Who is Darren Carter?

Like many Sunderland fans I had heard of Darren Carter, but my knowledge was limited on his career. Darren is not a bad player on ‘champ man’ but I set out to investigate. It was a similar situation with Stewart Downing last season, lets just hope that he has the same sort of impact as Stewart did and that we can hold on to him for the full loan period this time round. We have him on a 3 month loan until December.

Darren is a 21 year old, tough tackling, central midfielder who likes to get forward but is quite happy sitting deep and defending if the need arises. He has had limited opportunities to get into the first team this season with players such as Robbie Savage, Muzzy Izzett, Stephen Clemence and the injury prone David Dunn higher up the pecking order. From examining his medical record he seems to be able to keep fit so hopefully he won’t be sitting on the sidelines too much. He does have a tendency to be a bit too strong with his tackle (Oh hello sailor) receiving the odd booking for over exuberant challenges.

He has scored only one senior goal (three seasons ago) but has rarely played regular 1^st team football making only 18 starts in 3 seasons for Birmingham City. The tall elegant midfielder endeared himself to the Blues faithful by showing great maturity in taking the spot kick which fired Birmingham into the top flight a couple of seasons ago. He was a regular during the second half of their promotion season but has yet to keep his place in the team during Birmingham’s premiership career. Hopefully this proves that even at the wee age of 18 he was able to play in a team which achieved what we are currently aiming for.

"I'm absolutely delighted to secure the signing of Darren; he's a central midfielder and a left-footer with great presence. I've watched and admired him for a long time, so it's great to be able to bring him to the club. He'll be a good addition to our squad.” Said the Sunderland Gaffer. Mick said something similar about Alan Quinn last season, remember him? Let’s just hope that he follows Stewart Downing and not Alan Quinn in the influence he exerts.

I like the look of this lad; he has a degree of arrogance when playing, which is what we are missing currently with Whitley and Robinson. I’ve asked some fans of Birmingham who are acquaintances of mine and they seem to like him in the same way as Sunderland fans like Sean Thornton. They know he has ability but the manager has not given him opportunity to show it. Steve Bruce did not want to let this England under 20’s star go but finally relented after many enquires from several clubs. I am slightly disappointed that Mick did not go for a striker but with the enquires about Brett Omerod, hopefully he will sort that problem out sooner rather than later. Overall, I think Darren will be a useful loan player as he will add more strength in depth and might also keep Oster out the team.

Stats – Darren Carter

Nationality – Brummie (English)

DOB – 18 / 12 / 1983

Height – 6ft 2 – Weight 12 Stone 4lbs

Season 01/02 League 13 apps 2 as sub 1 goal

Season 02/03 League 3 apps 9 as sub 0 goals

Season 03/04 League and 1 apps 7 as sub 0 goals

FA Cup