Football Season Guide

League 1

England

League 1

2018/2019

Sunderland

In

Jack Ross (manager), Glenn Loovens (def) (Sheffield Wednesday), Alim Ozturk (def) (Boluspor), Tom Flanagan (def) (Burton), Reece James (def) (Wigan), Dylan McGeouch (mid) (Hibernian), Jon McLaughlin (gk) (Hearts), Chris Maguire (att) (Bury), Papy Djilobodji (def) (Dijon - loan ended), Jerome Sinclair (att) (Watford - loan), Jack Baldwin (def) (Peterborough), Luke O'Nien (mid) (Wycombe), Charlie Wyke (att) (Bradford)

Out

Brendan Galloway (r) (def) (Everton - loan ended), Jake Clarke-Salter (r) (def) (Chelsea - loan ended), Lee Camp (sp) (gk) (Cardiff - loan ended), Jonathan Williams (r) (mid) (Crystal Palace - loan ended), Ashley Fletcher (r) (att) (Middlesbrough - loan ended), Tylas Browning (r) (def) (Everton - loan ended), Ovie Ejaria (sp) (mid) (Liverpool - loan ended), Wahbi Khazri (k) (mid) (Saint Etienne), Paddy McNair (r) (def) (Middlesbrough), Fabio Borini (r) (att) (Milan), Jermain Lens (r) (mid) (Besiktas), Joel Asoro (sp) (att) (Swansea), Billy Jones (sp) (def) (Rotherham), John O'Shea (r) (def) (Reading), Callum McManaman (r) (mid) (Wigan), Jason Steele (r) (gk) (Brighton), Jack Rodwell (r) (mid) (contract expired), Marc Wilson (sp) (def) (contract expired), Kazenga LuaLua (r) (mid) (contract expired)

A Premier League club just over two years ago, Sunderland find themselves in the depths of League One after suffering back-to-back relegations. Their relegation from the Premier League in 2016/17 hardly came as a surprise, but not many expected a club that spent the majority of the 21st century inside the top flight to suffer another relegation following a turbulent season of return to the Championship. The Black Cats, whose squad still contained several Premier League players, tried chopping and changing their managers, but nothing seemed to help, as they finished at the bottom of the Championship table, with their home form in particular being their undoing. Sunderland won only 3 of their 23 home Championship games and the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light might prove to be a problem in the third tier as well, as the fans have not been happy with the way the club is being run for a while now and tend to get on the players' backs when things do not go well. Inevitably, given their relegation to the third tier, the Black Cats had to let go a number of players who were not interested in playing at League One level, such as Wahbi Khazri, Paddy McNair, Fabio Borini, Jack Rodwell and many others. Despite their fall from grace over the years, Sunderland have no problems attracting players of star quality at League One level. The list of arrivals includes the likes of Glenn Loovens, a Championship player during the majority of his career, Reece James, a regular for Wigan last season, Bury's arguably best player in Chris Maguire and Bradford's last season's top scorer Charlie Wyke. They also have a new manager in charge in Jack Ross, who joins after a two-year spell at St.Mirren and has no previous experience of managing in England. Despite losing as many players as they have, Sunderland still have an outstanding squad for this level. Several players that Ross has available played a portion of their careers in the Premier League and their new manager will certainly feel that he has all the necessary tools to halt the club's steep decline.

Target

Despite all the turmoil they have had in the last two seasons, Sunderland are far too big of a club to be in this division and anything short of a swift return to the Championship would be seen as a disaster.