Yesterday Wes Brown and John O’Shea completed their anticipated moves to Sunderland yesterday ending their long careers at Old Trafford. Between them the defensive pair had completed 28 years’ service at Manchester United amassing an incredible 753 appearances during that time in which they picked up trophies almost every year.
Many fans are disappointed that the two have moved on, as despite the signing of Phil Jones and the emergence of Chris Smalling last year, players like Brown and O’Shea were always players who you never thought would leave the club.
A mixture of the young defensive talent at the club and injuries to both players has meant that now sadly they both have left the club – but alike all the great players that have left the club – both Brown and O’Shea leave some magnificent memories behind them.
John’s moments of course range from his fantastic winner at Anfield that proved vital in our run-in that saw us win the 2006/07 Premier League to his shocking chip to score our fourth at Arsenal in a 4-2 victory that was one of the games of the Premier League back in 2004/05.
Wes’ moments range from his debut against Leeds when he kept Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink in his pocket to his goals against Juventus in the Champions League and Liverpool a couple of season ago at Old Trafford.
Both players have given a lot to the cause at United and I’m sure alike other United blogs and fans, I am not alone in wishing them both well at their new club. Sunderland of course managed by our ex-captain Steve Bruce are looking to really push on next season.
Wes and John have both signed four-year deals at the Stadium of Light and whilst there’s no doubt that both of them will younger players improve, it would be great if they could enjoy success at Sunderland who are a club long overdue success in my opinion.
It shall be interesting to see whether Darron Gibson signs for Sunderland as well, as currently his move to Wearside is still hanging in the balance although reports suggest that the move will still likely happen in the coming weeks.
There’s no doubt that Gibson would do well playing regularly there and along with the likes of Craig Gardner, Sebastian Larsson and David Vaughan would base a strong spine for Sunderland’s midfield for the next 4-5 years at least.
So whilst we no longer have Wesley Brown and we no longer have John O’Shea, Manchester will still always be dreaming of silverware in May. Let’s hope come May next year, we will be ending the season at the Stadium of Light after crowning a 20th League Title and that our fans can start the chant that I’ve modified in the last sentence again which would no doubt please our former defenders greatly.
By Adam Dennehey – @ADennehey87
