It's an odd one.
Going by form of last season and just a couple of games (I know it's too soon to properly judge) you can't blame him for leaving...And a few years ago it'd sound absolutely insane to suggest Sunderland finishing above us, but is now a reasonable prediction.
It's that attacker / defender thing, find me a defender who doesn't have a mistake in him, even the best fudge up. But from a scale of Chiriches to Maldini, he was further towards the Maldini side (let's see how many misinterpret this bit!), by no means perfect but available and reliable. Plus a likable guy too, and I absolutely wish him the best.
It's not like a Sanchez type player where I felt bad for him, Kev obviously has what it takes to play in this league and Sunderland are a decent outfit.