Paddy Roberts, a superb player who could’ve been so much more…
Eight years ago today
Eight years ago today we earned a respectable draw at the Etihad against Manchester City in the champions league group stages.
The scorer of our goal in the 3rd minute was Paddy Roberts who also happened to be on loan from City, and he showed his parent club what they were missing by not only scoring, but impressing in the game as a whole.
Paddy unfortunately returned to City in 2018 after a two and a half year loan spell at Celtic.
A real crowd pleaser
Those two and a half years were a very successful time for Paddy as he contributed to our overall success by putting in a number of impressive performances. He really was a fans favourite due to his ability and he was a real crowd pleaser.
Paddy for some reason never signed for the club permanently, and whether that was down to the player himself or the club not meeting financial demands remains a mystery, but what we do know, is that he was a class act as a footballer.
Paddy would remain contracted to Man City but would go on various loan spells to clubs such as Girona, Norwich, Middlesbrough, Derby and Troyes before finally joining Sunderland on a permanent deal in 2022, the club he still plays for presently.
Starring for Sunderland
Paddy has made over 100 appearances for the Black Cats and is pretty much a regular fixture in the championship side, but his talent deserved to be recognised at a much higher level. He could have been so much more, he could have become a Celtic legend. It’s a shame really.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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Roberts twice turned down the chance to come back, so he chose ignominy over immortality.