Sunderland: 10 Most Costly Mistakes In Black Cats History
7. Tore Andre Flop
The word flop has resonated around Flo ever since he was found-out in a Sunderland shirt, which certainly didnt take long. For almost a year Sunderland had been looking at several strike targets to replace Niall Quinn: the club had kept an eye on James Beattie, a big, strong old-fashioned style centre forward just up Reidys street by all accounts, since he liked pairing big and little in attack. Sunderland still had Phillips to build around, but after a narrow escape from relegation the squad was in need of a serious overhaul, with the centre forward roll the most urgent. Both Peter Reid and Chairman Bob Murray knew the merits and strengths of Beattie, however, between them they arrived at the same, misguided conclusion not to sign him. Instead there was a desire for a bigger marquee signing, which forced them to look further afield, with links to Robbie Keane and Flo proving exciting for fans. On the final day of the first transfer window, those fans turned out to greet the tall Norwegian forward when he was duly signed, who everyone believed would be the answer to the club's prayers. He was a big lad- perfect to fill the big void at number 9 as Quinn stepped back into the shadows before injury made him call it a day. But for Reid, Murray, Flo and Sunderland it was a false dawn: Flo would never hit the heights as he did with Chelsea, probably because the blues played to his strengths. Stuck with route one football at Sunderland there was little the forward could do without the aerial ability of Quinn or even Beattie.
