Since Martin O’Neil’s sacking in 2013 Sunderland have been in a consistent rut and one of the main reasons for this has been some very poor transfers.
Sunderland have brought in a lot of players over the last three seasons as Paulo Di Canio, Gus Poyet and Dick Advocaat tried to push on from saving Sunderland from the drop. This never happened, instead, the vicious cycle continued with these players not proving good enough.
As the club looks to be finally stepping in the right direction with a proven manager who seems to actually know what he is doing we can only hope that Big Sam learns from the mistakes of his predecessors and finally brings in the standard of player to finally stop this relegation rut which we are expected of every year.
The odds using a Betfair promo code suggest he will manage it too. His track record speaks very much for itself.
The best place to start for Allardyce would be to avoid signing players like these ten:
10. Liam Bridcutt
Liam Bridcutt was brought to Sunderland by his former Brighton manager Gus Poyet for 2.5 Million. Poyet was a huge admirer or the Scot playing him quite often in Sunderland’s midfield but Bridcutt was never the player he was in the Championship and failed to wow the Sunderland faithful on many if any occasions leading to his loan to Leeds in the 15/16 season.
9. Ignacio Scocco
Scocco was another January signing from Gus Poyet as he managed to keep the Black Cats in the league in his first season. Scocco made no impact in a red and white shirt coming off the bench eight times in total for the Black Cats before being transferred back to Argentina in the summer of 2014.
8. Andrea Dossena
Dossena came to Sunderland on the back of a stellar career both in England and Italy and was anticipated to be a good replacement for Danny Rose but instead Dossena proved to be a shell of his former self and quickly fell behind in the pecking order to Marcos Alonso. He was released after one season and went on to play for Leyton Orient.
7. Cabral
Cabral came to Sunderland on a free transfer from leading Swiss club Basel and so excited fans as a player with Champions League experience. His first game for Sunderland was brilliant putting in a man of the match performance in a defeat to Fulham, however, he would only feature for the Black Cats once more before moving out on loan to Genoa in January 2014.
6.Will Buckley
Will Buckley came to Sunderland as one of the most promising wingers in the Championship expected to easily adapted to the step up. Sadly this didn’t happen and Buckley always seemed to look out of his depth in a red and white shirt his only real claim is an assist in a 1-0 win at St James Park other than that Buckley has either sat on the bench or been out on loan.
5. David Moberg-Karlsson
Moberg-Karlsson came to Sunderland for £1.5-million with the potential to be the next Swedish wonder however disappointingly for DMK this never happened as he only managed one first team appearance in a League Cup game. Karlsson tried his luck on loan in Scotland but couldn’t get in the Kilmarnock side and now plays for Nordsjaelland FC in Denmark.
4. Jack Rodwell
Jack Rodwell’s time and Sunderland just seems to get worse and worse. The midfielder was expected to be a powerhouse in our midfield capable at both defending and scoring goals but the 10 million price tag may still be praying on his mind as he struggles to get into the side or make any difference but their is still time for Rodwell to come good with the new season steadily approaching.
3. Charalampos Mavrias
Mavrias came to Sunderland looking like he had a bright future ahead having played Champions League football for Panathinakos. This was proven not to be the case as the Greek failed to break into the first team and instead was forced out on loan to both Greece and Germany where he also failed to make an impact of any kind.
2. Valentin Roberge
Valentin Roberge looked as though he was a very capable Centre Half when he first broke into the Sunderland team. However he was quickly forced out by John O’Shea and Wes Brown. Now he is a forgotten man in Sunderland and is failing to even appear on the bench for the Black Cats.
1. Jozy Altidore
Jozy Altidore signed for Sunderland for £6.5-million following a remarkable season in Holland in which he scored 38 goals. This was not the case when he was wearing a Sunderland top as Altidore never looked good enough and at times not like a footballer at all. Regardless of that he still managed 21 starts for the Black Cats in the League in which he only manged one goal. He was finally sent to Toronto in a straight swap for Jermaine Defoe, the best thing he ever did for Sunderland.