For me personally, this summer it’s a case of no news is good news. I would be happy to stick with what we have rather than overhaul the entire team/squad. If we use the Sulemana/TP money to bring in a couple of quality creative players (eg: Rudoni), then great. No panic if we don’t though.
If we're genuinely trying to improve the squad like Solak said (ST,CM,CB) talked about being first team improvements and not just squad players, they're going to take time to do.
Yeah I agree to an extent. We shouldn’t have to do much to have a competitive side even if 10 players leave. I just remember there was a lot of chat in April/May about how we should be getting business done early as we’ve had months to prepare etc Maybe we are only looking to sign a couple so no real rush
I never expected us to get loads of business done right at the start of the window. Just never happens like that. Imagine a few things will start to happen when we enter July.
That's always a problem with regular changes of manager. Each new one has to assess what he's got and whether they are likely to fit in with his philosophy. Initially, I had some sympathy for Juric who had to do that with little time available and would have been expected to have made some weird selections early on. The fact that he continued to do it probably didn't help his cause. As you say Still will have to get a decent look and on the face of it has more time to do it but even now not all the players are back in training (Is that right?). He might even wait until he's seen them play in competitive matches.
My problem with having some of the same squad and players is this past season most of us were swearing about them and saying they were heartless losers who didn't try. Just because we are in the Championship it cannot mean that is going to go away. We need fighting spirit and strong belief and an ability to perform in roles they are not used to. Something that was rarely seen, if at all, in 24-25. I mean just because it is the Championship does that mean Will Smallbone is going to suddenly start picking up free players in the penalty box in the last minute?
This is why I was somewhat concerned about changing manager again. I wasn't as bothered about actually making signings before pre-season but I wanted the club to decide what they're going to do quite early on. Some decisions have clearly been made already (Onuachu, Sulemana, Larios) so that's obviously true to some extent. My hope is that Spors has spoken to Juric, Rusk and all our other backroom staff about the squad and knows all their strengths and weaknesses quite well ro Still will know what he need to look at with certain players. On a relatednote, Larios seems to be heading back to Spain.
When you say "some of the same squad and players" do you just mean there's a problem with certain players? Because realistically we have to have some of the same squad - we're not going to sell, loan or release every player and start from scratch. On Smallbone specifically, I agree I wouldn't want him as first choice but I think he can probably do a job as a squad player in the Championship. His wages probably aren't silly while his contract is up next summer. I'd happily let him leave then. If we've been promoted we can hopefully look to buy a new first choice midfielder and slide one of Downes or Charles (assuming they're here this season) down onto the bench. If we're still in the Championship then how we replace him would depend on what else is going on with transfers.
I get your point, but I don’t think many actually didn’t try no matter how much it looked like that to us. The gulf in quality and physical attributes probably made it look that way, as well as heads dropping which I think would happen to most players under our circumstances. I think very few actually have attitude problems (hello ABK). Smallbone is one that I’m absolutely certain has the right attitude and commitment. Tracking players and putting in challenges is just not his game at all. We learnt what Smallbone can and can’t do a long time ago, unfortunately managers don’t seem to catch on as fast (or at all).
Yes and no. WS will use different tactics, thankfully. Think we’ll see some big improvements from certain players.
Habib Diarra could be a great signing for Sunderland. Thought he’d end up at Chelsea from Strasbourg. €35m seems steep but probably just an indication of the market that we haven’t kept up with
