Sunderland’s mid-table finish leaves reasons to be cheerful!

Being based in London with a young family, it’s not very often that I get up to Sunderland to see us play.

It had been a couple of years since my last visit and I was excited to see us play at home again, so I met up with my mates and couldn’t wait for the game. Although we didn’t have a lot to play for in the league at that point, Blackburn Rovers seemed like they were there for the taking.

However, there was no feeling of anger after I left the stadium on Easter Monday. Instead, there was a sense of ‘What was the point? I’ve travelled the length of the country for that!’

Typically, as is so often the case, we’ve since enjoyed a run of respectable results against some good opposition which has secured our place in the Championship for another season.

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Safety is an odd place to be as a Sunderland fan.

Not living precariously on the edge of success or failure. Not chasing promotion and not battling for our lives in a relegation fight.

Mid-table obscurity is a foreign place for the weathered fans; not being constantly anxious each weekend as we’re not embroiled in a fight at the top or bottom of the league.

For me, that empty feeling has turned into a positive outlook for the future and what mid-table obscurity means for a club in our position.

Much like when I left the Blackburn game, the thought of ‘What was the point?’ looms large in my thinking when reflecting on the season as we sit in thirteenth place, but a season with such an ending seems like an experience worth having, and here’s why…

Experience gained

First and foremost, we gave many of our talented youngsters valuable game time at this level.

For the youngest squad in the division by quite some distance, this bodes well for next year, as with a season of Championship football under their belts and the rigours that the campaign entailed, they can use that experience to hopefully be better moving forward.

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Lessons learned

However, there will be anomalies along the way.

The Blackburn game was one of them but the hope is that over time, these results act as learning curves for the players and can be the catalyst to eliminate mistakes moving forward.

Our Achilles heel this season has been our inability to perform against the weaker teams in the division, and coupled with our horrendous injury record, we’ve seen a promising campaign peter out into a damp squib.

We’ve lacked quality at times and have been overly reliant on Jack Clarke for the majority of the season, but the hope is that moving forward, we can build a team that shares the responsibility of goals and assists more evenly.

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An incoming head coach

When it comes to a permanent replacement for Michael Beale, all I want is for us to hire someone who’ll be in the post for a few seasons at least, as we need continuity.

It’s been years since we’ve had a head coach or manager in the position for longer than a year and it’s a necessity for the development of the squad we have. A new head coach will bring some fresh ideas, which at this point are desperately needed.

I’d love a young, ambitious, and forward-thinking coach to take this squad up a level but an appointment like that comes with risks.

Being young and ambitious can mean that if things go well, bigger opportunities may lead them away from us within a short space of time. On the other hand, if things don’t go well, their inexperience in facing the challenges at a club such as ours can often break the man at the helm.

Whoever it is, I just want them to be a mainstay for the next few seasons and to help develop this talented squad.

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Sunderland’s summer transfer business

The reality is that a key window is approaching, even though I’m probably in the minority of fans who think the last two windows haven’t been bad as has been suggested by some.

Last summer, the players we acquired to play regular football were Jobe and Nazariy Rusyn.

Jobe has been a regular and has certainly developed, whereas Rusyn has admittedly struggled to adjust to the Championship, and has also experienced some personal issues regarding his family.

Jenson Seelt looked promising until his injury and I think he’ll eventually evolve into a first-choice centre back when he returns to full fitness. Timothée Pembélé looks like a real player too but needs games and time to develop, and the same goes for Adil Aouchiche.

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Nectar Triantis, Eliezer Mayenda and Hemir are long-term projects that are young, who need to adjust to new surroundings, and need experience in first-team football.

They’ll get this over time and it’s unfair to judge them yet, whilst Romaine Mundle and Callum Styles seem like good squad players who’ll be able to kick on with time and games.

The only negatives have been the signings of two permanent players and a loan.

Leo Hjelde looks some way off the pace; the less said about Mason Burstow, the better, and Bradley Dack was a low-risk Tony Mowbray signing.

I believe that calling the windows ‘disastrous’ would be premature at this point. Time will tell whether our investment strategy has been sound but early indicators show that it certainly wasn’t a disaster.

Overall, this squad is some way from challenging for promotion unless there’s some serious investment, and the only way we can do that under the stewardship of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is by selling some of our prized assets.

Clarke will almost certainly leave, and Trai Hume, Dan Ballard and potentially even Jobe could be candidates to wave goodbye at the end of this season.

Their sales could give the club a sizable injection of money, but the question is how we’d spend that money.

We do have an immediate need to add some quality and depth, especially in midfield and up front.

Data surrounding the financial aspects of Premier League clubs was released this week, and the big takeaway was that the average weekly wage of a top flight player is £97,000 per week.

Being able to attract a top flight-quality player is out of the question until we can increase our wage cap, and the only way we can do that is by selling players for significant profit.

Brentford have the lowest average wage of all Premier League teams, at £45,000 per week, but that figure is way off what we’re capable and willing to pay for a player of that calibre.

We’re going to have to have a good window to unearth some quality additions at a fraction of that price to make us better, as well as relying on selling others at profit over the coming windows if we want to try and push on to the lofty heights of the Premier League.

The verdict

Mid-table obscurity is something we aren’t used to as fans but it’s an indicator of where we are as a club.

Financially and in terms of personnel, we’re some way off being able to compete at the top of the league. It’s given us a dose of reality in terms of where we are but in my opinion, we’re about where we should be for the squad we have.

We have a solid base, we’re an attractive prospect for a good head coach, and I’m excited for the next chapter.

We have plenty of young and talented players who want to learn and get better, with the football infrastructure of a Premier League outfit and an academy to match. With some sound investment over the summer and a bit of luck on the injury front next season, we could be set for a very different 2024/2025 campaign.

A big summer lies ahead, so let’s hope the hierarchy makes the kind of sensible decisions that can drive this club on again.

I have faith that they will and I’m excited to see who’ll lead us forward.