What Did Sunday Tell Us About Sunderland AFC’s Ambition?

Anthony Gair says…

After Kyril-Louis Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman came out and said that our aim isn’t just Premier League survival, I can’t help but be excited about the future plans for our club. 

We must now appeal to some of the best young talents out there. We’ve shown that we’re not scared to give them an opportunity; we’ve shown that we can bring them on to become better footballers and we’ve shown that we’ll support them through thick and thin.

The atmosphere at the Stadium of Light this season has been phenomenal. Even in the rain against Bournemouth, it’s been absolutely rammed and bouncing — days that years ago, I never expected to see again.

Whether we go out and spend another £100 million, do some real youth recruitment, get some of the deadwood out of the door or all of the above, I just think we have to put our full trust in the process. 

Bearing in mind that at the end of last season, we expected the players from 2024/2025 to push on and become better footballers because of their experiences coming from playing better teams, but then it wound up being a Sky Sports News watch-fest on a daily basis to see who we brought through the door! 

Naturally, I don’t think we’re going to go all out and splurge £70 million on a towering German attacker — who loves to score for the Lads — from our neighbours, but whatever happens and whether people want to come or not, I have complete and utter faith in the final outcome.

Ciaran McKenna says…

Our performances so far this season and growing reputation will be catching the eye of everyone around the globe, but definitely footballers.

Of course, we’ve always been a huge club. In recent years, we became a sort of sleeping giant, but now we’re very much awake, we may have opened up a few more doors.

Young, brave and talented footballers are what we specialise in.

This has become clear with our recruitment strategy and it’s paid off well so far. I’m sure there are lots of footballers who fit into these categories that’ve seen the club’s successes and would love to become a part of our programme — and it’s now up to us to pick the right ones. 

Of course, we aren’t restricted to this type of player. I’m sure we’ll be looking for another sprinkle of experience or splash of expertise in January, but again, we need to choose wisely.

I must say that we have spent very well in the summer and despite the substantial number of new faces, they’ve bonded excellently. I’d like to think that any January signings would be able to connect in the same manner, but that’s not a guarantee.

We should look to make signings, but a quiet window is what I would expect and I don’t think that would necessarily be a bad thing.

Joseph Tulip says…

If we’re looking at signings purely for Premier League survival (our primary target), I think we’d be comfortable enough with the squad we have. I don’t have any concerns about their ability to pick up another fourteen points or so to reach the magic forty-point mark, even with AFCON temporarily taking a few of our current players.

The Christmas and New Year period will have an impact on our attractiveness to potential suitors. We currently occupy seventh place and if we go into January with a chance of a top half finish with potential for Europe, then a high calibre of player will surely want to join our ranks.

Having said that, I’m not getting carried away. I’m already more than happy with survival as our overall aim for this season and anything more than that is a bonus.

I just think that aiming high with the top half or better to realistically aim for will naturally help us to attract top players.

Regardless of our league position in January, I’m sure we’ll strengthen anyway and will have no problems recruiting, as who wouldn’t want to join our well-run club and follow the example set by Granit Xhaka and others?

With our ownership, head coach and clear ambition for this season and beyond, we’re a very attractive proposition.