One former Sunderland player who struggled in the disastrous 2017/18 season now finds himself performing in League One.
Sunderland currently find themselves in a healthy state, both on-and-off the pitch.
Despite recent form, Sunderland still find themselves 4th in the Championship, and with a fighting chance of reaching promotion to the Premier League via the playoffs, whilst financially, the club is in a healthy state, especially with the top assets that they have dotted around the first team squad.
In fact, it is night-and-day different to the state of the team and club in the aftermath of the 2016/17 drop to the Championship, which saw Sunderland unable to acclimatise to the second tier and suffer a double relegation.
A lot of the issues came down to the recruitment drive in the summer that fell flat on its face, including the signing of one ‘saviour’ that never lived up to expectations. Fast forward seven years and that same man has finally found his feet in League One.
Former Sunderland striker Ashley Fletcher finds form with Blackpool seven years after disastrous Black Cats spell
One of Sunderland’s key signings ahead of the 2017/18 Championship season was youngster Ashley Fletcher, who arrived on loan from Middlesbrough.
He struggled throughout his short tenure on Wearside, notching just two goals, and was unable to replicate the goalscoring prowess that Lewis Grabban showed before his untimely and controversial departure in January that season.
Thankfully for the now-29-year-old striker, he has found his feet in League One, bagging nine goals and four assists under former Sunderland boss Steve Bruce at Blackpool. This includes four goals in his previous seven, a remarkable feat for the attacker who struggled as soon as last season at Sheffield Wednesday, where he was unable to find the back of the net.
It is brilliant that Fletcher has finally found his level, as he was ultimately set up for failure at the Stadium of Light after what he has previously said about his time at the club.
Ashley Fletcher expectations led to difficult Wearside spell
There is no disguising the fact that Fletcher wasn’t the answer to Sunderland’s issues in the final third, with the attacker taking nine games to find the back of the net after his January arrival.
At that time, there were very few doubts over his abilities, as seen in short spells with West Ham and Middlesbrough, but he clearly struggled to lead the line for the Black Cats, something that is understandable when looking at the pressure that was mounted upon his shoulders.
Speaking previously about his spell at Sunderland, Fletcher, per The Gazette, once said: “I was 22 and I was brought in as the guy to save Sunderland. They were in the bottom three and I was supposed to be this guy coming in to score all the goals.
“So automatically all the pressure is on. On day one at the press conference, I remember one of the reporters saying, ‘you have to be our saviour’, and I was like, ‘wow’.
“There were no strikers. There was one other lad, a young lad, Josh Maja who’s gone to Bordeaux now. Just the two of us, 22 and 19.
“I felt so much responsibility to score goals. Obviously, I’m a striker, it’s what I’m paid to do. But at such a young age, at such a big club, I won’t lie, it was tough and I found it really difficult.”