A number of iconic strikers have donned Sunderland red and white over the years, getting the Black Cats out of many sticky patches in the Premier League.
Kevin Phillips will always go down as the most memorable, notably winning The Golden Boot on Wearside when he powered home 30 strikes during Sunderland’s 1999/2000 campaign.
While Jermain Defoe would never hit these amazing heights, the lethal Englishman did consistently bail his team out of relegation danger when scoring 34 top-flight goals over three seasons near the bottom of the tough division.
In the here and now, a new hero is forming to potentially rival the exploits of both journeyman attackers.
Wilson Isidor was already firmly in the Stadium of Light’s good books when he fired home 13 strikes last season to steer Sunderland back up to the top-flight after a seven-year absence.
So, Isidor, already bagging some crucial strikes in the infancy of this season, has not harmed his glowing reputation among the hardened Wearside masses whatsoever. Rather, it has significantly strengthened his fan favourite status.
Isidor's start to Premier League life
Often, the jump-up from the Championship to the Premier League can swallow a player whole.
Many Sunderland supporters might have anticipated that the French striker would find the step-up in quality to be a frightening one to navigate. Instead, he has seemingly taken it in his stride.
Three glorious strikes have already been picked up by the ex-Zenit St. Petersburg forward, with those first two efforts only coming about from a combined 39 minutes of action.
The Black Cats’ “one man machine” – as he was glowingly labelled by Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley in the second tier – has since become Le Bris’ main starter up top, with that third and final strike falling against Aston Villa handing the ten men on the day a dramatic share of the points.
Isidor will just be glad he hasn’t been branded as a presence who couldn’t handle the intense heat of the Premier League, with Unai Emery’s Villans reportedly contemplating a move for the skilful 6-foot-1 striker, off the back of his late heroics at the tail-end of September.
Unfortunately, not every addition made by Sunderland in recent memory has been able to make their start to top-flight life in England look as seamless, with Jozy Altidore still sticking out to this day as one of the Black Cats’ worst blunders in the attacking department.
Altidore's awful spell at Sunderland in numbers
In the summer of 2013, Sunderland must have thought they’d picked up a stellar bargain when landing Altidore’s signature for a modest £9m.
After all, he was just fresh off an insanely potent season in the Eredivisie with AZ Alkmaar, with a stunning 23 league goals fired home from just 33 games during his swansong campaign in the Netherlands.
Games played
42
Minutes played
2080
Goals scored
1
Assists
1
Unfortunately, he never found that same lethal form on English soil, culminating in Altidore’s smart turn and finish against Chelsea – which can be seen above – going down as his only strike for the Wearside outfit from 42 largely forgettable outings.
Labelled as “Dozy Anti-score” by some Sunderland fans, Isidor will just be glad he has never received similar vitriol, with the Frenchman a reliable source of goals and entertainment, thankfully, as opposed to being public enemy number one for being wasteful in front of goal.
Coincidentally, the American’s nightmare at the Stadium of Light came to a halt when an exchange deal for the aforementioned Defoe to move back to England was arranged with Toronto FC. Altidore then turned into a dependable MLS marksman for the Canadian side.
Yet, a modern-day tale similar to Altidore’s could now be playing out in real time.
Sunderland "powerhouse" could be the next Altidore
Thankfully, most of Sunderland’s summer purchases haven’t fallen victim to the Altidore curse of freezing in the big time.
It was to be expected that Granit Xhaka would be an instant hit under Le Bris’ wing in the Premier League, having already proven himself to be a forceful machine with Arsenal in the demanding division.
But, other new faces such as Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete – who once called France and Spain home – have instantly slotted into the Frenchman’s lineup, too, and looked near faultless, with just three league goals given up as a pairing, before a humbling 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.
Yet, while a lot of the summer business has gone down as success stories from the get-go, striker Brian Brobbey is yet to live up to the “goal machine” tag once handed to him by scout Jacek Kulig, when gifted limited opportunities to impress.
In an eerily similar fashion to Altidore, Brobbey had long been seen as a feared goalscorer in the Eredivisie for previous employers Ajax before embarking on a fresh adventure to English shores, with the homegrown Amsterdam product bagging a lethal 56 strikes from 163 contests.
Therefore, with the 23-year-old also costing a bumper £17.3m to obtain in a stunning deadline day swoop, the world would have been expected of Brobbey on his arrival, with Isidor likely to be displaced by the number nine’s efficient ability to put away chances in an instant.
Games played
3
Games started
0
Minutes*
21
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches*
5.7
Accurate passes*
1.3 (50%)
Total duels won*
1.3
In reality, Brobbey has struggled for gametime whilst Isidor continues to steal the limelight, much like Altidore was guilty of playing second fiddle to figures such as Steven Fletcher and Connor Wickham.
Worryingly, the brand-new number 9 is yet to even register a single shot in the Premier League from his three lacklustre cameos, away from also averaging just 5.7 touches of the ball per substitute appearance.
He has also looked concerningly weak in physical battles despite once being noted as a “powerhouse” by scout Antonio Mango, with just one aerial duel from four attempted won last time out against Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils.
It is far too early in the season to be writing off individuals, but it will be intriguing to see how long Brobbey’s early barren patch of form can run before he is looked down on as a potential expensive flop.
For now, Le Bris will hope he can come good, but it will be bothering some at the Stadium of Light already that the £17.3m signing could go down as a similar Altidore-style misfire.