In our exclusive interview, the ex-Sunderland striker discusses the newly promoted Premier League teams, the Football League transfers so far and England’s future number 9.
Don Goodman believes Granit Xhaka will have another impactful campaign for Sunderland this season, as the Black Cats were able to fend of interest from Chelsea for their captain.
The commentator also says that Gus Hamer’s transfer back to Coventry this summer was a move that makes sense, and the midfielder’s creativity can make a difference for the Sky Blues in their Premier League return.
In our exclusive interview, Goodman further discusses the clubs vying to reach the Premier League, with West Ham the current favourites in the Championship promotion betting.
How important was it for Sunderland to keep hold of Granit Xhaka this summer? Is he the glue to navigating the Premier League and European Football?
Last season Granit Xhaka made 34 appearances out of 38 in the PL for Sunderland and started 32 of those, so what that says to me is that for somebody of his age, he had unbelievable availability. Especially for a midfielder.
I completely understand why Chelsea were interested in him. He’s a leader in an era where they don’t grow on trees and Chelsea had one of the best leaders in Premier League history in John Terry.
Xhaka is someone with incredible football intelligence and awareness. He’s basically an on-field coach with the way he plays.
For Sunderland to keep hold of him is huge considering they’ll be playing in the Premier League and Europe this season.
For me, I think he was my player of the year last season based on what I saw.
I know there will be a lot of people who disagree with that statement because there were some amazing players in the league last season.
But for a newly promoted club in those circumstances, I thought he was unbelievable and he played a huge role in Sunderland finishing where they did.
To keep hold of him for this season is massive and I’m sure he’ll have a big impact this year as well.
Gus Hamer made the return to Coventry this summer, what does he bring to Frank Lampard’s midfield, and can he recreate the heights that gained him his last Premier League move?
Gus Hamer’s greatest attribute is his creativity, and I think when you’re a newly promoted team in the Premier League, you can really struggle for goals.
In reality, you struggle at both ends, but you goal scoring is usually the biggest issue, as you need goals to win games of football and the newly promoted clubs are normally among the lowest scorers.
That creativity he brings could make a difference to this Coventry team.
I understood why he moved to Sheffield United at the time because he was desperate to play in the Premier League, but for me there was a real chance with respect to Sheffield Utd that his PL stay would be brief and so it transpired.
He’s only had the one season in the Premier League where he got four goals and six assists.
The numbers might look fairly average but Sheffield United only scored 28 goals that season, so he was involved in 36% of their goals in a really poor team.
The following season he was voted Championship player of the season.
Even last season, he got 5 goals and 12 assists in a team that was really struggling at points during the campaign.
He’s got that out-and-out creative spark that newly promoted clubs are looking for, and of course, he’s already got that connection to Coventry.
It does make sense the move, so hopefully he can pick up where he left off.
Wolves have managed to keep a lot of their squad from the Premier League last season with experienced additions such as Trippier & Jimenez. Despite the drama around Rob Edwards departure, do you think this team will be too good for the Championship?
It stands to reason that we all expect teams relegated from the Premier League to be strong regardless of transfer business.
But in recent seasons you can look at the likes of Luton Town and Leicester City who have highlighted that it’s not always straightforward.
In fact, only two of the last six relegated teams have gone straight back up, with the two teams mentioned suffering back-to-back relegations to League One.
I think Wolves were fortunate in the opening game against Blackburn Rovers, but they showed a lot of quality at Preston, particularly in the second half.
I still believe there will be some more ins and outs at Wolves before the window closes, but I think the XI that started at Preston, with the possible exception of Jose Sa, will remain at the football club.
If that’s the case, then that is a team that I expect to be challenging for automatic promotion.
The league is very strong this year and bigger tests await in the shape of West Ham, Birmingham, West Brom and Middlesborough all coming up soon.
It’s too early to say to say that they’re too good for this league, but I would expect them to be challenging to get back to the Premier League.
Joe Hodge, formally of Wolves, joined Scottish club Motherwell this summer. From what you saw of him in the EFL a couple of years ago for QPR & Huddersfield, can he hit the ground running in Scotland?
Truth be told, I didn’t see loads and loads of Joe Hodge when he was here in England.
He’s not played a lot of football for someone who’s 23 years old, nearly 24. I’ve seen that he’s played under 70 league games which isn’t many for a player that age. I think part of the reason would be that he’s never really found a proper home.
