Sunderland’s return to the Championship risks turning into a second consecutive promotion push amidst a creative recruitment strategy — Matty Crichton from Roker Report and Dave who’s been hanging around our message board are feeling strangely optimistic.

How would you assess Sunderland’s season so far?

Matty: I’m pleasantly surprised. We saw the data on how many promoted League One sides struggle to avoid relegation and breach the top half, but excluding a blip without any fit strikers, Sunderland have looked at home at this level and are genuine playoff contenders. Our young squad is taking a fearless approach to games and it’s such a refreshing new look Sunderland team that is filled with bags of potential. For the first time in a long, long time Sunderland fans are genuinely excited about our squad and where they could take us. When you consider Ross Stewart has scored ten in 13 league matches when fit, it really does make you wonder where Sunderland would be should he have stayed fit.

Dave: This has been a very enjoyable season watching an attractive young team who are looking to play good fast attacking football. We often have nine players on the pitch at the same time who would still qualify for the U21s. The team is evolving all the time and each change seems to be towards a younger squad with some unbelievable talent: not just Amad on loan from Man U, but Michut who is technically on loan from PSG but is ours on a four-year contract at £4m if we want him at the end of the season, and the signing of the likes of Ballard from Arsenal, Bennette from Costa Rica who is an 18-year-old full international who was at the World Cup... Then there is Ba, a France U20 international. The list just goes on and on.

As we finished fifth in League 1 last season, a lot of people would expect us to be focused purely on staying up, however that was never on our radar as a realistic target we were looking at a comfortable mid table finish as the team and young players developed and learned to deal with the higher standards in the Championship. So, on that level we are very happy with the progress so far and we can see that we are nowhere close to our ceiling.

Sunderland results so far…
Sunderland 1-1 Coventry Clarke 12 — Gyokeres 84
Bristol City 2-3 Sunderland Weimann 10, Martin 51 — Simms 4, 53, Stewart 72
Sheff Wed 2-0 Sunderland Adeniran 16, Sow 56
Sunderland 2-2 QPR Stewart 31, Simms 40 — Chair 88, Dieng 90
Sheff Utd 2-1 Sunderland Ahmedhodzic 33, Lowe 47 — Gooch 55
Stoke 0-1 Sunderland Stewart 45
Sunderland 0-1 Norwich Sargent 76
Sunderland 3-0 Rotherham Stewart 52, 65, Clarke 70
Boro 1-0 Sunderland McGree 25
Reading 0-3 Sunderland Roberts 39, 41, Clarke 69
Watford 2-2 Sunderland Davis 34, O’Nien og 62 — Alese 45, Bennette 87
Sunderland 0-0 Preston
Sunderland 0-0 Blackpool
Swansea 2-1 Sunderland Cooper 13, Darling 45 — Clarke 51
Sunderland 2-1 Wigan Embleton 54, Cirkin 72 — Wyke 44
Blackburn 2-0 Sunderland Brereton 32, Wharton 49
Sunderland 2-4 Burnley Diallo 16, Neill 20 — Tella 50, Benson 61, Zaroury 69, Brownhill 87
Luton 1-1 Sunderland Morris 45 — Embleton 78
Huddersfield 0-2 Sunderland Pritchard 55, Diallo 90
Sunderland 0-1 Cardiff Harris 49
Birmingham 1-2 Sunderland Jutkiewicz 78 — Simms 25, Diallo 49
Sunderland 3-0 Millwall Diallo 53, Pritchard 58, Simms 90
Sunderland 1-2 West Brom Diallo pen 19 — Rogic 70, Dike 82
Hull 1-1 Sunderland Tufan 82 — Stewart 74
Sunderland 2-1 Blackburn Stewart pen 22, Simms 90 — Stewart og 18
Wigan 1-4 Sunderland Keane 42 — Simms 19, Stewart pen 66, Roberts 85, Diallo 89
Blackpool 1-1 Sunderland Lavery 21 — Stewart 66
Sunderland 1-3 Swansea Neill 64 — Piroe 50, Cullen 70, Cooper 78
Sunderland 2-0 Boro Stewart 51, Diallo 81
Millwall 1-1 Sunderland Cooper 59 — Cirkin 81
Sunderland 1-0 Reading Roberts 84

Tony Mowbray is new since we last played, what did you make of that appointment, what’s he changed, how’s he done?

