TEAM PREVIEW: Sunderland – Andy Melville hopes his former side have put the warning signs behind them

 

As if they didn’t cut it fine enough in 2014, it once again looked like Sunderland were destined for the drop. Where Gus Poyet succeeded in 2014, Dick Advocaat did the same last season. But now it’s time for a club of Sunderland’s size to put the bad times behind them and stop flirting with the Championship.

Last Season: Premier League (16th)

Manager: Dick Advocaat

 

Squad

GKs: Costel Pantilimon, Jordan Pickford, Vito Mannone
DFs: Billy Jones, Patrick van Aanholt, Wes Brown, Adam Matthews, John O’Shea, Sebastian Coates, Valentin Roberge, Younes Kaboul
MFs: Liam Bridcutt, Lee Cattermole, Sebastian Larsson, Jack Rodwell, Adam Johnson, Jordi Gomez, Charalampos Mavrias, Emanuele Giaccherini, Will Buckley
FWs: Steven Fletcher, Connor Wickham, Danny Graham, Jermain Defoe, Jeremain Lens

 

Transfers

In: Oscar Krusnell (AIK), Sebastian Coates (Liverpool), Adam Matthews (Celtic), Santiago Vergini (Estudiantes), Younes Kaboul (Tottenham Hotspur), Jermain Lens (Dinamo Kiev)

Out: Anthony Reveillere (Released), El Hadji Ba (Charlton Athletic), Santiago Vergini (Getafe – Loan)

 

First Six: Leicester City (A), Norwich City (H), Swansea City (H), Aston Villa (A), Tottenham Hotspur (H), Bournemouth (A)

Likely Lineup: (4-3-3) Pantilimon – Matthews, Coates, Kaboul, van Aanholt – Cattermole, Larsson, Rodwell – Lens, Defoe, Wickham

 

 

A word from…Andy Melville

On his move to Sunderland Yeah I think it was good timing for myself for my personality and my character. I played plenty of football internationally and in the Championship and it was a big step because obviously they’re a big club and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

Obviously you have your highs and lows and whenever you talk to players in football, no matter what the situation, they’ll say that being involved in the sport is full of it’s ups and downs but obviously going up was a big achievement given that in the years before that we were scrapping against relegation so it was a huge thing for us and obviously a big disappointment coming down from the Premier League. I believe it was one of the last times, if not the last time, that a team achieved 40 points in the premier league and still ended up being relegated to the Championship.

On his departure I think what it was is that Sunderland only offered me a one-year-contract whereas Fulham offered me three years so it was all about security for my family really. I would have stayed at Sunderland, I enjoyed it there, I had friends there, it was a good environment to play in and all that and I would have almost definitely stayed there if I’d been offered a longer deal but obviously I went on to Fulham and achieved good things there as well.

On the current side Hopefully now they’ve had enough warnings and they get it right with the manager and then they get the recruitment right over the summer too, which they seem to be doing, getting a few existing players on longer contracts too. I’m sure they can kick on as a football club now and prove themselves to be a good team.

On backing the manager Well that’s the big thing isn’t it? For any team, squad, management set-up, familiarity is the key really and without that it is just that much harder. Advocaat will get reliable players in there – I’m sure they’ll stick with him, I don’t think he’d have signed for another year if he hadn’t had those assurances. I think clubs change too often really where they should just give more time and with him coming back and the experience he has had with the side now I think they’ll be ok.

On summer recruitment You go right through the side and you look – defensively they need to be able to rely upon and trust each other, midfield needs to have energy and obviously you need goals up front. I don’t know the stats but from the outside looking in they seem to have struggled for goals. I know jermain Defoe quite well from his time at West Ham, he could go on next year and score 15-20 goals+ if he gets the right team around him – but either way, Jermain will produce no matter what weight there is on his shoulders and that’ll be key for Sunderland this year.

 

The Offside Rule Podcast Prediction: Whilst nobody should expect miracles from Sunderland, Advocaat staying is important for a squad that clearly bought into his methods towards the end of last season. They’ll hope to at least be safe in mid-table.

Key Player: Lee Cattermole – He takes a lot of stick for the constant bookings and red cards picked up, but any Sunderland fan will tell you how important Cattermole was as a leader in the middle of the pitch last season.

One to Watch: Connor Wickham – The young striker was crucial to Sunderland’s revival in 2014 but struggled to hit similar heights last season. He’s got time on his side and clearly has a lot of talent so it will be interesting to see how he does over the next 12 months.