Rest assured, stray Celtic fans, the headline is meant tongue in cheek. In fact, you can come here and tell us what sort of player Adam Matthews really is. There is no doubt that Big Dick is more comfortable working alongside a Director of Football than his immediate predecessors and we can be sure that Lee Congerton is working his socks off looking to bring in new faces whilst offloading those deemed surplus to requirements. Probably best to ignore paper talk otherwise we would already have signed Sam Byram or Carl Jenkinson to fill the problematical full back slot. The signing of Adam Matthews has not only saved the club a load of dosh but also kept our loan options open. Pete Sixsmith extends hearty Salut! Sunderland greetings to the Welshman…
A warm welcome to our first “new” signing of the summer, Adam Matthews.
His Wiki details tell us that he;
* was born in Swansea, that “ugly, lovely town” of Dylan Thomas although Lonely Planet described it as “an ashtray of a place.” They won’t be selling many copies on the banks of the Tawe.
* was a rugby player at school (Union, alas, not the proper game) and almost signed for the Ospreys, the team that trample around the Liberty Stadium when the Swans are away. Do they have an avian fixation in Abertawe?
* is 1m 78cms in new money, which we oldies translate to 5’10”, the same height as Bobby Mitchell (1 game in 1973), Marco Gabbiadini (a few more between 1987 and 1991) and one of his predecessors at right back, Darius Kubicki, who made 124 consecutive appearances before Peter Reid mysteriously dropped him for Gareth Hall at Derby in September 1996.
* was born on 13th. January 1992, a few days after we walloped Millwall 6-2 (Hardyman, Byrne, Goodman (3) and Davenport) and a few days before Byrne and Goodman combined to give us a splendid 2-1 win at Derby in what was the best League performance we turned in under Malcolm Crosby.
* was originally at Swansea but left and was then picked up by Cardiff City. He made his debut for The Bluebirds at Blackpool on the 15th August 2009, so he would have heard the Roker Roar as we put Bolton Wanderers to the sword on that day, thanks to a goal from Darren B£nt and sterling performances from Lee Cattermole, Lorik Cana and Steve (“They can never forgive my Geordie roots”) Bruce.
* moved to Celtic when his contract ran out and made his green and white debut at Aberdeen on August 7th 2011, the day we played a turgid (familiar word on this site) 0-0 draw at Easter Road against the Hibees.
* scored his first goal for Celtic against Arbroath at Gayfield. Had he put it over the bar, no doubt the ball would still be floating down the North Sea to Roker and Seaburn. If you thought Roker Park and Blundell Park are close to the sea, pay a visit to the Red Lichties.
* has 12 caps for Wales and was on the bench for the epoch making victory over Belgium last month. He could be on his way to France next summer. He joins such famous names as L R Roose, Trevor Ford and, er, Carl Robinson as an SAFC Welsh internationals.
He has a reputation for getting forward and appears to be the type of full back that Dick Advocaat likes. Reveillere was a good defender, but, that superb cross against Burnley apart, not great in advanced positions.
We have paid £2m for a young player who has had extensive European experience with Celtic, is a member of a successful international side and who is obviously very keen to progress his career in England. He was probably equally keen to avoid being exposed to Partick Thistle’s new mascot when Celtic turned up at Firhill!!! (If you haven’t seen it follow this link – Ed)
Welcome to Sunderland, Adam, and we hope that your stay here is a long and successful one. We shall run a critical eye over him at Heritage Park on Thursday night.
I thought he was a great squad player. Better going forward than defending. A good run of games and you mackem boys will see a great player and a snip at 2 mill. All the best to yourselfs and adam for the season ahead . HH
Hope Sunderland do well this season, and with Matthews signig will only help their season. He can score the odd peach too as can be seen here.
All the best for the next season from a #Celtic fan.
https://youtu.be/gUR6k_o6cpQ
As a Celtic fan, I’m disappointed that Adam has left. Apart from anything else, he’s a decent character and really nice guy. Like others have said, his first 18 months or so, he was excellent. If he can stay free of injury, Sunderland have got themselves a bargain in the crazy inflated market in England. I don’t think Celtic are as well covered at right back as some are saying, though hopefully Lustig stays fit and Janko cones good. Matthews can also play as wing back, has good pace. Good luck son.
Regards the fullback position Celtic is fairly well covered so £2m is a good bit of business for both clubs and I believe Matthews was looking for a move South for a while now so all good and I thanks him for his service to the Bhoys and wish him every success.
Good luck to Sunderland and Matthews, good player going to a good side and a bargain at £2m. I hope wee Dick gives him a chance. Matthews if he steers clear of injury will be a great signing and a mainstay in his national team and he will not cause you any bother off the field or on social media like some players can.
Good job of admitting the title is a joke. He is a good player and I would say he could be great but has been injured too often. Thought we could get closer to 5 mil for him but last year and injured 2 mil is good I guess, since lustic is better and the man u kid Janko new he had to go. He has played well in CL helping Celtic beat barca and other top teams (better then yous and epl, just incase you really ment what the tittle says ha) hope for him he can stay injured free and have a long run of games cause you guys have a good player
Celtic fan. Mathews started fantastically well and for around the first 18 months looked like he might develop into one of the outstanding full backs in UK football. But then he stalled and never really hit the same heights again.
He can certainly play and is good pushing forward but of late I’ve felt he’s been lazy getting back. A move is probably what he needed.
He goes with the goodwill of the majority, if not all, of the Celtic support. I hope does well and pushes on. Good luck to the Mackems for the season.