Matty: It was strange as for a start, no one expected Alex Neil to leave, then Mowbray seemed like an easy link given we recruited Blackburn’s Stuart Harvey to work on our recruitment team. I don’t think anyone was excited by him joining as such, but after time to reflect, it was such a sensible appointment and in the past, we’ve rarely made those. Mowbray is from the North East which makes him a relatable figure, he wanted to be closer to his family so the geography works for him, he is a vastly experienced Championship coach, plus he is happy to show faith in younger players. So when you consider the above, it was actually an excellent short to mid-term appointment to stabilise the club at this level and improve our young team.

The key things he has changed is showing more faith in youth (Alex Neil is far more a team of experienced heads kind of coach) and he has also switched to a more permanent 4-2-3-1. As we currently sit seventh in with a playoff chances and miles clear of safety, I would say Mowbray has done an excellent job so far.

Dave: Mowbray was not the first choice of many Sunderland fans. As it turns out that was because we didn’t know enough about him and the way he brings on young players. It turns out he is the perfect match for the club and where the owners want to take us. He is a working class lad who gets the city and the fans. The quality of football he has is playing has won over the many doubters he had when he was first appointed.

Alex Neil left because he claimed he wasn’t backed in the transfer market, to go to a club with a transfer embargo. The truth is he left because he was offered more money and was not given control of the recruitment because that is not how our new owners work - the director of football is in charge of all signings and the policy is clear, we will buy young talented players to set the age of 23 and develop them and give them a pathway to senior football, hence the very young average age of our starting eleven. There will be the odd older player signed out of contract but little or no money spent on a player older than 26. Neil wanted to bring in older experienced players, that was not the model and I think he spat his dummy out at being told that we were only signing talented kids. So, all in all even though he rescued last season after Lee Johnson was sacked, Neil is not missed.

What did you make of your January transfer window? Losing Simms and Stewart without replacement not ideal…

Matty: Without context, you’re entirely correct, but there was a lot of bad luck mixed in there. First and foremost, signing Joe Gelhardt on loan from Leeds was seen as a coup. He is not the same style of forward as Stewart and Simms, but I think there’s faith that he will score goals and half the Championship seemed to want him which is always a good sign. With Simms, I believe the club thought they would get him back, but unfortunately Everton’s lack of recruitment planted a nail in this. Then with Stewart this is where the bad luck kicks in. Losing your star player a few days before the window closes to a season ending injury would hurt any team. I would have preferred the club to loan another forward to provide competition, but they failed to covert their permanent targets and opted against a short-term free agent such as Chris Martin like yourselves did. If Gelhardt gets injured and Sunderland miss out on the playoffs I think questions will be asked and rightly so.

Dave: All in all I think it was another good window, following on from the three previous successful windows. As I have said in answer to your earlier questions, we have signed quality young players who fit our style of fast passing and movement. Part of the plan is to sign replacements for players before they leave, that is where the signing of Lihadji comes in. He’s another teenager, who had been heading to Barca before he got an injury, he has been nominated for this year’s Golden Boy award for the best young players in Europe, he has been signed as a replacement for Amad, who is also nominated for the Golden Boy but is heading back to Man U at the end of the season. This model sees the team develop but will see a number of the players we develop at a significant profit to fund the incoming replaces of the same or better quality. As we progress I assume that we will sell fewer players as the plan is clearly to get into European competitions, so we will be able to offer players the exposure at the highest level that will make them want to stay.

Another signing has been Gelhardt from Leeds on loan as a replacement for Simms who Everton recalled from his loan at the start of the window. This means Gelhardt is the only recognised striker on our books. Stewart is out for the rest of the season so we will need to adapt. While it would have been good to get another striker in we are comfortable that the club have not gone out and signed another Grigg as a last minute panic buy.

Expect us to play with a mobile front five with players interchanging and running at your back line and deep into not your box, often with another four players who in the box. It must be a nightmare to defend against a group of fast skilful played dribbling at you in your own box, any mis timed tackle result in a penalty. We will make use of the full width of the pitch and probe from the wings getting in behind your back line and playing the ball to feet .