Hopefully that’s what Motherwell will become for him because it’s a good football club from my own experience.
Motherwell were excellent last season, and many followers of Scottish football told me they the best team in the league to watch.
It might be a controversial take, but the way they played was easy on the eye and people seemed to enjoy watching them compared to other teams.
So, I would expect them to be challenging at the top end of the league and hopefully for Joe Hodge, he can really thrive in that environment.
Norwich City were 23rd last season when Phillipe Clement took over and ended up finishing 9th. Do you think they’re a serious contender for promotion this year?
Well, I actually watched their loss at Millwall, and I was shocked how poor they were.
You have to give credit to Millwall obviously, and I wasn’t shocked by how good they were, but Norwich on the day weren’t good enough.
I think they were unlucky to lose the opening game against West Brom, but there was nothing unlucky about the loss at The New Den. They got absolutely battered.
The good news is that there’s a long way to go, and hopefully that result can prove to be a bit of a wakeup call.
I think from the turnaround we saw last season, we’re all expecting Norwich to be a shoo-in for the top 8 at the very least.
They might possibly sneak higher than that, but they’re going to have to improve massively from what I saw at Millwall.
They’ve got Burnley next up in the Championship, so that’ll be two teams who haven’t got off to a great start and we all expected them to be in and around the top. Obviously we’re only 2 games in so that may still happen but both will need to improve for that to happen.
It’s going to make for an interesting game, and it could be an important one psychologically already at this early stage of the season.
West Brom have been a surprise package so far. Lots of incomings and outgoings in the summer but James Morrison has begun the season with 6 points from 6 – are they a dark horse from what you’ve seen so far?
I watched them dismantle Burnley on Sunday, and out of the six teams I’ve seen live in the Championship so far, West Brom were by far the best.
They were very impressive, especially when you consider the opposition.
What’s been impressive for me is that they’ve displayed every attribute and aspect of football that is required to succeed.
At Norwich they had to be resilient and dogged in defence, even relying on their goalkeeper at times.
They took the chances that presented themselves and were ruthless in front of goal, which meant that they won a game without being at their best.
But against Burnley it was a much more controlled performance. West Brom controlled large spells and scored another three goals which always helps the early season confidence.
That’s five goals in two games for them and goals were a problem last season with only four teams scoring fewer than them last season, so it’s a positive start.
It was a real area that needed improvement and the evidence from the first two games is that they may have addressed that problem.
But it’s only a start. Last season they won three and drew one of the first four and the season before they had an even better start winning five of the first six.
No one will get carried away based on what’s happened the past two seasons, but it does feel like it’s different this time around.
From what I’ve seen performance wise and the energy and intensity in the team, it just feels different.
It’s early days, but I’ve spoken to many West Brom fans and there’s a cautious optimism in the fanbase.
The only downside to the Baggies season was that controversial ban for striker Aune Heggebø – where did you stand on the two-game ban?
For me, it was a harsh decision, and I think the FA have got this wrong.
I know they’re keen to make a point about deception, but in this instance, it was too harsh.
A couple of seasons ago Patrick Bamford elbowed a ball in against Rotherham and a few weeks later Cedric Kipre, ironically of West Brom at the time, saved one off the line with his hand at Loftus Road.
The referees obviously never saw either incident but they were the two incidents that sparked the authorities to say that they can’t have this.
Anyone caught deceiving the referee will get an automatic two-match ban, but I don’t think the Heggebø one falls into the same cynical category of those other two incidents.
I personally think they’ve got it wrong, but I do want to be clear that I am all for retrospective bans for deceiving referees.
I think in this instance the balls come across fast, and the goalkeepers got a touch on it as well.
Yes, it went in off his arm but the only way it becomes deception is if the referee asked him did it hit the hand and he said no.
That would be deception and, in that case, he’d deserve a two-game ban, but it didn’t work out that way. It just hit him at pace, and the referee didn’t see it come off his hand.
For me, it’s a harsh punishment.
Does this set a precedent for the FA and referees now where they potentially have complaints of similar decisions that go unpunished?
They’ve set a low bar, and in my opinion that bar is way too low.
I understand that they want to be strong on cutting this out of the game, but they’ve opened a can of worms.
Look, bans for deception are already a thing in football, if you dive and win a penalty, then you get a two-game retrospective ban if it’s really obvious, and that’s the main thing that they have to take into account.
