Black Cats put survival first as future of on-loan Cisse must wait
Manager Ricky Sbragia has promised the 27-year-old Frenchman, who is currently on a season-long loan deal at the Stadium of Light from Marseille, that his situation will be resolved swiftly once the Black Cats know where they will be playing their football next season.
Cisse admitted his annoyance earlier this week at the fact that there has as yet been no decisive action, with the Black Cats having agreed the terms of a permanent switch last summer.
However, the weakness of the pound against the euro means the deal could now cost them up to £3 million (e3.2 million) more than they anticipated at the time, and with relegation still a possibility, the club has insisted its own position must come first.
Sbragia said: “Niall Quinn has spoken to Djibril and I have spoken to him about it, and the day everything is safe and rosy will be the day we will sit down and talk to him.
“That has always been the case with all the players at the club, and we just hope we can focus on doing well for Sunderland and putting all our energy into that, and leaving that for another day.
“We have spoken to him umpteen times about it. My priority is to make sure Sunderland go up the table and stay in the Premier League.”
Cisse expressed his concern in the wake of Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Tottenham in which the Wearsiders passed up the opportunity to put themselves within sight of the finishing line when they allowed Robbie Keane to snatch a late equaliser.
Cisse might have chosen his moment a little better, having been hauled off with 17 minutes remaining; Sbragia later expressed disappointment with the failure of he and strike-partner Kenwyne Jones to hold the ball up as Spurs went in search of their equaliser.
The pair have contributed 19 goals between them so far this season with the France international one ahead, but a debate has raged all season over whether they are a natural partnership.
Sbragia admits he is having to tread a careful path as he tries to get the two to gel while at the same time, retaining their selfishness in front of goal.
He said: “We work at it. I just thought we could have held the ball up better on Saturday, that was the biggest point. We were a bit loose on that. I spoke to Djibril on Tuesday morning about it and I showed him some cuttings and showed him some facts, and he accepted it. He is an important player for us and so is Kenwyne. They are individuals and we have always said that, at the end of the day, they are there to score goals.
“But I thought I could have just got a little bit more from them on Saturday. Djibril had a great chance of scoring and if he had scored, we wouldn’t be sitting here taking about it. But in general, he has been very good.”
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