This season has been one of the most remarkable in my many decades of supporting Sunderland AFC. We have been competitive in almost every game, have beaten some of the top teams and also Newcastle, so the transition from last season in the Championship to today in the Premier League has been truly remarkable. We now sit on 43 points, with 7 games to go.
Despite some recent setbacks at the Stadium of Light that upset our unbeaten home record, away performances have picked up and we are now looking upwards towards the top section in the world’s most competitive football league. The fear of failure is not haunting us, as in previous Premier League years, and we have matured hugely as a football club. Very importantly, we did the double over our Tyneside neighbours: this illustrated the level of self-confidence that the team is displaying at these special times. We had a raft of key players out through injury at St James’ Park on 22 March but still managed to come up with a second-half performance which simply blew our opponents away, and that 90th-minute winner from Brian Brobbey in front of the Sunderland fans will never be forgotten.
But is this more evolution than revolution? We have after all seemingly been following a carefully laid-out plan, devised several years ago, which has drawn attention from a lot of underperforming football clubs. It has been so successful that I would now define Sunderland as a previously underperforming football giant. “The Model” has however meant that we should not get too attached to any particular players, as there is a decent chance that they could be sold and replaced. Over a period of time, we waved goodbye to Ross Stewart, Jack Clarke, Jobe Bellingham and Tommy Watson, but the main point was that the substantial funds raised from those sales paved the way for the excellent summer 2025 transfer activity, which lay behind the current progression of the team.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - JUNE 21: Jobe Bellingham #77 of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring a goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group F match between Mamelodi Sundowns FC and Borussia Dortmund at TQL Stadium on June 21, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO - JUNE 21: Jobe Bellingham #77 of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring a goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group F match between Mamelodi Sundowns FC and Borussia Dortmund at TQL Stadium on June 21, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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One of the key originators of The Model, Kristjaan Speakman, has also moved on, so we should not get too attached to members of our management team either, although most fans will keep a special place in their hearts for the former Birmingham man, who shaped a lot of what we now see before us on the pitch. But we have Florent Ghisolfi as our Director of Football, and I would argue that The Model has evolved, rather than being scrapped.
When Kyril-Louis Dreyfus acquired shares in Sunderland in February 2021, and I do not need to remind true fans of this, we were languishing in League One, struggling to recover from the effects of COVID-19 on our beloved football club. Think almost empty stadia, unconvincing football, and trying our best to exit League One. The Model moved us forward and brought us up two leagues over time.
Moving forward, last summer we did not just recruit footballing talent but focused on character and future teamwork; there was less emphasis on the age and potential of players.
Many football clubs fall into the trap of just acquiring expensive players, but in order for team-building strategies to work, there has to be positive relational chemistry between key members of the leadership/recruitment team. This group was initially made up of KLD, Speakman and head coach Régis Le Bris but joined by another crucial hire who I have mentioned: Ghisolfi. The group is flexible and pragmatic, but crucially knew how to recruit for a team where players literally sweat blood for each other.
So, my question is: has “The Model” been adapted in favour of pragmatism? As mentioned, not all the team signed in the summer fitted into the earlier “young and promising” patterns, most notably our inspirational captain, Granit Xhaka, aged 32 when he signed. This was a spectacular piece of recruitment and vision, apparently accomplished by KLD in the private family jet. But we also signed a number of other “Premier League Ready” players: Omar Aldrete (28), Bertrand Traore (29) and a whole set of others in their mid-twenties, such as Nordi Mukiele, Noah Sadiki, Habib Diarra. Many of these players have been outstanding performers, especially in the context of building a team.
One can argue that Robin Roefs, Chemsdine Talbi, Melker Ellborg, Brian Brobbey and Nilson Angulo who are all in their early twenties do fit “The Model”, as did Simon Adingra (now 24), who has now been loaned out to Monaco, scoring 3 goals so far. But if we had stuck rigidly to low age limits last summer, I really doubt we would be on 43 points now, and potentially competing for European places next season, depending how the remaining games go.
So I will conclude that “The Model”, which has overall been a great success, has evolved, with a spectacular element of teamwork added. This was crucial in a number of our signings, such as Enzo Le Fée, added to the list above. I predict that extreme talent and teamwork will be highly prioritised in our summer recruitment, and for once I am convinced that all this is in safe hands as we prepare optimistically for the Premier League season 2026-27.