This incident, it wasn’t obvious that Heggebø tried to deceive the referee. It’s obvious that it goes in off his arm, but the way it happens with the speed of the cross means it wasn’t deliberate and if it’s not deliberate, surely it can’t be categorised as deception?!
I just think with this low bar, it will be open for other clubs to complain about any controversial decisions where there’s possible deception if action isn’t taken.
I think the FA have set themselves up for a lot of phone calls or emails from football clubs asking for clarity on decisions.
Zian Flemming missed out with a reported calf issue at the weekend. Do you think that was the case or will the Dutch striker be on the move?
In his and Burnley’s defence, I do genuinely believe he picked up a knock on the opening day.
We saw him hobble off at the end of the West Ham game and he did look in some discomfort, so whether it’s a knock that genuinely kept him out of this game, only they will know.
I think a move is in the offing though, and we’ll find out who’s interested in the next week or so.
But trust me, Burnley without Zian Flemming is a massively weaker Burnley.
If I’m at that football club, I’m doing everything in my power to keep him, especially since they’ve got history of losing players for nothing.
Josh Brownhill, they didn’t do everything in their power to keep him. CJ Egan-Riley was another who was allowed to go for free.
They ended up with decent money for James Trafford, but for me they’re making decisions that don’t give them the best chance of achieving their objectives.
Burnley want to be promoted this season, and if they keep Zian Flemming then they have a much better chance than if he’s not there.
Will it be difficult to keep him when clubs like Everton are being linked?
I understand that side of things, it may be that the player wants to leave but if that does turn out to be the case, Burnley have to have planned ahead.
They must have players lined up in the event that Zian Flemming leaves and they have to be prepared to spend a large chunk of whatever fee they might get for Flemming on a replacement.
It really should be that way, but you just don’t know.
Is there a chance that he weighs everything up and decides he’s better staying? Should he leave, there are no guarantees that it works out. Ultimately, the overriding factor may be playing again in the Premier League or even the Champions League and that will be hard for him to turn his back on!
From Burnley’s perspective, I’d be looking at the rewards for getting back in the Premier League compared to the £25 million or so you would get for him. Maybe the immediate financial aspect is too good to turn down, but I think I would be moving heaven and earth to persuade him to stay.
Charlton Athletic could be finding their fifth owner in the past six years. Despite the job Nathan Jones has done the past couple of years, and the start they’ve made so far, is there some cause for concern?
I read the article where their chairman Gavin Carter played down the noise around the takeover.
He insisted that they’re seeking new investment and pointed to clubs like Ipswich, Wrexham and Bolton who have had success with outside investment.
Should that give you comfort as a Charlton fan or is it a worry that in such a short period of time as owners, that they’re looking for more investment already.
I guess, given what’s gone on before, I would understand any Charlton fans who would be concerned.
But you would hope that it is just further investment that they’re seeking rather than another wholesale change at the top.
Clubs thrive on stability, and sadly for Charlton that stability has been lacking for a number of years.
They are on a club on the up. They’ve got themselves back into the Championship and consolidated that position.
They’ve got off to a good start this season as well, so let’s hope the ownership remains and they manage to bring in investment that can go into the playing side of the club.
If that happens, then it gives them an opportunity of progressing even further.
Wrexham have made yet another goalkeeping addition this summer with Anthony Paterson arriving. Do you think he is the man they may finally settle on for their first choice?
I think somebody at Wrexham will be in massive trouble if they’ve spent £10 million on a goalkeeper in the Championship and he isn’t first choice.
Clearly Phil Parkinson didn’t have faith in Arthur Okonkwo, who is a brilliant goalkeeper, but he does have the odd rick in him.
If he can ever get to a stage where he irons out those errors, then he could go on to be a very good goalkeeper.
All goalkeepers make big errors, but with Okonkwo it seemed that he had one or two more than other goalkeepers at the level.
That’s why they brought in Danny Ward at the start of last season. He obviously got injured which gave Okonkwo a chance in the team.
He did really well, but there were a couple of high-profile mistakes which proved costly.
Anthony Patterson will be known to Phil Parkinson. He would have been a young goalkeeper in the academy when Parkinson was manager there.
He’s watched him excel in the Championship with Sunderland’s promotion and how he helped Millwall to a third-placed finish last season.
