I watched Brian Brobbey's Sunderland debut vs Crystal Palace - this is what I thought

I have been stung before. Precisely four weeks ago, on a similarly languid Sunday afternoon, I sat here and wrote an article reflecting on Marc Guiu’s Sunderland debut, post-Burnley defeat; what he would bring to side, how Regis Le Bris might opt to deploy him. By the beginning of September, the Chelsea loanee’s time on Wearside was over, dissolving into nothingness like a clump of candy floss in a puddle. Still, we’ll always have Huddersfield...

Brian Brobbey should not vanish so rapidly. The Dutchman, a permanent arrival from Ajax on deadline day, was parachuted in as Guiu’s replacement - another old school, obelisk of a frontman tasked with providing an alternative approach to the flightier directness of Messrs Mayenda and Isidor.

On Saturday afternoon, with Sunderland in the midst of grappling their way to an admirable point against Crystal Palace, Brobbey emerged from the away dugout, yellow number nine on his back, and was promptly hurled into the fray. So, without further ado, let’s have another crack at this...

The first thing to concede is that this was no bow for the ages. Brobbey was involved in nine actions at Selhurst Park, and just three of those incidents turned out as he might have hoped. His one attempted pass went astray, he won just half of his duels, and he failed to muster a shot on goal. To that end, his inaugural outing as a Sunderland player was approximately twice as long and half as memorable as Guiu’s. Given that the Spaniard did little more than charge around like a toddler at a birthday party, that is perhaps saying something.

But - and it is a notable but - there are caveats. For one, Brobbey evidently needs time to bring himself up to speed. The 23-year-old has not kicked a ball in anger since May, having missed the start of Ajax’s campaign due to an ankle complaint. Factor in the famed intensity of the Premier League, and it is only natural that appeared a touch rusty.

Then, of course, there are the in-game circumstances of his debut. Brobbey played 21 minutes in South London, and for a solid chunk of that cameo, Sunderland had resorted to a more conservative stance, sitting deeper and fending off Palace attack after Palace attack after Palace attack. Understandably, Brobbey observed most of those exchanges from afar, waiting for an opportunity to spearhead a counter that never really came.

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In that sense, any kind of negative criticism would be very harsh. It would be a little like having a go at me for not clambering down from the press box and sticking a foot in on Jean-Philippe Mateta; the truth is that Brobbey and I were equally as involved in the action taking place in Sunderland’s defensive third for much of his cameo.

And yet, despite much of his enforced anonymity, it remains fairly obvious as to why he has been brought in. The lad is a proper unit - a hulking handful of a presence, an unstoppable force, and immovable Brobject. His physical profile automatically gives centre-halves something else to think about compared to the ferret-like Isidor or the deceptively predatory Mayenda, with his hunger and dribbling patterns like a Nokia Snake. Brobbey will occupy his man, will back in and hold up. He will provide respite when needed and a bruising attacking outlet when the Black Cats are looking to batter their way through stubborn back lines. It is perhaps telling that of the three duels he did win against Palace, two were aerial.

There is, of course, much more to come from Brobbey. Or at least, you would hope there is. I’m not going to insult your intelligence by suggesting that Saturday’s display was him at his best, or that he had some kind of seismic impact on proceedings; it wasn’t, and he didn’t. But even in his relative obscurity, there were faint glimpses of the player that he can become in red and white.

Your next Sunderland read: I just watched Sunderland battle to hard-earned point against Crystal Palace - this is what they did right