Sunderland chairman Short outlines his ambitions tribalfootball.com April 15, 2012, 4:05 pm Post Comment tweet Email Print Sunderland chairman Ellis Short has told fans he has major ambitions for the club. Short is delighted with their progress since Martin O'Neill's appointment. Writing in his programme notes ahead of the Wolves home game, Short said: "Looking at a league table based on results since Martin took over, we would be in joint-fifth position with Everton, who have played a game more than us in that period. "We have taken 31 points from the 19 league games Martin has overseen. Were that to be repeated over another 19 games representing a full season, we would accumulate 62 points, which last year was enough to reach fifth place. "That's comparable with the sixth position Martin managed to get Aston Villa to in each of his last three seasons in the Barclays Premier League before joining us. "Our aim is to establish ourselves as a club who can regularly finish in the top half of the table and look to climb as high as possible. "You would have to go all the way back to 1955 to find the last time the club finished in the top six, but top-six form is what we have had for the last half of the season, and we are seeking to consolidate this improvement and look to build on it in the seasons to come."
Its going to take a canny bit of Ellis's financial muscle to ensure MoN can maintain this good work since December, or it may just grind to a halt. Even with this squad and no new faces, I am convinced that we will be a comfortable middle of the league team next year. With a few bob to spend, who knows what he can achieve.
I expect we'll have to spend to keep MON at the club, apart from anything else. The squad is clearly good enough for mid-table, but that's not what Short, MON or us fans are after really, is it?
I wouldnt be upset to see ANY of our players sold or sacrificed for the greater good of MoN's rebuilding. I dont see any of our current squad (inc Sessegnon) who is indespensible. Providing we can raise decent funds for new faces, I'd be happy with whatever happens over the summer. Wee need changes and better players. Simple as.
Doesn't ffp mean we can only spend what we generate so isn't it irrelevant that the owner is a billionaire ?
FFP does mean that if you arent spending what you eanr you can be stopped from entering uefa competitions. But it doesnt come in fully until 2015 i think and with the recent financial report looking healthy (losses down by seventy odd percent) we are in good shape. I think we can count the money weget from concerts and stuff as revenue. but i could be mistaken on that.
Our biggest problem is going to be attracting better players, we need to be signing quality like A Johnson etc....
