The draw with Watford showed that it will be much more difficult for Sunderland to move on from one recently departed key figure.
Sunderland dropped two points at the weekend as they drew 2-2 with Tom Cleverley’s Watford at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats set up incredibly defensively, and lacked the edge needed in the final third, with Wilson Isidor notably getting very little of the ball throughout the tie.
There are several reasons as to why it can be suggested why Sunderland fell short against the Hornets, including the injury dealt to star midfielder Jobe Bellingham, as well as the decision to include Salis Abdul Samed in the side, which meant that the Black Cats sat much deeper and struggled to bombard the Watford defence.
However, they were also missing another key man who could have had a big impact on the Sunderland dressing room, and now Regis Le Bris’ side will need to climatise to life without him.
Sunderland must climatise to life without Mike Dodds as Regis Le Bris downplayed tough task
There is no doubt that Mike Dodds, prior to his departure to become head coach at Wycombe Wanderers, played an integral part in the current Sunderland side.
Dodds has played a massive part in Chris Rigg’s development, as well as being one of the reasons why Bellingham joined the club in the first place, and it could be suggested that Le Bris and the Sunderland squad may not have expected his departure to have such an impact.
Le Bris suggested following Dodds’ departure that he will now ‘pass on some responsibility’ to the players and that they must ‘execute some of the tasks by themselves’, something that may be more difficult for the more youthful ranks in Sunderland’s side.
There were several reasons as to why Sunderland fell short against Watford, and the loss of Dodds could have certainly played its part, and rather than pushing collective responsibility across the squad, it should be up to some of the more prominent and experienced players to galvanise the squad.
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Black Cats leaders must fill Mike Dodds void
The players that will be affected the most by Dodds’ departure will be the younger ranks, which means that the leaders in-and-around the squad must fill that void left by Dodds.
For example, Dan Neil and Luke O’Nien should be ready to take responsibility and act as a leader figure in the dressing room to make up for what has been left by Dodds, and even the likes of Bellingham can help them with this, despite being just 19-years-old.
Whatever the impact of Dodds’ departure, it is clear that he was well-regarded by the entire squad, and his ability to get the best out of the squad certainly can not be downplayed.