Sunderland made a positive start to life in the Premier League last weekend
Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has claimed that he does not expect Sunderland to be dragged into a relegation battle this season.
The Black Cats have been tipped by many pundits to suffer an immediate return to the Championship this term, but have spent ambitiously in the transfer market, and started their long-awaited top flight comeback with an eye-catching 3-0 victory over West Ham last weekend.
And speaking during an appearance on Sky Sports News, MacAnthony insisted that Regis Le Bris’ side should have enough about them to beat the drop.
What did Darragh MacAnthony say about Sunderland’s Premier League survival hopes?
Looking ahead to Saturday afternoon’s clash between Sunderland and Burnley, MacAnthony was asked whether either side had what it takes to survive in the Premier League this term, to which he responded: “The history and statistics and data over the past two years tell you that the three who come up are the most prominent favourites to go down. I think it’d be unfair to Sunderland.
“I’ve never seen a team that suffered so well in winning promotion at the end of last season, in the play-offs and the play-off final. In those games, they were battered, and at certain times, dug in and dug in. I think that is going to make them more resilient - never mind the £150 million they’re spending on players. I actually don’t think Sunderland are going to be in a relegation battle.”
Turning his attention to the signing of Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka specifically, MacAnthony added: “Absolutely magnificent signing. The type of signing Burnley should have made, or tried to make - not being critical of Burnley.”
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Widening his view to some of the other clubs who may be implicated in a battle to stay up, the Irishman continued: “Look, I have no idea. I always hate saying so early in the season, ‘Those three are the favourites’.
“I see people throwing Brentford’s name around, and I think, ‘How dare you?’. Forget about them having a new manager. Judge them on ownership. Judge them on ownership, right down to technical director. That’s a club who knows what they’re doing. They have a Plan B, C, and D. I get that it’s Keith Andrews’ first job and all of that, but the idea that straight away that makes them a relegation candidate, I think that’s an insult to how that football club is operated, and I don’t see that.
“So it’s far too early to be throwing out the ‘R’ word at any of those clubs. Even Leeds... you looked at Leeds the other night, and actually, they looked like a better team than Everton. They’ve made some good signings. Even the manager, he’s learnt from being there with Norwich, and you see the size of the players he’s signed. Those little differences you learn from your first couple of times in the Premier League.
“The one thing I learnt, and I didn’t learn it quick enough [when Peterborough were promoted to the Championship]; too loyal to the previous players. They maybe weren’t good enough for the step up. Secondly, you need a lot of of 6’2”, physical boys. The first thing I’d do, if by some miracle we get back to the Championship again, and we’ve done it a few times, is go sign 6’4” centre-halves before anything else.”
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