Is he off or isn’t he? We have had to endure speculation for a season or more that the lure of a bigger club – yes, there are a handful of them – would deprive us of Simon Mignolet’s services. It was perhaps inevitable that the flattering interest would eventually turn his head. We have to be adult about this: he is not a Sunderland supporter but a professional footballer who happens to be playing for us and must make the most of his abilities in what, even for keepers, is a short career. Thinking of Liverpool, even players who are Sunderland supporters and playing for SAFC are generally more attached to professional progression and self-interest than sentiment. Rather like most other people. Pete Sixsmith discusses the contribution to our cause Mignolet has made and for which, if go he must, he will always receive a warm welcome from the vast majority of Sunderland fans …
