Sunderland were preparing for their first season back in the top flight – this time under the stewardship of Roy Keane – but despite the tidal wave of positivity that had engulfed the club in the build up to and achievement of promotion, the lack of serious transfer activity, with the players due to return for preseason training, had some supporters reaching for the panic button.
Keano had a simple message for supporters: chill out!
While Russell Anderson and Greg Halford had already arrived at the club, they’d really replaced Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson, loanees who’d returned to their parent club after successful temporary spells at the club, so the squad did need strengthening.
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David Nugent and Leighton Baines had been two of Keane’s top targets but moves had yet to materialise. The club had pulled out of a deal for Nugent while Wigan had turned down multiple bids for Baines.
> _The fans just need to chill out and relax, and let me do the job. People are getting worried about this and that, but you can’t look at what other clubs have got. We’ve got to look at what we’ve got, and we have a great foundation to go on and have a good season._
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> _I’m under no illusions, and I accept that we need to strengthen the squad._
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> _At this moment, we’ve got two players who have shown a great desire to come to Sunderland, and I feel that over the next week or two, there will be another four or five._
One of the players lined up was Michael Chopra from Cardiff, while Chris Baird was expected to complete a move imminently after a £3m deal with Southampton had been agreed. West Brom’s Paul McShane and Manchester United midfielder Kieran Richardson were two others who’d been seriously targeted by the club – however negotiations were dragging with contractual issues blamed.
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> _At the moment, we have three fees agreed with clubs and talks are ongoing._
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> _But then you’re maybe waiting for those clubs to get the one or two players in that they’re after._
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> _It’s a knock-on effect and it’s a bit like trying to buy a house when someone is waiting to sell theirs. You have to be patient._
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> _You have to keep your head and not just jump into something to please people. If you get players in for the sake of it, I can guarantee that if things aren’t going well in a few months’ time, they’ll be the lads who go missing because they’re the lads who weren’t even sure about coming in the first place._
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> _At the moment, things are dragging on because it’s out of our hands and it’s out of the players’ hands._