Jermain Defoe: Sunderland striker slams ‘soft’ players who have made excuses for Black Cats’ poor start to season
JERMAIN DEFOE wants his Sunderland team-mates to stop using the “excuse” of managerial upheaval for another season of struggle.
David Moyes is already the FOURTH boss Defoe has had since he moved to the Stadium of Light just 20 months ago, having played under Sam Allardyce, Dick Advocaat and Gus Poyet in a year and a half.
And the rock-bottom Black Cats are without a win since the Scot replaced England-bound Allardyce in the summer.
But while acknowledging Moyes does need time to settle in, star striker Defoe said: “These things happen in football — it’s just an excuse for players to say, ‘There’s been ups and downs, the manager has gone, a new one has come in, there’s been so many managers’.
“So what? You go out there and perform.
“You’re playing in the Premier League — it’s something you’ve always wanted to do since you were a kid. So if you cannot motivate yourself and go out there and perform, in my opinion you shouldn’t be playing the game.”
Defoe has also hit out at the “soft” stars who have shunned signing on because of its location and the Wearside weather.
Moyes and his predecessors have all found it difficult to attract transfer targets to the North East.
But Defoe, who joined from MLS side Toronto, believes it is the perfect place to play for anyone who just wants to concentrate on their game.
The ex-England hitman, 34, added: “It’s cold — that’s it. Everything else, it’s just an excuse. And if you love football, you cannot make excuses.
“If you want to play in front of amazing fans, at a big stadium, at a club with fantastic training facilities, then put some tracksuit bottoms on and come and play for Sunderland.
“It’s a soft way out to make excuses about the weather.
“I’m a real London boy but I’ve loved it, I’ve enjoyed it and embraced it.
“London’s so busy and in a way it’s nice to come away from that. There are not so many distractions. For my football, for my career, it’s better.
“Now I just chill after training. No distractions. I enjoy it up here.”
Defoe enjoys being a match-winner and the adulation that brings from the fans, as he once again reiterates his dream of being seen in the same light as club legend Kevin Phillips.
He certainly did his cause no harm last season when his 15 league goals just about single-handedly kept them up.
Defoe, who has already scored four times this term, is now not just the team’s talisman but also one of its chief leaders — a veteran voice in the Black Cats’ young dressing room.
Ahead of tomorrow’s cruncher at fellow strugglers Stoke, he said: “I’ll say to the boys, ‘Just keep a clean sheet and if I get a chance, then I believe we’ll win’.
“Be solid, keep the clean sheets, give ourselves a chance to win the game.
“I always believe that if I get the chances, I will score goals.”