another underwhelming display against Norwich and it is beginning to become a real problem that we refuse to drop him. Tony Mowbray, Michael Beale and Mike Dodds have all favoured him, and his poor form and fatigue just seems to go ignored.
The current interim coach has heaped praise on Chris Rigg though, so maybe it is now time to bring him in for his teenage teammate. We are putting unwanted pressure on Jobe that could be solved by simply sticking him on the bench for a few weeks.
Jobe definitely has the talent and potential that we thought he had in the summer, but we have handled him completely wrong and he would benefit from some time out of the limelight.