Roker Roundup: Your run down of random Sunderland news!

Today at 01:00 AM

Take a look at some of the SAFC stories that have bubbled away in the background…

Don't you forget about me…

Timothée Pembélé looks as if he may have burnt some bridges with his recent comments about his experiences at Sunderland, but some of the club's other senior outbound loanees could still potentially be harbouring hopes of a successful return - or be keen at least to put themselves in the shop window whilst out on temporary moves.

Nectar Triantis is the one most likely to have a future on Wearside beyond next summer, and whilst his current Hibernian team are struggling towards the bottom of the Scottish Premiership his displays in defensive midfield have been one of the few plus points during their campaign. The Australian has been first choice all season and his manager David Gray has recently been commenting on his progress, praising him for his consistency and adaptability.

Hemir meanwhile has been getting regular minutes at Juventus NG in Serie C, scoring his first goal for the team during a win over Taranto earlier this month, whilst Pierre Ekwah was also seeing plenty of action at Saint-Etienne prior to the winter break in France. The newly promoted Greens are fighting hard to remain in the topflight but are currently in the relegation play-off spot – one place higher than Pembélé's Le Harve, who after initially leaving the former PSG man on the bench have been using him in various positions across defence and midfield in recent weeks.

Winter stock

With Sunderland Women starting their winter break now seems like a good time to look back and consider how they have done so far this season.

Lasses legend Mel Reay celebrated her 200^th game in charge at the weekend and after an unexpectedly poor start her side have improved greatly in recent months. The Women's Championship has been hugely competitive this season but Sunderland are only three points off top spot, with summer arrival Eleanor Dale recently picking up the division's player of the month gong for November.

2025 will resume with a long trip to Exeter City in the fourth round of the FA Women's Cup after the team progressed with a solid display against Huddersfield at Eppleton, where despite atrocious weather conditions they played some excellent football and deserved to win the tie 4-0.

Popping down to the shops

Over recent years fans have had plenty of reasons to bemoan the retail operations at Sunderland AFC.

There has been a clear improvement since the partnership with Fanatics however, and in addition to the new club shop at the stadium the powers that be have made the very sensible decision to set up a 'pop up' stand in the middle of The Bridges Shopping Centre to try and capitalise on the number of customers going into the city centre during December.

A permanent unit on that side of the water might not be feasible for a number of reasons, but there is certainly a market at peak periods, and if you are looking to pick up a gift you can find the outlet in the Central Square area (close to the legendary C&A corner, if you go back that far).

The Caring Club is back!

Not only has the club made a long-awaited return to the Bridges, but it is also continuing to reaffirm links right at the heart of the local community – and that is one of the most important things it will ever do.

First team players Dennis Cirkin, Trai Hume, Megan Borthwick, Jess Brown, Grace McCatty and Katy Watson were only to happy to make an appearance at the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen recently and learn more about the work being carried out at their High Street West base, whilst Multibank collections held at the Stadium of Light have seen thousands of hygiene products being donated so that they can be distributed throughout the region.

The club's official charity the Foundation of Light has this month partnered with Durham University in order to collaborate and coordinate initiatives aimed at improving local groups too, and the hugely successful Music Against Child Poverty gig at the Fire Station a fortnight ago was actively supported by the club, who were one of the main sponsors of the evening.

One of the biggest charity events ever held in the city, the Sunderland Music City team pulled together a series of big name local artists to perform with all proceeds going to Love, Amelia – an organisation that offers support to families in poverty; it was a wonderful night with some extremely talented musicians on show, with Chief Business Officer David Bruce in attendance and SAFC Live's very own Frankie Francis doing an excellent job as MC.