What will next season bring? (Sunderland A.F.C.)

Member Name: Beanie8844

Product:	Sunderland A.F.C.
Date:	05/06/09 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Newcastle being relegated and the poaching of Steve Bruce

Disadvantages: Does Quinn have the money

After an almost disastrous end to the season Sunderland managed to avoid the dreaded drop and even poach Steve Bruce from Wigan Athletic, a team which finished 11th in the table; not bad really! I don't think the Wigan supporters will be delighted though, saying that they may end up with Roberto Martinez as their new manager and he has more than proved himself at the MK Dons since taking over from Paul Ince a little while ago.

So, where do Sunderland go from here? The only thing holding the club back at the moment is money because they have sorted the managerial position with the appointment of Bruce, a tried and tested manager at this level and the stadium is a modern 50,000 seater so that won't need expansion. Does Niall Quinn have enough money to get the club where they want to be and if so is he willing to hand it over? The answer to both questions is I think is no.

If you look at the first team squad at Sunderland they don't really have any stars, merely a large squad of mediocre to good players, this isn't going to get you into Europe, the club need to spend. It looks like Cisse isn't going to stay so their first priority is to sign a goal scorer. The midfield is ok with the likes of Richardson and Whitehead, but they could do with another flair player and a defensive midfielder in my opinion. The defence is where they need to spend money, two centre backs and probably a full back too. I'm also not sure about Craig Gordon, they spent a lot of money to get him from Hearts, but he hasn't looked worthy of the money yet, we'll have to see about him.

Overall, I think some money will be made available and if Bruce can make some shrewd signings of the Redknapp mould then I think they could finish around mid table next season, I don't think they'll be in line for the drop.

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment as I would love to hear your views on Sunderland, especially with Newcastle getting relegated!

Summary: A team to watch next season