Jack Rodwell claims he was scapegoated by Sunderland fans despite 'doing nothing wrong'.
The midfielder, now at Sheffield United, became a much-maligned character on Wearside as his dreadful spell at Sunderland ended in apt fashion, with the midfielder making just six appearances in his final season as the Black Cats were relegated from the Championship.
Rodwell become the focal point of fan anger towards a large group of Sunderland players who appeared to show no desire or fight for the club, and the former England international's seeming unwillingness to play despite being the only player who didn't have a relegation wage-cut clause in his contract when the club dropped out of the Premier League.
He didn't play at all under Chris Coleman, who arrived in the October of that season naming Rodwell as someone he hoped to get the best out of. As the months went on without Rodwell available for selection, however, their relationship grew more and more acrimonious. By April, Coleman said he didn't even know where Rodwell was, when asked.
And although released six months after his departure, the Netflix Sunderland 'Til I Die documentary hardly helped Rodwell's case when he was seen laughing when asked if he'd be playing at the weekend, simply replying 'no'.
Despite that, while reflecting on his time at the club with the official Everton FC podcast, he seemed to believe he was innocent and treated unfortunately.
“It wasn’t a good season for anyone but especially for me, I didn’t even kick a ball that season,” he said.
"Like you said, I feel like I got made a scapegoat without doing anything wrong really. I was ready to play but for whatever reason I wasn’t ever picked, things like that happen in football.
“I don’t really speak about it in the media, I could go on and on but I don’t really because it’s part and parcel of the game. I just get on with it and try to keep positive and don’t even really think about it.
“I could look back and say ‘this is how they treated me, this is what they did, this is how they were wrong about this’, but I know what happened and I know what type of person I am and that’s the main thing really, I just try and let my football do the talking.
“I just don’t think they were ever going to play me, it was behind the scenes decisions that were out of my control.
“I was just going about my business as normal, training every day as hard as I could. If I get picked or if I don’t get picked that’s not up to me.
“The reasons why I was told I wasn’t getting picked were other reasons that I don’t want to go into, nor need to. I just turned up for training and if I wasn’t getting picked, I wasn’t getting picked.”
Despite initially turning down a club exit in the January of that season, he did eventually accept a pay-off when Stewart Donald and his team arrived at the club.
It's understood that he was happy to just stay and continue earning his wage - believed to be around £70k-per-week while never playing, but it was made clear to him that he would not have a comfortable work-life if that were his choice. The club had a strict training regime planned for him and his representative eventually agreed to a mutual termination of his contract on Wearside.
After initially signing for Blackpool after his spell on Wearside, Rodwell is now back in the Premier League after re-signing with Sheffield United this summer. He admitted he does expect Sunderland to be back there soon enough too.
He continued: "It’s a massive club, it’s a shame where they are really. I don’t think anyone really expects them to be in League One. Obviously they missed promotion this year in unfortunate circumstances with the virus and things like that.
“Like you said, it’s a massive club, massive fanbase, great stadium, it’s got the history, it’s got everything it needs to be a big club. It’s just unfortunate for the last few years that it has been on a bit of a downward slide.
“I’m sure they’ll bounce back soon, it might just take a couple more years to just cement themselves as a bit of a Championship team and then build from there really. Maybe two or three years you might see them back in the Premier League, you just don’t know do you?”
