Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey is set for a stint on the sidelines.
Throughout his sunlit tenure on Wearside, timing has largely been Regis Le Bris’ friend. Whether it’s arresting season-concluding slumps just before play-off campaigns or physically manifesting pithy club slogans with stoppage time winners galore, this version of Sunderland that he has helped to sculpt have developed a knack for being alright when it matters most.
And then, like a stepped-on rake to the face, Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Fulham happened. In and of itself, the result wasn’t the end of the world. Yes, it ensured that Le Bris’ men extended their patchy run of form to just two wins in seven Premier League outings, and yes, it dragged them a little further away from that improbable dream of European qualification, but all in all, not a disaster. Sunderland have absorbed equally stinging reversals this season and kept on moving forward.
What really set Sunday apart, however, were the injuries. Pre-match, Reinildo Mandava, Dennis Cirkin, and Bertrand Traore were all ruled out courtesy of assorted complaints, and by half-time Le Bris could add both Nordi Mukiele and full debutant Jocelin Ta Bi to his ever-lengthening list of walking wounded. When Brian Brobbey and Romaine Mundle limped off in varying degrees of discomfort, it started to feel like something of a cruel joke. If the Black Cats have made a habit of landing on their feet in recent times, this was a rare instance of them squarely face-planting the concrete.
In a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Le Bris then delivered a full itemisation of the damage. "So with Nordi and Brian, it will be a bit shorter”, he explained. “It will be between two and four weeks, depending on how they respond to the treatments and the rehab. Dennis and Rei are getting better, we miss them but they are getting better. The timeline should be shorter for Dennis, maybe around ten days, but again it will depend on the end of the process.
“It might be a difficult injury for Romaine. He might be out for a few weeks, maybe a month, maybe more. We still have some assessments to make but we'll have a clearer picture soon. It's still early to say if it's exactly the same injury he's had before, but the early indications are it is not positive. Jocelin might be in the same position as Romaine for a different injury, he might need surgery. It's still a bit early but a few weeks, a month... [maybe more]. It was really unlucky because it was a small kick, but really precise on his weakest point.” When it rains, and so and so forth.
But while some of Le Bris’ fresh conundrums seemingly have obvious solutions - (surely Lutsharel Geertruida starts at right-back against Bournemouth this coming Saturday and Trai Hume makes the now-familiar excursion over to the opposite flank) - some are a touch more bothersome.
Who, for instance, will replace Brobbey at the point of attack? The answer is, of course, either Wilson Isidor or Eliezer Mayenda - but that “or” is a bit of a Gordian Knot, isn’t it?
On goals alone, it would have to be Isidor. The Frenchman has four to his name this season, although he hasn’t found the back of the net since his equaliser at Stamford Bridge all the way back in October. Then again, it’s not as if Mayenda is wading his way through a purple patch either; the 20-year-old hasn’t struck since the opening weekend.
That being said, in the interest of fairness, it is probably worth pointing out that he has also played nearly 500 fewer minutes than Isidor in the top flight over the course of the period since. Chances, in every sense, have been hard to come by.
And if we’re to consider the respective impacts that the two have made during recent cameos, then it is probably Mayenda who has sneaked ahead. Whereas Isidor has been grappling with a pervasive anonymity of late, meandering through the latter stages of contests that have largely run their course before he is thrown into them, his teammate has, at least, offered up scraps of promise here and there.
Of the two, it is Mayenda who, at the time of writing, looks more likely to really ask a question of an opposing backline, to drive at his defender or bundle his way in behind, whether that be through pace or power or an opportunistic blend of both. His footwork is increasingly neat, his signature directness potentially a real asset to a side who have grown guilty of looking quite blunt on occasion.
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But then there are the lingering doubts over Isidor’s future with Sunderland, and where a snub this weekend might leave him in the perceptions of many. For weeks now, it has been apparent that the Frenchman is, in his own ever-amicable way, frustrated by a lack of consistent minutes, and desperately eager to reassert his claim as Le Bris’ main man. The head coach has even told us as much himself.
Now that a natural opening has presented itself, how much would it tell us about Isidor’s standing in the boss’ estimations if he instead preferred Mayenda? Or, more importantly still, what kind of impression would it leave on Isidor regarding his place in the proverbial pecking order? For that reason alone, perhaps Le Bris will be swayed into opting for his more experienced deputy in Brobbey’s absence - not so much as an olive branch or an act of charity, but as a show of faith.
Either way, whether he settles on Isidor or Mayenda come Saturday lunchtime, the Sunderland head coach has an awfully tricky decision to make. And, with his treatment room now bursting at the seams, the timing could hardly be worse.
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