So important has the skipper become that Mowbray says he has acted to protect him at times when Sunderland have had games in quick succession. "He brings experience, he brings knowledge, he understands my mentality and he's almost like a voice in the dressing room who understands how I work.
Mowbray said: "We get on very well as we've always done, and I'm delighted that he is here. It's fantastic to see him now at this football club being a very, very crucial part of the team and balancing a different type of football team and a different midfield, and being an integral cog in that team."Įvans had a difficult start to his time at Sunderland in the early part of last season, but he went on to be a key man as the club secured promotion via the play-offs and his knowhow in the middle of the park this term has been crucial as the Black Cats have made the step up to the Championship. "He didn't really fit into the way we were playing and, allied to the injuries, the decision was made. Generally, even before Corry had those injuries, he didn't really fit into the balance of this ball retention, moving it around midfield, dominating possession, trying to feed the strikers with Brereton off one side and Gallagher on the other. "At Blackburn we tried to develop a ball retention team, and in the year before Corry left we had Lewis Holtby who had been at Tottenham and came from the Bundesliga, we had Stewart Downing who played for this club and for Middlesbrough for a long time, so real high-quality individuals with the football. He said: "I've been hugely impressed with his composure on the ball. Mowbray also revealed that the style he developed at Blackburn did not get the best out of Evans, in marked contrast to Sunderland's style of play which suits the 32-year-old down to the ground. "And for a senior international player like Corry, the salary level we might have had to get to, we let him go and explore the market which is what he did and he came to Sunderland." His contract was running down, he wanted to play football - he's an international footballer - and a decision was made to encourage the young players at the club by giving them opportunities to play. "If Corry wasn't going to play enough minutes, as he didn't that season basically because he fractured his eye-socket and his skull and then broke his toe in his first game back, then it was an easy transition. READ MORE: Sunderland are walking dangerous selection path with threat to potent attacking weapon
We had John Buckley, for instance, who was a young lad and was probably on a third of what he was on, and he needed the encouragement to play. "It was basically a situation where he was running out of contract and we had to decide whether to offer him a contract at a level that would improve on his current contract. "There was no bad feeling when Corry left," said Mowbray. Mowbray was in charge at Blackburn at the time, and he has give the background to Evans' departure. Northern Ireland international midfielder Evans spent eight years at Ewood Park before leaving the Lancashire club when his contract ran out in the summer of 2021 and signing for the Black Cats on a free. Tony Mowbray has explained the thinking behind Blackburn's decision to let Corry Evans leave for Sunderland - and why he is delighted they have been reunited on Wearside.
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