20 hours ago
Who are Sunderland's greatest 'hard men'?
Throughout Thursday, we are going to be revealing who former Sunderland attacker Martin Smith has selected as the Black Cats' all-time toughest fifth place is Lee Cattermole, who Smith says he was "a big fan of" and describes as being "the last of an era of real hard men" in football."He was playing when you could still get away with stuff that you just can't get away with now because of VAR," Smith told BBC Radio Newcastle. "He enjoyed the physical side of the game."He used to go round geeing up the team and, if the chips were down, he would still be there. He was just a proper captain. He loved pulling on the strip and he would always give everything."You always knew what you were getting from him."Coming in at number four is Sunderland-born fan favourite Lee Howey, who Smith describes as "the big man"."He was just a real solid fella," he explained. "He was given the nickname 'Lunge' because on training days, if the ball managed to get away from him, he would just lunge and take everything that was in front of him with him."He would run through brick walls for the team. He would put his head and feet where others wouldn't."I used to take corners and I knew that if I put the ball in an area, he would come hurtling towards it and would do everything he could to get to it."He was a horrible player to play against really, up front and at the back."But who does Smith see as the greatest hard man?Find out on BBC Sounds now - or come back to this page a little later today
