Clive Clarke has moved to Coventry on a month’s loan, only two months after signing from West Ham.
The left back was signed for around £400,000 by interim manager Niall Quinn, with George McCartney heading in the other direction for a deal that netted Sunderland around £400,000 profit.
At the time, then-boss Niall Quinn felt it was an astute signing, with the former Stoke full back being highly regarded in Championship circles.
However he has made just a handful of appearances for Sunderland, the last coming in the 2-1 defeat at, ironically, his old club Stoke, after which boss Keane threatened to ring the changes.
And with the loan signing of Lewin Nyatanga now providing further cover for left back, it means that Clarke has joined Jon Stead, Rory Delap and Andy Welsh out of the exit door.
Coventry boss Micky Adams told the club’s website:
‘He’s an experienced campaigner in the Championship as well as tasting football at international level,’
‘We don’t have any fit full-backs so he will go straight into the plans.’
It may well simply be a move to guarantee the player regular football, in particular with Sunderland no longer having a reserve side. Keane may well intend to have another look at Clarke in the future, however with further defensive signings expected, it would seem that his days on Wearside are numbered, another victim of Keane’s ruthless restructuring of the club.
Clarke was thrown straight into the Coventry first team tonight and played the full match in their 2-1 home win over Colchester.
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I bet that was a shock to him