Summer Ins >>> Daniel Ballard, 22, CB, Arsenal, £2m >>> Jewison Bennette, 18, LW, Herediano, £1m >>> Abdoullah Ba, 19, CM, Le Havre, £800k >>> Leon Dajaku, 21, CF, Union Berlin, £783k >>> Jack Clarke, 21, RW, Spurs, Undisclosed >>> Aji Alese, 21, CB, West Ham, £500k >>> Alex Bass, 24, GK, Pompey, Undisclosed >>> Ellis Simms, 21, CF, Everton, Loan >>> Amad Diallo, 20, RW, Man Utd, Loan >>> Edouard Michut, 19, CM, PSG, Loan >>>

Winter Outs >>> Leon Dajaku, 21, CF, St Gallen, Loan >>> Bailey Wright, 30, CB, Rotherham, Loan >>> Jay Matete, 21, CM, Plymouth, Loan

In general though I’m quite impressed by Sunderland’s recruitment these days, a lot of intriguing European pick ups in there. What’s changed from the days of bidding against yourself for Will Grigg?

Matty: It’s been a wild transition to be honest. We have gone from re-signing a finished Danny Graham on a free to picking up the best of category one academy players and French league winners. A club who were once renowned for wasting money and overpaying, Sunderland are now focusing on buying players under 24 that we can develop, as well as acting as almost a rehabilitation centre for players who have gone through difficult times such as Patrick Roberts and Alex Pritchard.

Roberts for example couldn’t get a game on loan in France and looked like his career was dead, now he’s a standout player at Championship level. We have to be ready to lose players when Premier League sides come calling, but I now trust the recruitment team to replace players.

Stand out players and weak links in the team?

Matty: Our current centre-back partnership is a key strength currently. Danny Batth has been the unsung hero this season and Dan Ballard is a Premier League player in the making. The key players to stop will be the three behind Gelhardt. Roberts and Amad have developed a tremendous partnership and their technical ability is ridiculous. Keeping them quiet will be big for QPR. On the other flank, Jack Clarke can be the most frustrating player, but he always has a big moment in him with a goal and an assist.

In terms of weak links, as a team overall we lack height and experience. I would say we are yet to get Joe Gelhardt up and running, but there is plenty time for that as this team creates chances. In goal Anthony Patterson does have mistakes in him, but he’s also equally capable of making 10+ saves, so time will tell on that.

Dave: Stand out players, well it would be true to say that a lot of us would say that that is a difficult question as they are all having a good season, but if I was to pick out three it would have to be Amad, who when playing close to Roberts one journalist said it was like having a cheat mode in the Championship. Dan Ballard, who we signed from Arsenal in the summer has been outstanding at the back and formed a very good partnership with Batth since he returned from a serious injury following a really nasty tackle in the game against you in August. The other one I would pick out is the young goalkeeper Paterson, who it is rumoured is going to get his first England call up for the U21 squad this week.

However, I could have said that Dan Neil, or Clarke, or Hume, or Michut, or ……. You get the idea. In short as fans we are loving this team and they say they are playing.

Weakness, we don’t score enough from set pieces, being so young they can be the odd lapse of concentration resulting a giving silly goals away. Then there is the striker situation, whoever we have had 13 different scorers so far this season so goals are coming from all areas. When we do score they are often team goals , if you haven’t seen out their against Reading at their place early in the season look it up and you will see the type of football we are trying to play. It was eleven touches involving nine players from the goalkeeper to the back of their net in twelve seconds.

Revised expectations for the season?

Matty: At the start of the season I just wanted to stay up, but given how well we’ve started I would really like us to get top half so that we can attract players easier in the summer. Playoffs would be an incredible finish, but I worry that some of teams who have changed managers will end well and as you mentioned, we don’t have a like for like who can deliver what Ross Stewart has so far.

Dave: Start of the season we would have been happy with mid table it now we think we can get into the play offs. Having said that there is a view that we need another season at this level to get more experience into the kids so that we don’t struggle when we go up. I know this will sound like a very rose tinted view of Sunderland but it reflects where we all believe we are. This so different to three years ago when we were in a very dark place not enjoying the football we were watching and very concerned at the direction of the club. At a personal level this is the best football I have watch at Sunderland since my first game the old Roker Park in 1969. Now that is a massive claim but it is how I feel.

Links >>> Sunderland official website >>> Sunderland Echo — Local Paper >>> Roker Report — Blog >>> Not606 — Forum >>> Ready to Go — Forum

The Twitter @loftforwords, @MattyCrichton, @RokerReport

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simmo added 16:59 - Feb 14 Up there as one of the most depressing things I've ever read. Good luck to Sunderland, doing it right and being successful at that.
1

TacticalR added 17:51 - Feb 14 Thanks to Matty and Dave. It sounds like Sunderland have managed to do what a lot of teams in this division want to do, but have been unable to do.
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francisbowles added 18:31 - Feb 14 Thanks Guys. Just what we are supposed to be doing.
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