He’s proven Championship quality, so he will definitely be first choice at Wrexham.
He’s been brought in with the intention of keeping that number 1 shirt for the next few years I would imagine.
Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu is reportedly a target for Scottish Champions Celtic. How big of a move will that be for him considering he’s lost his place in the Saints side?
When he burst on the scene, he was really highly rated and was linked with all manners of clubs at the time.
It’s just been an awful few seasons for him littered with injuries and mistakes that have cost him his place at Southampton.
A move to Celtic is a big move for any player and it could be a huge opportunity for him should it go ahead.
We saw something similar with a goalkeeper moving to the SPL with Jack Butland a few seasons ago, although I’m reluctant to compare because he went to Rangers!
Jack Butland was a bit older and a little more established than Gavin Bazunu, but he was probably in a similar situation where he needed a move for the good of his career.
He had three amazing seasons at Rangers when things hadn’t been going his way in England, and it proved to be a brilliant decision for him to reinvigorate his career.
If a move does come off, then you hope the same can happen for Bazunu because he’s young enough to still reach the levels that he’s capable of.
Jack Moylan made the switch to Cardiff City this summer despite his former club also gaining promotion. How do you think he’s settling into a Brian Barry-Murphy team?
I saw him live on his Championship debut against Wrexham, where the reality was Wrexham should have won that game.
Cardiff struggled with the creative side on the night, but having said that everything they did do well on that night came through Jack Moylan, barring the freekick scored by Ruben Colwill.
I think he’s going to prove to be a big signing for Cardiff. The way Brian Barry-Murphy wants to play football will suit Jack Moylan, so he could prove to be a really important player for this team.
I think it’s a good match for both the player and club.
What have you made of Oxford United’s decision to appoint Aaron Ramsey as their new manager?
Obviously, it’s a gamble. Giving any manager or head coach their first opportunity is always going to be going into the unknown.
I think it’s a gamble when you appoint any new head coach, but in Oxford’s case they had a proven manager at League One level in Matt Bloomfield.
Matt had done really well in League One previously, but it feels like they wanted to become a more possession-based side and they didn’t have faith in Matt to be able to do that.
Looking at the numbers, they’ve averaged 59% possession, so Aaron Ramsey in the early stages has been able to bring that to the table.
Four points from the first two games is a decent start and they’ve got a good squad for this level.
I know they’re under an embargo, but if they keep most of the squad together, then I expect Oxford to be challenging at the top end of the table given the calibre of players in the building.
Despite this embargo, it’s about keeping as many players at the football club as they can.
They might not be able to recruit, but surely, they’ll be able to keep the key members of the squad.
Oxford have started the league season unbeaten, but with a transfer embargo limiting the club, do you worry they could slip further down the Football League?
There’s always a possibility that injuries could be disruptive and being unable to bring players in to add depth to the squad could obviously be a problem.
Stoke City were a prime example of that last season. They had a competitive starting XI and as soon as injuries hit the squad then they struggled to cope.
They kept sliding down the table and it’s always a possibility for any club, especially in the lower levels of the Football League.
Like for like replacements aren’t of similar quality when you compare it to the top end of English football.
Unless it’s the star players, Premier League teams have the ability to bring in almost like for like quality, and unfortunately that won’t be the case for Oxford.
It goes for any club at this level, if you lose your best players, then you are going to suffer, so they’ll be hoping to keep their key men as fit as possible throughout the season.
Bradford City lost Sam Walker to Watford in this window but have replaced with Jon McCraken who has kept three clean sheets already. Will he be able to step into the hole Walker has left?
Sam Walker was a big part of Bradford finishing fourth last season and they ended up with the fifth best defence in the league.
Only four teams conceded fewer goals and two were Lincoln City and Cardiff City who were promoted.
The early signs are good though. Jon McCraken has played three games and not conceded a goal so that tells you how good it’s been.
You can’t really do any better from a goalkeeper’s point of view to endear yourself to a new team, new manager and a new fan base.
Bradford City are the only team to not concede a goal in League One, so I think so far so good.
He looks as if he’ll turn out to be a good replacement.
It’s early days, but Leicester City not winning their opening two games might panic a few fans. Can Russell Martin stop this slide that the club are on?
I hope he can turn it around.
Russell is a really good man, and it’s been a baptism of fire for him.
What happened last season with Rangers, he needed to go in somewhere and hit the ground running, so this is the last thing he needed, getting off to a slow start.
