A Fresh Start for a Struggling Striker
The Irishman has signed a short-term deal at the Stadium of Light, but as Michael Dunne writes, this feels like a make or break move for the former Hull striker.
Almost exactly five years ago, Brighton and Hove Albion secured their first win in sensational circumstances when they hammered Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham 3-0 at the AMEX Stadium.
The hero of this big win was a young Irishman named Aaron Connolly.
Connolly, who was only nineteen at the time, was not a well-known name to many but was a well-known prospect in Irish football circles. His potential had been well-documented for many years due to the dearth of brilliant footballers coming through the ranks in Irish football at the time. He was one of four strikers, along with Adam Idah, Michael Obafemi, and Troy Parrott, who were all beginning to get first-team international and domestic games under their belts.
In using a phrase made famous by Micah Richards, Connolly’s bursting onto the scene somewhat justified the hype that surrounded the young man from Galway. However, despite the promising start to his career, where he made almost thirty Premier League appearances in the 2019/20 season, his career has been in virtual freefall since.
Loan spells at Middlesbrough, Venezia in Italy, and Hull City were seen as opportunities for the striker to reset after finding the going tough at a club like Brighton, who were developing so many talented young players so quickly. A spell last season at Hull, where Liam Rosenior seemed to build up a good relationship with Connolly, saw him score eight goals before the turn of the year, though he was then sparsely used from the bench for the rest of the campaign.
Connolly’s career path to date has been a chequered one, where issues off the pitch — along with numerous fitness problems — have become almost more frequent than the number of goals he has scored on the pitch.
Similar to another former Irish Sunderland striker, Connolly is said to be a fan of the nightlife, has dated a Love Island contestant, and enjoys changing his haircut regularly — in fact, a humorous post by a Brighton fan suggests that he has actually had more haircut styles than goals for the Seagulls!
Now, one might suggest that whatever he does in his private life should have no bearing on what he does in his job, but it seems clear to everyone — including the player himself — that these off-field distractions have clearly impacted his career ever since that brace against Tottenham.
In what could almost be used as a drinking game, Connolly has had a common trend of suggesting that moving to a new club is a fresh start that will be the making of him as a player. Upon moving to Italy, Connolly suggested that he had finally “copped on” mentally, removed bad influences, and was eager to prove himself on foreign soil.
Mentally, I wouldn’t have been able to move abroad last season. I wouldn’t have been excited. But this time, I couldn’t say yes quick enough. I’ve got a good group of people around me now, a good group of mates… the old circle I used to be around off the pitch, I’ve had to make my mind up.
His career in Italy didn’t work out, and he failed to score in only five appearances at the club before being sent back to Brighton early, after only being at the club for a few months. It has been widely said that disciplinary issues were a big factor during his time there.
His premature return to England saw the striker get another chance with Hull City, where he had a loan spell and then eventually joined on a permanent basis. Upon moving to Hull, Connolly reinforced this notion of the penny dropping and that he was ready to kick on in his career.
It’s a massive point in my career. I’m 23 next week, being 19 feels like a long time ago when I was playing in the Premier League regularly. That’s down to me and that’s stuff I’ve not been professional enough about. That mindset has completely flipped and if I can take anything positive from that Italy move, it’s that side of the game off the pitch. I had to get used to a different environment and just work. There was a lot of running in Italy but I’m starting to enjoy that bit of it as well, the professional side.
His early spell at Hull last season was possibly one of his best spells after leaving Brighton, where the striker scored eight goals in thirteen starts before Christmas. As previously stated, Connolly experienced some fitness issues along with a loss of form, which saw him make few appearances after the festive period for his club, who ran down his one-year contract without offering him a new one in the summer. The fitness issues Connolly faced aren’t uncommon since he broke into professional football. Along with the off-field issues, the Galwegian has encountered countless niggles and injuries that have left him chasing his tail to gain full fitness, though his attitude towards keeping himself in top condition has been questioned regularly.
Tuesday’s announcement of his arrival on Wearside didn’t surprise me. Connolly is the exact type of player that we have recruited in the past. Lost, disillusioned, and becoming a journeyman are the dating filters we have on our dating profile when searching for potential transfer targets, with Connolly fitting the bill.
In Ireland, Connolly is seen by some (including myself) as a wasted talent who believed his own hype early on and spent more time messing about off the field instead of concentrating on the clear ability he has. Very few in the country have sympathy for him, with journalists previously speaking of his need to actually do his talking on the pitch instead of in the many interviews he has given, proclaiming that he has finally seen the light.
With the national team struggling as much as it is at present, it speaks volumes that a player who the country had held out so much hope for previously wouldn’t even bat an eyelid at his continuous omission from international squads.
In the latest episode of the striker saying he is willing to learn from his previous errors, Connolly acknowledged and appreciated the opportunity he has been given by joining us.
I want to represent that in the right way and pay back the faith the club has placed in me by playing well and doing what I love more than anything, which is scoring goals. I’m ready to move forward with my career after facing some challenges in recent times, and I fully understand the huge opportunity I have ahead of me.
While acknowledging his age and the fact that some take a little more time to mature, the above words are fairly tiresome for any Irish fan who has followed the trajectory of Aaron Connolly’s career throughout the last few years. Up until this point, he has shown that he is well able to talk, but now he has to show this on the pitch instead of in interviews.
On the club website, Kristjaan Speakman summed it up perfectly when he said that the striker needs to now “be taken seriously as a professional athlete”.
The opportunity beckons for a man who is truly close to reaching the last chance saloon when it comes to his career in England.
