How important is it for Sunderland to add some experience this summer?
07/05/2024 12:45 AM
With plenty of Championship-proven players available, should injecting a bit of know how into our squad be a top priority?
Gav says...
Anyone with a pair of eyes could see that last season, particularly in the second half of the campaign, some experience and leadership was needed within the camp to settle things down.
That was both in the dugout and on the pitch — we lacked it everywhere.
I did think it was interesting what Régis Le Bris said when questioned about it in his press conference on Wednesday.
He agreed that experience was needed, but hinted that didn't necessarily mean it had to be an older player, as lads in their mid-to-late 20s can be experienced too. Plus, all the current players we have, whether they're younger or slightly older, have experience of some sort, and last season was a huge learning curve for them all.
What I want to see are players who aren't dropping to bits but who've either been promoted from this league before, or have spent a few years in top flight football here or abroad and won't struggle with the transition to Championship football.
I won't go into specifics on names of players, but I'm going to guess a big part of our transfer strategy this summer will be in securing lads in the free agent market who have all the attributes we're lacking.
Anth Gair says...
We don't need experience. and particularly any also-rans who've never really torn up the turf at their previous clubs.
We have the influential lads, and Luke O'Nien in particular, already at the club.
He's already shown that he can communicate effectively, and everyone will tell you he has all the time in the world for anyone who has a question to ask, or comes for some advice.
The counter argument will be one of, 'The end of last season showed that experience would've helped the young kids through', but we don't actually know that it would've been the case!
Confidence was low, but not low enough to bring in wage-draining, ageing campers like Ollie Norwood.
We tried that in the Premier League, bringing in all the old Manchester United players and hoping that something would eventually stick, leading to an overpaid and depleted squad which eventually ended up in League One.
Let's continue with the younger recruitment and focus on the potential of players instead of the players who'll come here for a payday and not give it 100% every week.
Phil West says...
It's absolutely vital that we add some experience to our ranks this summer, and I think we need five Championship-proven players through the door by the time the transfer window closes.
I'm not talking about reality TV hopefuls who play football as a side hustle. I'm talking about players in the Corry Evans mould: rugged, no-nonsense pros who would relish the challenge of hopefully playing a part in our resurgence.
Next season, we need to be able to control games and take the sting out of things every now and then, as well as developing the ability to dig deep and grind out results if games descend into physical affairs.
We lacked that last season, as our team of skilful but physically slight players often found out to their cost, and some of the results we endured could be attributed to a lack of composure in key moments.
If we look back to the Newcastle FA Cup tie, the now-departed Alex Pritchard's performance was that of a man who was personally insulted by what was happening around him and was determined not to roll over and concede the game.
That's the kind of mindset we need to tap into next season, and bringing in some players who've been there and done it in terms of the grind of a Championship season is a must.
I'm not suggesting that we need to completely dismantle what's been put into place in recent years, but that it needs to be adapted and fine-tuned in the wake of a difficult campaign.
If we can balance things out, we've got every chance of being competitive next season, and the free agent market is something we should definitely be paying close attention to.
