SUNDERLAND’S senior players have held discussions about the club’s penalty-taking plight, with Regis Le Bris adamant a designated penalty-taker will be identified ahead of Saturday’s game at West Brom.
The Black Cats have missed four of the five penalties they have been awarded this season, with Patrick Roberts, Wilson Isidor and Luke O’Nien all having failed to convert from the spot.
O’Nien became the latest player to miss last weekend when his tame effort was saved by Millwall goalkeeper Lukas Jensen, and while the skipper had been selected as the spot-kick taker prior to kick-off, it was still a surprise to see him step up ahead of his team-mates.
With a likely play-off campaign looming, penalties could play a crucial role in determining the outcome of Sunderland’s season, and Le Bris accepts it will be important to rule out as much uncertainty as possible so that the situation does not become even more problematic than it currently is.
The Black Cats boss did not want to reveal who would be tasked with taking the next penalty that is awarded, but after Romaine Mundle was clearly left unhappy at last weekend’s turn of events, he will be making sure all of his players are fully aware of the plan.
“Who will take it? It is a secret now,” said Le Bris. “But we will make a clear decision, and it will be very clear with the players.
“We had a session today with the leadership group, and it was a topic that was on the agenda. It will be clear. We have different options. Pat is the only one who has scored so far, so it could be Pat again. It could be Luke. It could be Wilson. It could be someone else. We will see.”
Le Bris accepts it is unusual for so many penalties to be missed in the same season, but remains convinced his players do not have any deep-rooted issues over spot-kicks.
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Thankfully, last weekend’s miss did not prove costly, with Sunderland closing out a 1-0 win despite O’Nien’s failure to build on their lead, and Le Bris is grasping at the positives of the issue becoming so pronounced. Better to address the problems head on now than be left scrambling around for a solution amid the pressure-cooker environment of a play-off campaign.
“It might be a blessing in disguise,” he said. “We are aware that this part of the game is very important, and it could be an opportunity for us. I want to see the positive side of the situation, which is really unusual.
“It affected the outcome of some games – for example, at Burnley, I think that was clear. But we are still in a good place, even if we know we have to improve this part of our game.
“We started that process last week, and we spoke a lot with the players about how we can manage this situation properly. It will be a good topic during the training sessions going forward.”
Le Bris spoke with Mundle in the aftermath of his emotional outburst last weekend, with the winger being substituted shortly after O’Nien stepped ahead of him to take the penalty that Mundle had won.
The Sunderland boss does not have too much of a problem with emotions running high, and would rather his players were desperate to take responsibility for scoring rather than being keen to pass the buck.
“He (Mundle) was emotional,” said Le Bris. “We need emotions. Sometimes they are positive, sometimes they are negative, but we have to deal with that. It is not a problem. At least they are involved, and they want to score.
“Then, we still have an opponent, and the goalkeeper can make saves. For example, (James) Trafford did well (saving two Isidor penalties for Burnley), and that was the case against Millwall too. We will make a decision now, and it will be clear for everyone.”
