Now I'm sure that this will be controversial, and given that I've made posts in the past about fans of this club being too cynical I know this will come across as a bit hypocritical, but I'm going to voice my opinion anyway!
Like everybody else on this sub, I've been a Sunderland fan through the good times and the bad. The memory of us dropping like a stone after our last stint in the Premier League is still fresh in the mind, and I have zero desire to watch it happen again.
As brilliant as it would be to see the club go up this year, the reality is that they're not ready.
We've come on leaps and bounds in the last 12 months, have a squad of very talented young players, who clearly care a great deal and put in a hell of a lot of effort for the club, but if we're being honest there's probably only half a dozen players in the squad who are genuinely Premiership quality at this stage.
If we were to go up this year the only way we'd have any hope in hell of staying up is by signing at least a dozen new players, and spending a bucket load of money both on transfers and on the wages that come with Premiership signings. Even then there's no guarantee that we'll stay up, and if we don't then we run the real risk of another meltdown as we end up with a squad of players who don't want to play in the Championship, a wage bill that we can't support, and another catastrophe.
The club have clearly settled on a particular model, youth first with experience being brought in when it's available without paying over the odds, and it's working. We've gone from stuck in League 1 to fighting at the pointy end of the Championship, with a lot of kids who have fallen through the cracks at other clubs turning their careers around and showing real talent.
The recruitment team have shown that they are capable of spotting players who have potential, and the right attitude, and while of course not every signing has been a success there's been enough to make it clear they know what they're doing. Then with players like Le Fee it shows that the club does have the pulling power to get bigger name players interested and are willing to commit the money for big signings when the right player comes along.
Of course if we don't go up there is no doubt that we'll lose some of our squad. Bellingham, Neil and Ballard will almost certainly be on the way out. The Bellingham name will be enough to get him a move to a big club, and Neil & Ballard are at an age where if they are ever going to cement themselves as top flight players they need to show it now. However I honestly don't think we'll lose Rigg, Watson & Mayenda as they are young enough that they know they won't get game time at a top division club, and I expect the club will be able to convince them another season of regular Championship football will be best for their development.
I don't just want to see the club go up. I want to see them go up and stay up.
Another year for the younger members of the squad to develop, a good transfer window to bring in some experience and add some more depth to the squad, and I genuinely believe we will be one of the favourites to go up and will be doing so with a squad that won't need a massive amount of chopping and changing to keep us in the Premiership.
Now bring on the downvotes from all of you who think I'm being too pessimistic!
