Sunderland sealed promotion back to the Premier League last month
Sunderland assistant head coach Pedro Ribeiro has insisted that the Black Cats are eager to “chart the right path” to avoid relegation from the Premier League next season.
But recent trends would suggest that they face a sizeable challenge in beating the drop next term. In each of the last two Premier League campaigns, the three newly-promoted clubs have made an immediate return to the second tier.
Nevertheless, in an interview with Portuguese outlet O Jogo, Ribeiro has reiterated how eager Le Bris and his staff are to learn from the setbacks suffered by other recenlty-promoted sides.
What has Pedro Ribeiro said about Sunderland’s Premier League hopes?
Speaking about the challenges posed by the step up to the Premier League, Ribeiro said: “We are aware of the competition we are going to play in and what has happened. Of course, this is a warning to chart the right path to follow, so that this does not happen to Sunderland.”
Discussing his arrival at the Stadium of Light partway through the season, he said: “As a coach, we have to understand where football takes us and what kind of opportunities arise. This came about as an assistant, through a symbiosis of ideas between people who approached me, namely manager Regis Le Bris and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman. They made me see that this path could be interesting.”
Ribeiro also reflected on the preparations that went in to Sunderland’s Wembley triumph over Sheffield United, and how the plan for the season altered once it became apparent that automatic promotion was out of the Black Cats’ reach.
He said: “We prepared for it in advance, because at a certain point we realised that direct promotion would be very difficult, but at the same time we realised that we would end up in the play-off zone.
“This allowed us to manage the team and convey the message that all the players would be important. We were able to recover players who were injured and others with physical problems. So, we reached the semi-final against Coventry and the final against Sheffield United at full strength.”
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What has Kristjaan Speakman said about Sunderland’s step up to the Premier League?
Addressing the need for recruitment ahead of next season, Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said: "We did add Championship experience when we stepped up [from League One], and they helped us on and off the pitch.
"The solutions are always different. In our context, from a footballing perspective, you're moving up two or three leagues really in terms of the level. So we need to make sure that we have the right level of player in the team, with the right game experience. We're acutely aware of that, we want to retain our principles and values, but sometimes of course you have to tweak the needle a little bit. You have to fully understand the environment you're going into. We were able to sign some players who we felt could adapt to the EFL, some people questioned us but thankfully we were proved right with some many of those players - that Chris Rigg could play, Jobe Bellingham could play, Romaine Mundle could play. We have to make sure we can apply the same principle to the next league, but it doesn't necessarily mean they'll have the same background [Premier League experience].
"We feel we've got loads of talented players and it's on them to come back for pre-season in the best condition possible to be able to play Premier League football, and our challenge is to then build the right balance from there. We'll obviously be signing new players into the team, to ensure that we have a Premier League that can be competitive."
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