It was billed as the Last Dance, Sunderland borrowing the phrase used to chronicle Michael Jordan’s iconic last season in the NBA to mark Jermaine Defoe’s return.
But for the Black Cats and their returning striker the lights have already come up early on the briefest of encounters. When they say you should never go back in football, Defoe’s waltz into the sunset is exactly what they had in mind.
Don’t get it twisted. At 39 he walks away with his reputation as one of the best forwards of his era assured. He is a shoo-in for the Premier League’s Hall of Fame and you only have to glance at the tributes paid to a player who had the sharpest of scoring instincts to realise what an impact he made.
From the World Cup to White Hart Lane, he arrived with a guarantee of goals. It was no different on Wearside, where he saved the club from relegation in his first spell and cemented his status by supporting the heroic six-year old Bradley Lowery in his inspirational fight against cancer.
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Underneath the kind words and platitudes, though, it is difficult not to feel dissatisfied with a decision that has left Sunderland short-handed for the run-in.
The Black Cats hierarchy moved for Defoe despite the reservations of manager Lee Johnson, signing him after the latter’s dismissal following a heavy defeat at Bolton. i understands the sacking was not connected to the Defoe signing – but they moved quickly to recruit him after Johnson left the building.
It generated enthusiasm and few supporters dissented from the joy on Wearside at his homecoming. But his lack of impact – seven games, no goals and in truth little of the magic that became his trademark – speaks of a signing that simply hasn’t worked out.
That Sunderland were in contention for automatic promotion when he arrived and are now clinging on to the play-offs tells is own story about how the season has veered off track. The delay in appointing a new manager is part of the reason but any momentum the club hoped to pick up through Defoe’s recruitment has well and truly vanished.
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Defoe told Talksport he could tell he was a “yard off”, even in training. For a man with such high professional standards, it would be a red flag that he couldn’t ignore. He said he didn’t want to block the way for a younger striker but the sudden nature of his retirement still comes as a shock.
The season has only a few weeks to run and it is puzzling that he couldn’t hang on to support a squad that is short on firepower if leading scorer Ross Stewart succumbs to injury.
Sunderland’s approach is to take risks with the admission that some might not pay off. For all the emotion, Defoe’s return did not.
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