Sunderland Greats: Marco Gabbiadini

06/30/2024 01:00 AM

A bargain signing and a prolific striker and crowd favourite at Roker Park, Mark Wood looks back at the career of another red and white hero!

Anyone who watches the BBC's Match of the Day 'top ten' series knows that the pundits are typically a lot more laid back and relaxed than on the main show.

Viewers gain a lot more insight as the pundits open up and tell stories from their own playing careers.

One such piece came from Gary Lineker, who along with Ian Rush was just about the most lethal British striker of his generation, when he told of how he would make runs to where he thought the ball was going to go, instead of following the play.

Similarly, Ian Wright talked about his partnership with Mark Bright at Crystal Palace, where he made his name before he became an Arsenal legend. According to Wright, Bright told him early on to 'always gamble and make the run, and take it for granted that he (Bright) would flick the ball into his path'.

What has any of this got to do with Marco Gabbiadini, you might ask? Read on.

Back in 1987, Sunderland had been relegated to the third tier for the first time in our history. However, new manager Denis Smith was confident from day one that we would go up as champions by the end of the season, but after a promising start, it wasn't entirely straightforward.

After a 3-1 defeat at Brighton, we were lying in tenth place and Smith felt that his team needed more pace up front. With that in mind, he returned to his old club York City in order to sign a nineteen-year-old that nobody had ever heard of, for a fee of £80,000.

Gabbiadini made his Sunderland debut during a 0-2 home defeat to Chester City, and although he did hit the post in that game, the mood among the Sunderland fans was pretty despondent as we sank to twelfth place in the table.

However, that changed during an away game to Fulham in midweek, where Marco scored his first two goals for the club as the Lads won 2-0.

Smith had started Gabbiadini alongside Keith Bertschin, a tall centre forward, for his first two games, and this was hopefully going to be his starting strike partnership for the rest of the season.

However, Bertschin was injured at Fulham which meant for the next game against Aldershot, Smith brought back Eric Gates to partner Gabbiadini.

We were leading 1-0 at the break through a John McPhail penalty and when the players came out for the start of the second half, Gates and Gabbiadini caught my attention.

Before play resumed, I watched as they held an intensive conversation.

Perhaps there wasn't as much arm waving as I seem to remember, but it was an intense chat on the pitch, and I say a 'chat' because it was Eric who was doing all the animated talking, with Marco pretty much listening!

This brings us back to the start of this article.

For all the stories you hear of a 'telepathic understanding' between legendary strike partnerships such as Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips, you can likely bet your bottom dollar that there was some kind of conversation held at the outset about making runs, and who should move and when.

Maybe Eric and Marco were simply talking about the size of the fish that the local takeaway served up, but I'd like to think that this chat on the pitch was where their legendary partnership began.

Gabbiadini scored twice during the second half in a 3-1 win, as a fan beside me in the Roker End comically got down on his knees and hailed the unknown kid as the new messiah. He was joking, but if we only knew just how much more was to come!

Marco scored twice again in the next game at home to Wigan and he was off and running with six goals in his first four games. At the time, the local press proclaimed that Gates had linked up 'better with him in just two games than he had with any strike partner in his previous two years'.

You can't talk about Gabbiadini without talking about Gates.

He'd endured a miserable two years on Wearside up to that point, specifically under Lawrie McMenemy whose side continuously played high balls up to the smallest man on the pitch. However, when Smith took over, he took one look at him in training and asked him what had been going on.

Gates replied that the team hadn't been playing to his strengths, which was playing the ball into his feet, and from that point on, our plan was always to pass to the feet of Gates and to use him as the fulcrum of the team.

Gabbiadini helped to turn Gates' Sunderland career around, and likewise, Eric got the very best out of Marco.

There was more than a decade in age between them when they first linked up, but they were a cut above in the Third Division and also in the Second Division.

Just like Quinn and Phillips, they were made for each other, with Gabbiadini making runs before Gates had even received the ball and gambling that he would play the first-time pass and assuming where the ball was going to go.

Of course, his goals didn't just come via assists from Gates, as Marco had phenomenal pace but was also powerful. He was strong on the ball and loved to run with it and cut inside for a shot. He was also good in the air at 5'10, and headed a fair number of goals during his Sunderland career.

In his first season at Roker Park, Gabbiadini finished with 22 goals and Gates with 21, as Sunderland were promoted as Third Division Champions.

The following season, we consolidated in the Second Division but the goals kept coming for Gabbiadini with 18 in total, and he managed to get sent off whilst celebrating a hat-trick against Ipswich!

In 1989/1990, a strengthened Sunderland team were in or around the playoffs for the entire season.

Smith had tried a couple of different options to replace an ageing Gates during the previous season, but never seemed completely convinced by the dynamic of his side. So, with the Lads making a push for the playoffs, he returned to his trusted duo with the philosophy that the 'G Force' of Gates and Gabbiadini was still his best combination up front.

Marco subsequently enjoyed his best season for Sunderland, hitting 26 goals in total including a sensational goal that was the result of some superb work between himself and Gates at St James' Park in the playoff semi-final.

As we all know, events at Swindon Town conspired to elevate Sunderland back to the First Division that summer, but it was a team that was probably unprepared for a season in the top flight.

Nevertheless, it's a tribute to the manager that despite never having the funds needed to keep Sunderland up, Smith's side always gave their best week in and week out during a campaign that ultimately ended in relegation.

Gabbiadini attracted many admirers during the season, and still managed to hit nine goals as part of a struggling team.

I vividly remember that by the time he was substituted after running himself into the ground against Manchester United at Roker Park, a certain Reds centre back in Steve Bruce gave him a big slap of acknowledgement across the backside as he left the pitch, no doubt pleased to see the back of him.

Sunderland were back in the Second Division but Marco had a taste for the top level and his last hurrah in a red and white shirt came when he hit a six-minute hat trick at Charlton.

He was back in South London a week later after a £1.8 million move to First Division Crystal Palace, who saw him as a replacement for the recently-departed Ian Wright, and he made the move after scoring 87 goals in all competitions for Sunderland.

It didn't work out for Gabbiadini at Palace, as they certainly didn't show any patience towards him and quickly moved him on to Second Division Derby County during the same season.

He spent several seasons with the Rams, becoming a crowd favourite and winning a 'player of the season' award, although he was never quite as prolific at the Baseball Ground as he'd been in a red and white shirt.

Gabbiadini had subsequent spells with several clubs, and in the twilight of his career he became a prolific goalscorer at Darlington, eventually retiring from football after scoring 276 goals in all competitions.

Since his retirement, he's ran a hotel as well as turning his hand to punditry, and in recent weeks his health issues have been widely reported.

However, the number of 'get well' messages he's received from Sunderland supporters as he recovers from heart bypass surgery shows the esteem in which he's still held.