A successful transfer window at the Stadium of Light has been somewhat elusive in recent years and after yesterdays 4-2 drubbing at the King Power Stadium, one is left to wonder- will this window be the same? Previous transfer windows have lurched between two extremes of policy- quantitative and qualitative. With Congerton having brought in 5 players this window, we are left to wonder- where does this window fall in terms of strategy?
In the 2011/12 season, Steve Bruce brought in thirteen first team players for a combined cost of around £28 million. It is not in doubt that replacements were needed after the departures of Asamoah Gyan, Jordan Henderson, Steed Malbranque, Anton Ferdinand and to a lesser extent Nyron Nosworthy for a combined fee of £25 million. However, what no Sunderland fan expected or wanted to see was an influx of a totally new playing squad with minimal time to gel before the beginning of the season. Amongst the new playing staff were some bargains- Sebastian Larsson and Kieren Westwood on free transfers alongside John O’Shea and Wes Brown for a fee of £6 million- however there were also some questionable signings. On paper, Connor Wickham and Craig Gardner were good additions to the squad, a promising young striker and finally a goal scoring midfielder, however when one considers their combined fee was £14 million pounds the transfers do look rather frivolous for a team needing to replace the core of their side with established players. In many ways, the Bruce era failed due to poor transfer windows- our best players were sold and replaced by a glutton of cheap alternatives, the quantitative approach cost Steve Bruce his job (along with his poor man management of a squad which was perhaps, on paper, the best Sunderland side in recent years).
A more recent example of quantitative transfer strategy came under the somewhat elusive figure of Roberto di Fanti, football agent and director of football extraordinaire. During the summer of the 13/14 season, management and directors seemed to be reading from entirely different hymn books- Di Canio spoke of recruiting a few quality experienced British players whilst di Fanti went ahead and brought in 14 players that summer alone (of which only Duncan Watmore was British). Once again, the quantitative system, along with him being mental, cost Di Canio his job and he was replaced by the similarly fated Gustavo Poyet.
So how did the qualitative transfer windows work out? Equally badly it would seem. Martin O’Neill adamantly set about to sign Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson in 2012. Johnson was wooed to the North East for a respectable fee of £10 million, a transfer coup by all accounts, the England international would add much needed pace and trickery to a rather limited Sunderland side. However, the twice relegated Steven Fletcher, despite being better than the players Sunderland had, was overpaid for at £14 million. Despite numerous bids by Wolves being rejected by Wolves for Fletcher, O’Neill was stubborn and ended up getting his man, for £2 million more than Arsenal paid for Olivier Giroud that same summer, to put that into context.
And yet, this summer seems to have seen Sunderland opt for some form of middle ground between quantitative and qualitative signings. Having brought in 5 signings, Advocaat stated in an interview on Friday that he perhaps saw Lens as the only one that drastically improved the starting XI. He added that he wanted to see 2 more quality (starting XI) signings in the squad. Whilst Congerton’s signings at low value (Kaboul, Coates and Matthews) certainly add competition for places, surely a squad which has retained its Premier League place by the skin of its teeth for the last 3 years should be strengthening the starting XI in time for the season starting rather than bringing in squad players? Lens certainly adds pace and directness to the side, and M’Vila is a player with pedigree who should hopefully do well, and yet the defensive additions looked appalling on yesterdays evidence. Worryingly for Sunderland, before yesterday all the talk was of strengthening our attacking options, defence seemed to have been conclusively dealt with. However, after shipping 4 goals to a Leicester side who will undoubtably be in and around the bottom places (as may we) surely something else has to be done? Everyone can see that we need an attacking midfielder, Januzaj is mooted as potentially moving to the North East, and a striker however yesterday showed that the need for competent defenders has never been more pertinent.
In conclusion, Sunderland’s summer business has been moderate in its approach, not numerically drastic or particularly promising in bringing in a couple of top notch players. The squad has been strengthened and yet the starting XI against Leicester was strikingly familiar. What is perhaps most perplexing about Sunderland’s recruitment this summer is the order in which it has taken place, say the Black Cats are able to buy two or three more quality players, by the time they settle into the squad perhaps they may have dropped six more points from winnable games. Surely these players should have been the first on our summer hit list rather than squad options, after all, the potential points dropped in the meantime could be vital come the end of the season.
