The first ever live edition of the On The Whistle Sunderland Q&A was held last week
Sunderland's summer rebuild and transfer strategy was discussed at length in the first ever live episode of On The Whistle.
Our Q&A with Echo readers was held in front of a live audience at The Bridge Hotel Vaults last Thursday, and the scale of Sunderland's summer overhaul was a major talking point. Phil and BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland AFC commentator Nick Barnes were asked to what extent they felt the team for the upcoming Premier League campaign would differ from the one that beat Sheffield United at Wembley.
Sunderland have already set out their intent with moves for RC Strasbourg midfielder Habib Diarra and former Atletico Madrid left back Reinildo, and Barnes believes the club simply have to be proactive in trying to bridge the significant gap to the Premier League.
"I think it has to be a different team, to be brutally honest," he said.
"You can't shy away from the fact that the team finished fourth in the Championship. The rebuilding they need to do to compete with even the midtable teams... the Bournemouths and Brentfords... they are suddenly another level now. The division is getting stronger by the season. All three teams that went up last season spent a lot of money and went straight back down again. So I think the club have to be brutal, they have to bring in players who they know can compete at the level and they also have a fairly short window to do that so the team can blend and have that spirit they saw last season. I'm bizarrely quite optimistic, just because I have a lot of trust in the way Régis Le Bris works and the way the club works. I think they'll look at the teams who were relegated last season, the way they played, their strengths and weaknesses [and learn from it]. It can't be the same team that finished at Wembley."
Phil agreed that a significant period of transition lies ahead, but that the core of the team who won promotion last season would have the opportunity to step up. He added that he expected the club to invest primarily in four or five players for significant fees, backing others to continue their development.
"We saw that the club were ruthless the summer after Sunderland won promotion to League One, and even more so the following summer after making the play-offs," he said.
"A lot of players left then who had played a big part. But a big part of this strategy was recruiting players who could step up to the Premier League, and I think the vibe I get is that these players, even if it's as part of the squad rather than as a regular starter, will get an opportunity. I think if you go through the team there are a lot of players they will back to step up: Trai Hume is an obvious one, Dan Ballard another obvious one, Dan Neil providing his contract status is resolved, Romaine Mundle. Players like Eliezer Mayenda, they've made so much progress that they deserve an opportunity. It's also worth remembering that Sunderland are in a strong financial position but it's not a limitless budget, I think the way they'll look at this is to say, 'we've got a core of talented players who can step up again, we want to keep the spirit of the group that's been built, so let's add four or five top-quality players who can go into the starting XI on day one and improve us'. Then maybe there's another one or two you can add to the group for a bit more experience and depth. The team will look very different, definitely, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were five or six who remain [a big part of the team]."
Nick Barnes: Sunderland have to make positive start to Premier League campaign
Barnes added that a number of players had earned the right to show that they could step up, and expressed confidence that Sunderland's strength in transition could translate well to the Premier League.
He said: "Hume, Ballard, Cirkin, Mundle... there are a core of players who have earned the right to get the chance to prove themselves. The other side of is that Sunderland have a kind fixture list to start when you consider that Ipswich had I think Liverpool and Manchester City to start last season. They will feel they have to get something from these games. It's about trying to stabilise next season, and build from there. If Sunderland play to their strengths with the players they already have and the players they are going to bring in, I do think they can finish fourth or fifth bottom. Sunderland's strength is counterattacking football... the ability is there, for me it's about making a positive start."
You can watch extended highlights of the event in the video at the top of this article, or over on our YouTube page.
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