The January transfer window was always going to be massive for Sunderland and Chris Coleman. 

Coleman inherited a club that is in crisis and a playing squad that is lacking identity as a result of being put together by the array of managers that Sunderland have had at the helm down the years.

The big drawback was that Coleman had next to no money to spend on wages and could not buy or pay a transfer fee for anybody he wanted in.

Lee Camp, Jake Clarke-Salter, Kazenga LuaLua, Ashley Fletcher and Ovie Ejaria all got over the line and through the door at the Stadium of Light but Coleman was maybe not able to engineer the departures he would have liked in order to raise the funds for more new arrivals.

There are still some players in that Sunderland dressing room that can count themselves lucky to have survived the cull in January and we have taken a closer look at them...

Jack Rodwell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fairness to them, Sunderland did try to tear up the contract of Rodwell, who has still been earning £70,000 per week at the Stadium of Light since their relegation to the second tier in May.

Rodwell rejected that opportunity to be a free agent, citing his unwillingness to turn his back on such a lucrative contract and take a risk by being without a club and a trial with Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem was cancelled before it could get going.

This all means that Rodwell is stuck at the Stadium of Light until the end of the season. He might well be willing to play - and he does have quality - but surely he is not match fit or the most popular figure among his team mates.

If you'd have asked me before the transfer window, I'd have bet that Rodwell would not still be a Sunderland player by February but that's the situation. He has to go in the summer.

Donald Love

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love has just five appearances to his name this season and although he is still around the first team squad, it is difficult to see what he adds to the party.

With Billy Jones and Adam Matthews ahead of him at right full back or right wing back, his opportunities to get game time look as if they'll be limited, despite the fact the Sunderland defence has been leaky for years on end now.

At 23, he is still young enough to rebuild his career, especially if agents can remind clubs he used to play for Manchester United, but he needs to leave Sunderland to do that.

I'd expect him to leave by the summer, by which time he will be hoping he isn't a League One player.

Sunderland fans - do you agree with these selections or are there other players at the club that you would rather see leave instead? Let us know in the comments below...