To sum it up in Sunderland-related terms, Connolly could become the next Patrick Roberts or the next Anthony Stokes.
As an Irish Sunderland fan, I hope it’s Patrick Roberts.
The choice is his. He has it all to prove.
AARON Connolly is at a crossroads in his career.
Can Sunderland Get the Best Out of Connolly?
When will the next chance be the last? When will he realise his potential and back up the excitement that greeted his emergence at Brighton in 2019? Or, more to the point, will he?
If Connolly is anything like the striker who burst onto the Premier League scene five years ago next week then Sunderland could have pulled off a masterstroke.
But there's a reason the 24-year-old was a free agent. Recent years have been a story of misdemeanours off the pitch and struggles on it. And yet there's been flashes, flashes of the player who dazzled for Brighton and scored twice against Tottenham on his Premier League debut and quickly became a senior Republic of Ireland international.
It's a challenge, but what if Sunderland can get the best out of Connolly?
“Aaron's capable of anything he wants in his career if he stays on track,” said Liam Rosenior at Hull last season.
“He's not 100 per cent fit, which is scary. He's a leader in the dressing room.”
Hull were Connolly's last club, a loan move made permanent in the summer of 2023 but a stint that would only last 12 months.
“He knocks on my door every single day,” laughed Rosenior, who didn't mind the striker's quirks.
“That's what I like. He's horrible. He's a horrible little one, the lads will tell you that, but I love him because he's himself.
“He moans about everything. He moans about having to go in the pool at the hotel when we're trying to recover, he moans about food, but you need different characters. I don't want a group of nice guys.”
Connolly's time at Hull followed a couple of underwhelming loan spells after the striker had failed to build on his brilliant Brighton breakthrough.
There was a spell of making the headlines for the wrong reasons, including a covid breach during lockdown.
A History of Missed Opportunities
By the time he joined Middlesbrough in January 2022, Connolly was already having to rebuild. That spell on Teesside didn't go to plan - with just two goals in 21 appearances.
And his next temporary move to Italy to join Venezia came with an honest admission.
“It has not gone as well in the last two, three years maybe as I thought it would have gone,” he said.
“I started off well. I made some wrong choices off the pitch, on the pitch, and it’s little details like that. If you don’t get all that spot on it’s downhill, really from there.
“I got a lot of things wrong. If I could do it differently, I would. That’s why this move to Italy was vital, just to get away from kind of the circle I was in back in England.
“I needed a fresh start.”
It was a fresh start that didn't go to plan, but Connolly still tried to put his struggle in Italy to good use.
“It’s a massive point in my career,” he said after joining Hull.
“Being 19 feels like a long time ago when I was playing in the Premier League regularly.
“That’s down to me and that’s stuff I’ve not been professional enough about.
“That mindset has completely flipped and if I can take anything positive from that Italy move, it’s that side of the game off the pitch, I had to get used to a different environment and just work.
“There was a lot of running in Italy but I’m starting to enjoy that bit of it as well, the professional side.”
And, despite him not lasting long at Hull, there were signs of a revival. He scored five Championship goals before the end of September last season and played his way back into the Republic of Ireland squad.
“Everyone knows it hasn't been a straightforward journey for Aaron” said Stephen Kenny, the national team's boss at the time.
He lost that momentum, however, didn't start a single league game for Hull from mid-January onwards last season and made only four appearances.
Which brings us to the present day and Connolly's next opportunity. Sunderland will see the short-term deal for the striker as low risk and potential high reward. Has the penny dropped for Connolly? If he flops on Wearside, it's hard to see another big move presenting itself, regardless of the talent within. Perhaps that will sharpen the mind of the striker. That will be Sunderland's hope.
## A New Chapter at Sunderland
Sunderland appear to be cementing themselves as one of the teams for Leeds United to look out for in the promotion race this season, and they have now added Aaron Connolly to their squad on a free transfer.
Leeds don’t yet look like they’ve got up to top speed in the Championship despite three 2-0 wins in their last four games.
There are, however, sides that look impressive already in their pursuit of automatic promotion, including Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland.
Having suffered last season due to turbulence in the dugout, the Black Cats look to be much more settled this season with the appointment of former Lorient and previously Leeds-linked manager Regis Le Bris.
The Frenchman’s youthful side at the Stadium of Light have started the season with great intensity and attacking vigour, coming out of the first six games with five wins and one defeat.
In the process, they are four points better off than Leeds’ 11 so far, with thew two sides set to meet in nine days’ time on Wearside.
Leeds’ trip to Sunderland comes as part of a four-game test for Farke’s men where they face multiple sides fancied for a strong finish this season, firstly with Coventry City on Saturday, followed by a midweek trip to Norwich City, then up to Sunderland on the Friday – after the international break is a home clash with Sheffield United.
The Black Cats have now added another attacker to their ranks in the lead-up to Leeds’ trip up to the North East next week.
They have confirmed the free agent signing of Republic of Ireland international Aaron Connolly following his exit from Hull City in the summer:
Welcome to #SAFC, Aaron Connolly! 🇮🇪✍️ The Republic of Ireland international has signed a one-year deal on Wearside.
Connolly joins Sunderland on a one-year deal having scored eight goals in the Championship last season for the Tigers.
Connolly on his own isn’t a signing that should raise too many eyebrows at Leeds in this promotion race, but it’s more evidence that Sunderland are looking to strengthen their squad for this season.
In the process of adding depth, they’re making sure that their performances remain consistent at the top end of the table.
He’s not likely to come in for a start against us after missing a lot of early football this season and there only being nine days between now and the game, but it’s a potentially shrewd option to have.