Celtic fan _ Adam is a cracking player but has struggled with injuries . He has never let us down and think you have picked up a real bargain here, sad to see him go but we still have lustig who is better. At 23 he is a greater player who has time to get even better. He will never get to play the likes of barca or inter again playing here but has the potential to move to a big club. Good luck Adam hope this move works out for you. Hail hail.
We haven’t had a player who’s claimed right back as their own since Phil Bardsley and hopefully this is the lad to do it . Sounds an exciting prospect and if he can do it in the champions league there’s no reason to fear that he can’t do it in the EPL , a league that is overrated at times and stuffed with average teams barring the top elite and I’m well aware that we’re in the former not the latter category. Always had a soft spot for the Bhoys myself and again we’re investing all our hopes and it seems Shorts money in a former old firm manager . Hopefully Mr Advoocat can succeed where Mr O’Neill floundered , though I still feel sacking him and then replacing him with Di Canio of all people will go down as one of the most bizzare episodes of even our recent history and it also lost us a lot of good will . Lets hope things are on the up at last , I type this before the start of every season…..
A nice young guy but…too nice, lacking physicality, presence and dig. Hope I’m wrong and he does well. HailHail to the Northeast(future Independence seeking neighbours from the leaches of Westminster/Southeast)
Football aside, many of us are campaigning for the border to be moved to Teesside:-)
Calm yersel Tim, as the man says the headline is totally tongue in cheek.
Sixer, if the Black Cats are getting the player that we had before his first major injury setback then u are getting a cracking attacking full-back for a major bargain price.
Unfortunately he never really hit that form again due to constantly lying on his backside on the treatment table but he is still a young man so with an injury-free run he could get there again.
I wish him all the very best and I hope u Black Cats can at least attain the giddy heights of 17th place or better!
@TimMalloy, I am a Celtic fan & you say you “Only read the headline” (?) Then trashed his club.
If you read the article the writer said he was joking. Bit embarrassing to not read the article but write a lot of guff.
Have now read the article and guff is the word.
Tongue in cheek you understand…
As a half-Sunderland supporter I read this article.
Expect more reaction as above from that lot. Surprised he can read never mind the whole headline without the usual venom.
Good luck next season and good luck to the Little General for next season.
I have to ask……what does a half-Sunderland supporter look like?
A Newcastle United fan!
Someone able to read beyond a headline and avoid making himself look bit of a prat?
Tim Molloy – It’s so easy to spot the newco fans masquerading as Celtic fans these days. Seriously, TIM MALLOY, you couldn’t have picked a more obvious name if you tried!
I take offence to that.
The only masquerading going on is newco as an oldco.
A discussion beyond this forum…
Still haven’t read this article, convivial or otherwise.
Author penned a contentious headline with searching undertones, which to me, deserved a retort. I obliged as I deemed necessary; as you and various others have responded here also.
I do not have an issue with Sunderland AFC, or with Matthews please understand. Both to me seem well suited and I do wish the very best for the partnership in going forward (pardon the pun).
As for the moniker; not as surprising as finding out the ‘A’ in ‘SAFC’ stands for ‘Association’.
Can someone explain why?
Back in the day (1860s) The Football Association laid down the Laws of the Association game – and it became known as Association Football to distinguish it from Rugby Football. Some Rugby teams such as Leicester Tigers are officially known as Leicester Football Club as they pre-date Leicester City (or Leicester Fosse as was). SAFC still use Association for that historical reason.
Celtic fan here and stumbled across this. Very witty and well written!
Anyway I don’t think many Celtic fans are sad to see him go, not because he is a bad player but because he has stagnated. Plus the majority of us Celtic fans hate Newcastle after all the crap that muppet Pardew had to say about us. (although what Big Mike Ashley is doing to the newco Rangers is starting to make up for it). So him going to Sunderland wouldn’t cause much anguish among us.
He made plenty of appearances for us but he would be injured for 2 weeks here or 3 weeks there and it never allowed him to get a consistent run of games.
On his day he is one the best full backs in the UK. A year before he came to us Arsenal and Man Utd were in for him then he had a falling out with Dave Jones (Another muppet!). For some reason Jones dropped him and we swooped in for him. I don’t think you will find a single Celtic fan who will say it was a bad move. A shame he was more or less used as backup for Lustig, who is much more defensive, as to me he had a lot more potential.
He gets up and down the pitch well and can put in a decent cross. He can be caught out of position often though but I feel this is more down to him making up for James Forrest’s inability to track back correctly.
I think at £2 million you have got an absolute bargain but it’s our policy these days that we don’t let players run down their contract so it had to be done.
Ironically his best performances for Celtic have probably been at left back.
You have got a solid player in Matthews and I just hope he gets the kick up the arse he needs to fulfill his potential.
Hail Hail and good luck for the season!
Only read the headline. Joke.
Surely should have read stepping on something having left Celtic.
You and Celtic – having offloaded one of our slack fringe players for good money – will be the only time the two clubs are ever mentioned in the same sentence.
You only make it as a provincial team at best; and not even as anywhere near worth mentioning as your average neighbours.
Lower league level obscurity with outcasts.
Delusions of mediocrity. The vane of the North East.
Keep the fantasy going.
Tim, it was clearly a joke, don’t be a prat. Anyway, he’s a player whose definitely better going forward than defending, hope your right centre back and winger are good. That said, his greatest performance for us was at left back in that famous 2-1 game against Barcelona where he never gave Messi a sniff cutting inside. Also he’s not the most reliable player from an injury perspective. Is he good enough for the premier league? Maybe.