To many supporters, David Healy may well go down as one of the biggest paradoxes in football history. Rarely, if ever, has a player done so well for his country, in this case bringing Northern Ireland to prominence with boatloads of goals, but failed to make a real impact or put up the same numbers at the club level. Healy has scored a remarkable 35 goals in just 69 caps for Northern Ireland, better than the vaunted goal every two appearances, if by a little. But while he has done reasonably well in the Football League while at Leeds and Preston North End, he has failed to make an impact in the top flight. While he is Northern Ireland's all time leading goal scorer by a country mile, is 5th in the British national team charts (the top 4 are English), received an award from UEFA for breaking the record for goals scored in a Euro Qualifying campaign (13), he scored just 4 goals in 30 appearances during a disappointing spell at Fulam where he struggled to break into a team fighting relegation. His move of 1.5 million from Leeds in the summer was to go for a loss after Roy Keane again splashed cash for a player he almost never uses. Healy joined Sunderland for around 1.2 million, but to date has made just two appearances; one in the Carling Cup and one as a substitute in a league match. He is mired at least 5th on Keane's depth chart, yet continues to score goals at international level. Northern Ireland fans are left wondering why he doesn't start at club level and Sunderland fans are wondering how he does so well for his country, yet fails to figure in the manager's plan. There are two potential answers. It is plausible to claim he hasn't been given enough of a chance at Sunderland; however he appeared 30 times last year for Fulham, and scored just 4 times, one of those an absolute gift from then-Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann on opening day. The 2nd is that he just plays better for NI because his is more motivated, perhaps it means more to him. However anyone who has seen Healy play can't doubt his heart so perhaps this is the case. I'd put it down to Healy being the main man at international level, NI's star striker with the hopes of a nation on his back; whereas at the Stadium of Light and previous clubs he has grown more apt to not taking off his warmups. 

- Andrew McCarten