I'm worried that Sunderland are getting left behind

It's that time of the year, as teams pout their squads together fore the upcoming season. Because of the Euros next summer, the Premier League starts really early this year, with the first round of matches starting on 8th August. This means that having your squad together early and getting them settled into a team plan is vital.

From Sunderland's point of view, the season that started with Paolo Di Canio as manager and we lost so many early games started the snowball effect that only a change of manager and an unbelievable run from Gus Poyet's men got us out of.

The club have stated that they want to move away from perennial relegation fights and towards the top 10. Dick Advocaat stated at the end of the season, when he hadn't decided whether he was staying or not, that we needed 4 or 5 quality signings to take us up the league and away from the bottom end. And as a fan I agree. Looking at the transfer business that teams with similar ambitions have conducted, I'm starting to worry about what we are doing and where we are being left behind. Sebastian Coates and Adam Matthews are good additions in my opinionj, but we need to be looking for another cetnre-back, a left midfielder/winger, a striker and probably another central midfielder. Let's have a look at what some of the other team have done so far this Summer-

Crystal Palace have signed Yohan Cabaye, which is a statement of major intent for the club.He is a talented player and will dictate the tempo of their game. Although he's never a player that we would have gone for, someone of his quality in central midfield would be a major boost to our club. I think that Jack Rodwell was perceived to be that type of player but injury and poor form haven't allowed him to show it.

Two signings for West Ham stand out so far, and that's Angelo Ogbonna from Juventus and Dimitri Payet from Marseille. Both look like they are quality players with experience of European competition. And both are players that look to have been targeted as part of the planning of the club - they've bought players where they need to strengthen. We, however are linked with Stewart Downing, who is being shifted on for Payet. It shows a lack of ambition and doesn't go any way to solving the problem we have with pace in our side.

Stoke City have made some very good signings and have pre-empted the loss of Asmir Begovic by promoting Jack Butland and buying Shay Given. Marco van Ginkel looks to be a promising prospect and the imminent arrival of Glen Johnson will bring in more experience. The return from injury of Bojan will be a massive boost to the club and will feel like a new signing.

Newcastle have been fairly quiet as well but have announced today that they've signed Georginio Wijnaldum, who looks a very good player and is one that we've been linked to. I think that Georginio Wijnaldum would be a massive step up from playing Connor Whickham on the left and it's a real shame that we've missed out on him - if indeed we were ever in for him.

Another team that have been quite busy is Aston Villa. They've spent the Fabian Delph money on Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye, got defender Micah Richards on a free transfer and converted Scott Sinclair's loan from Manchester City into a permanent deal. These all represent good value and Richards signing will probably gall Sunderland fans the most as he looked all set to join us last Summer before Gus Poyet's intervention. Again, the club have looked at where they need players and acted swiftly to get their targets.

Swansea have added Ghanaian forward Andre Ayew on a free transfer from Marseille in their move that has caught the eye the most, for me. This player is quality and adds pace to their counter-attacking style. He'll take some of the pressure off Bafetimbi Gomis after the departure of Wilfried Bony.

I know that there are always huge amounts of rumours at this time of year, and I don't expect (and I don't want) us to buy every player that we're linked with but so many that we're linked with look like a good match and then we find that they've signed somewhere else.

I'd like the squad out together before the first game and us to move forward at the start of the season by picking up the points that start to move us away from the likes of the promoted clubs, West Brom and Leicester, who I think are the candidates apart from us to be struggling. To do this, we need to replace the creaking old-timers in central defence, provide cover for Patrick van Aanholt at left-back, sort out the slow uninventive options at left attacking midfield and free up Defoe and a new strike partner to score goals. No small order - especially when there's only 27 days until the season starts.

 

Sunderland v Southampton

I went to the match in Saturday, and I thought us wait a few days for the relative euphoria to die down before giving an honest assessment of how I thought it went and what I think it means for the rest of the season.

The build up

I wasn't going to go. I'd looked at the idea earlier in the week and decided against it. Then in Friday night I started to think that perhaps I wouldn't have many opportunities to see us in the Premier League for a while and perhaps I should go. I looked on Stub Hub and there was a ticket for a good seat - 15 rows back, half way line opposite the dugouts - for only £13. I'll have it. Still slept in it and waited until Saturday morning to buy.

There were problems on the Metro so it seemed to take forever to get there, but there was a positive atmosphere in and around the stadium. Collected my ticket, bought a programme, had a wee, got a cup of tea and now I'm ready for the contest to begin.

Danny Graham is starting, Coated preferred to Vergini and Johnson back on the bench.

The match

Overall I think we were second best. I've watched us too many times this season where we stand off the opposition and give them time to pick a pass in our own half. The best defensive display I've seen this season is where we got into the faces of Chelsea - one of only two teams this season so far to have kept a clean sheet against them. I know it takes a lot of effort and concentration to produce a display like that week after week. And we probably need a bigger and deeper squad than we have to produce it. It worried me on Saturday 11 v 11 and even worried me after the sending off. It's all well and good having a set, structured "two lines of four" to prepare for the oncoming attack, but unless there is some pressure on the ball, this tactic will fail.

The effort levels looked much better than in previous games this season - and better than our rivals in black and white up the road.

Seb Larsson showed he's a class act and seems to care about the club. His effort and enthusiasm is contagious and he always seems to get the best out of his midfield colleagues. Danny Graham ran his heart out for the cause and was rewarded with a whack in the face, the penalty award and man of the match. The enigma that is Connor Whickham continues. If it wasn't for a fan about 10 rows to the right of me keeping him in check, he probably wouldn't have tracked Nathaniel Clyne back as much as he should. He can run with the ball and beat men regularly but when he gets to the edge of the box and needs to make a decision he falters.

The run-in

The question is "can we stay up?"

I think that the answer is "no." But I'm not worried. There seems to be a core of players at the club that don't care about the club and are only in it for the money. Relegation will, hopefully, clear these out of the club and we can start afresh, a little like the way Southampton have done.