Football Season Guide

Sunderland entered the previous campaign determined to bounce back after suffering back-to-back relegations. They had their moments, but their campaign as a whole was bitterly disappointing, as they lost both the final of the EFL Trophy and, more importantly, the Play-off final, when a last-minute goal condemned them to a defeat against Charlton. With the Black Cats widely perceived to be too big for League One and failing to achieve promotion, the board's decision to stick with Jack Ross as manager came as a surprise to many. Sunderland had large spells last season during which they were grinding out results and relied on the individual quality of their players rather than a working plan in order to get results and this is something that Ross will need to address this time around. Several on-loan players are back with their parent clubs, Donald Love and Reece James have been allowed to leave, while the sole departed player that the Black Cats would have preferred to keep is Lee Cattermole, who leaves following the expiry of his contract. They opted for quality other than quantity when bringing in men. Three proven League One defensive players were signed in Lee Burge and Jordan Willis, who sign from Coventry, and Conor McLaughlin, who joins from Millwall. Marc McNulty and George Dobson sign from Reading and Walsall, respectively, and are both also players who are proven quality in this division. Sunderland's squad looks even stronger than last time around and there will be no excuses for Ross if he once again fails to deliver promotion.