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da 888： Former Sunderland man Stephen Elliot has hailed the technical ability of one of perhaps the biggest talents ever to go to waste on Wearside – Sean Thornton.
What’s the word?
After the Black Cats shared a throwback video of a 4-1 win over Rotherham from 2005, Elliot reacted by lauding the “technique” of Thornton.
“Sean Thornton’s technique was outrageous at times. Sure he was on a two day bender before this game too,” the former Republic of Ireland international tweeted.
Thornton had curled in a truly remarkable free-kick from about 35 yards within minutes of coming onto the pitch as a substitute, but what ever happened to the now 36 year-old?
Wasted talent
As Elliot alluded to, Thornton’s reputation preceded him. The talented maverick, instantly recognisable from his brightly coloured hair, was a sensational player on his day, racking up nine goals and four assists in 53 games for the Black Cats.
Unfortunately though, he also held the longest losing streak in the Premier League prior to Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish breaking that record, and his off-the-field problems are well documented.
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An article from Roker Report back in 2017 detailed his sharp decline, as he even had a song based around him, in which the lyrics read: “I wanna go down the pub with Sean Thornton.”
The article anoints Thornton as “incredibly talented”, but says he “wasted all of it (his talent)”.
The Black Cats have had one or two (or ten) troublesome characters down the years, from Darron Gibson to Jack Rodwell, but Thornton may just be the most talented of the lot.