This week’s column comes from Gareth Barker.

I’VE NEVER been a huge fan of Connor Wickham.

Before is incredible run at the end of last season, which came out of nowhere, I was hopeful we’d move him on in the summer. There were many excuses made for him. Yes, he is young. He never really ever had a run in the team. But there were a number of managers who had shunned the opportunity to gamble on Wickham in the hope that he’d reach his potential.

It was more the last throw of the dice from Poyet that saw Connor come into a misfiring Sunderland side. He gave us a boost when all looked lost. He might not have played brilliantly in general play, but he scored vital goals and was the catalyst behind the ‘great escape’. He paid back his transfer fee in five matches when you consider the financial implications of relegation. For this, we should be forever grateful.

Read the rest of the column here.