Sunderland coach blown away by Luke O’Nien, Dan Neil and Dennis Cirkin’s influence on academy prospects
Graeme Murty says Luke O’Nien, Dan Neil and Dennis Cirkin have lifted Sunderland’s youngsters to new levels – on and off the pitch
Graeme Murty has hailed the “exceptional” influence of senior Sunderland players Luke O’Nien, Dan Neil and Dennis Cirkin on the club’s next generation, praising their leadership, standards and the way they have guided academy teammates throughout the club’s Premier League International Cup campaign.
The double-promotion winning trio dropped down to Murty’s squad on Wednesday at the Stadium of Light as the young Black Cats won 7-2 in Europe against Athletic Club Bilbao. Murty said their presence has had a transformative effect on the group, with younger players benefiting massively from the experience and insight the trio bring to training, matches and analysis sessions. Reflecting on their involvement, Murty said the senior players set the tone throughout the recent European fixture.
“Exceptional. At half-time, we talked about what the players had done really well, and the seniors were waxing lyrical about the communication, the alterations to the shape, understanding pressing triggers and the cohesiveness of the team,” Murty said. “A lot of that came from those senior players imparting knowledge, putting demand on the lads with their tone of voice. The positive modelling we get from that is really invaluable.
“We can talk about it all we like, but for the young lads to experience it alongside people of that calibre is massive. I’m really thankful they approached the game in the manner in which they did and approached it in the way that they did because it was exceptional from start to finish.”
Murty also highlighted how Neil’s presence in midfield helped push young teammates and goalscorers on the night, Jaydon Jones and Ben O’Middlemas, to new levels during the match. “They have to be able to go and prove that they can stand in a first-team changing room, shoulder-to-shoulder with people of a first-team standard, whatever their standard might be, and handle it,” he said.
“Both of them showed that alongside that influence. They matched his intensity, they matched his quality at times. I’m not saying they’re going to do it all the time, but they showed that they have capacity beyond potentially what they might believe. Having guys like that who are selfless and so giving to the young players, I really think that it’s not only this competition, but other competitions, it’s been one of the cornerstones of what our club and our academy is built on.”
Murty then detailed how O’Nien and Cirkin have become heavily involved in the squad’s pre-briefs and debriefs, offering elite-level insight and raising standards across the group. “It was brilliant. We did the pre-brief with him, we did the debrief with him. Dennis was in the debrief the other day – sitting at the back, very, very cool, but when he talks, people listen,” Murty said. “Luke’s exactly the same. We urge them, and we are really respectful to them, but we urge them to be in the debrief because their insight and the way that they see the game and the level of detail they put into their debrief is fantastic.”
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He added that the first-team players were surprised by the maturity and accountability of the academy group. “Our players, though, I think, might have shocked them in the week with their level of prep and their level of accountability. The standards they hold one another to in terms of their debrief were quite ruthless,” Murty said.
“We’ve worked really hard to create a really healthy environment around that debrief and, once again, having players of that standing come and just offer insight and offer nuggets of wisdom is something we’re incredibly thankful for.”