Maybe :)
It's weird how far behind the times some fans are. We're well supported, well financed, and we've been above them for 4 / 5 years. And we're trying to buy their best player, but he wouldn't be our best player. You'd have to be fairly deluded to think it's even a sideways move, let...
He won't join us for two reasons:
1) We're too far from Scotland and he has a baby.
2) Although we've been in the Championship for the last 4 seasons (and in the playoffs for 2 of those) while Sheffield Utd have been in League 1, Brighton would be a backwards step from Utd, and they are more...
I don't think it works like that. If he had no interest in joining Sunderland, then it wouldn't have affected him. But, understandably, he wanted to join his old boss at a PL club, so although a deal hadn't been struck, it affected his ability to concentrate 100% on the job he had.
No, he didn't say that. Firstly, he didn't suggest his game was affected for more than a month or two. Secondly, he didn't say he wasn't bothered, he said that the interest from a PL club affected him, not that he wanted it to.