He’s got this passing style which we all know about. It’s a style that requires patience from fans in particular, but the players need to buy into it as well if it’s going to succeed.
The way you earn that patience is through winning games of football.
If you take the two league games, they had 69% possession without really creating much at Notts County.
They had 73% possession at home to Burton Albion despite playing over half the game with 10 men, but again they didn’t really create much in terms of a goal threat.
That has to change, as according to Opta they’ve created one big chance from those two games, so that’s where the problems lie so far.
I remember covering Leicester when Enzo Maresca was in charge, the season they won the Championship.
I remember the fans really not liking that style of football until results turned, so there’s work for Russell Martin to do to get people on side.
They’ve got a tough run of games coming up against teams who you probably would expect to do well in League One.
In these next three games, he needs some positive results or the pressure will mount.
Swindon Town went through an injury crisis in pre-season but have started the league campaign unbeaten. Can Ian Holloway work his magic for promotion this year?
They were so close last season, even though they finished down the table in 9th, they were just 3 points short of those playoff spots.
With 4 games to go, they were right in the mix and even in with a shout of automatic promotion.
So, to end the season in the fashion that they did would have been tough to take, but I think in Olly we trust should be the message for Swindon fans.
They took one point from their last four games which ultimately cost them, and it looked as if they just ran out of steam at the wrong time.
But with Ian Holloway in charge, I wouldn’t bet against them being a real force in the division.
He brings a lot of experience. A lot of know-how and nous, so given time in an environment, I’m sure he’ll succeed.
I’m not sure how happy he’ll be with the lack of incoming transfers to the club, but you’d imagine there will be a couple more through the door before the end of the window.
But he’s got all the knowledge in management to be able to have a really good season.
If he’s given time and patience, I wouldn’t rule out a successful season.
There’s some quiet optimism around Oldham Athletic this season. Do you think Micky Mellon has another promotion campaign in him, or will it be too much of an ask to get Oldham back into League One?
I think last season, finishing 10th was very creditable considering the club had just been promoted from the National League.
All you’re looking for as a football club is progression year on year and if Oldham progress from 10th position, then they’re going to be in and around the promotion picture.
When I looked at last season, Oldham had the second-best defensive record in the league just behind Cambridge who obviously went on to be automatically promoted.
Clearly, Micky Mellon has got himself a really well-drilled and organised team, but he’ll acknowledge that they need more goals to kick onto the next level.
They managed 60 in the league, but that was the lowest in the top half of the table, so it does paint a picture of what they were lacking.
Three points from the first couple of games and the game at Colchester was obviously impacted by the red card which unfortunately changed the state of the game.
Overall, it’s been a reasonable start, but I think if they can add that little bit extra creativity, then there’s no reason why they can’t be up there.
England have been relying on Harry Kane since 2018. Are there any young strikers in the EFL who you think could take over the reigns as England’s number 9 one day?
When I started to think about my answer to this question, I thought it was an impossible question.
I looked to see if there were any young strikers in the Premier League who could take over, and you have to say there weren’t any obvious candidates!
I have to be honest, when I first saw Harry Kane in his loan spells with several clubs in the EFL – you could not possibly see what he was going to become.
I think even he wouldn’t have predicted his career at that point. He scored a few goals for Leyton Orient and Millwall without really pulling up any trees.
It was pretty average when you look back at it, but all the while it was vital experience whilst he waited for an opportunity at Spurs.
He got his opportunity through Tim Sherwood, and he’s never looked back since.
I had a look at all the teams in the Championship, and the options were pretty limited.
Will Lankshear has made a great start to his Middlesborough career and Josh Corburn at Millwall is another who looks a good prospect.
They’re the two standout young English strikers right now in the divisions below the Premier League.
I don’t know if there’s any hidden gems in League One and League Two, but even those two I mentioned, there’s a long way to go before international football.
England usually play with a seasoned out and out number 9, but whilst there isn’t any obvious candidates yet, hopefully there’ll be an opportunity for youngsters to come through and stake a place in a few years’ time.
At the moment, it’s a mystery for most of us football fans until someone starts to emerge, but like I said, I would have never seen Harry Kane going on to have the career he has done based solely on his loans in the EFL.
He went on to develop, so lets hope there will be plenty of young gems who will be ready to step up in a few years’ time.
