{"id":263317,"date":"2025-11-14T23:45:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T23:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263317\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T23:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T23:45:09","slug":"my-sunderland-exit-left-bitter-taste-but-i-still-think-the-club-is-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263317\/","title":{"rendered":"My Sunderland exit left ‘bitter taste’ but I still think the club is great"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunderland’s ‘remarkable’ start to the season means they could qualify for Europe according to Jack Colback\"JackJack Colback(Image: Richard Sellers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Former Sunderland defensive midfielder Jack Colback reckons \u201canything is possible\u201d when asked whether the Black Cats could make Europe this season.<\/p>\n

A blistering start to the Premier League campaign has seen Regis Le Bris\u2019 side storm to fourth in the table with their sights set on at least a mid-table finish having gathered 19 points already.<\/p>\n

Colback tarnished his reputation with Sunderland<\/a> fans when he left the club 11 years ago to sign for bitter rivals Newcastle United<\/a> on a free transfer, becoming the first player since Lionel P\u00e9rez in 1998 to transfer directly from Sunderland to Newcastle.<\/p>\n

It led to the Black Cats releasing a statement heavily criticising the player and saying his departure left a ‘bitter taste’. However, the 36-year-old still keeps tabs on the Black Cats and has been impressed by their start to the campaign.<\/p>\n

Speaking on talkSPORT Colback said: \u201cIf you take into account what happened last season, the three who got promoted, obviously went straight back down and really struggled, Sunderland\u2019s form is remarkable, really.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019ve made a lot of changes but to do what they\u2019re doing in that league, it\u2019s unbelievable and full credit to the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve obviously signed well, they\u2019ve looked into it properly. The manager for his second season in English football has shown great things. So a long way to continue for them, it\u2019s a great club.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about their European hopes he added: \u201cAnything\u2019s possible. The way the Premier League is now, it\u2019s so spread in terms of the level of player that each club has. It\u2019s so different from when I was there. You can be top four or five and then drop down quite quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at Aston Villa as well, they were struggling and they\u2019re on fire now. I don\u2019t see why not [Sunderland can\u2019t get into Europe].<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re playing against good teams. Against Arsenal they showed up, so I don\u2019t see why not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArsenalArsenal manager Mikel Arteta speaks to Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris(Image: SmartFrame\/News Images)<\/p>\n

Colback played more than 100 games for Sunderland, having come through the youth system. After his contract expired, he decided to join his boyhood club Newcastle on a free transfer aged 24, which angered the Black Cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gave him the opportunity to become a professional footballer and are therefore extremely disappointed in the events that have led to his departure from the club,” they said in an explosive statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t about money – the club agreed to all of the terms demanded of us during discussions and we were always led to believe that Jack wanted to stay with us. At his and his representatives\u2019 request, final talks were put on hold until the club secured its top flight status. To our dismay however, we were subsequently never given the chance to negotiate with him to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him to then leave the club that has supported him throughout his formative years in such a manner, with no chance for Sunderland to recover any of the significant investment that it has made in him as a player, has left a bitter taste.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colback joined Nottingham Forest after leaving Newcastle, and then spent two years at QPR. He left Loftus Road in the summer after his contract expired. He has since appeared in the Baller League.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunderland’s ‘remarkable’ start to the season means they could qualify for Europe according to Jack ColbackJack Colback(Image: Richard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,2904,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-263317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-sunderland-afc","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}