Sunderland must focus on the ultimate goal — stability in the top flight

03/22/2025 02:00 AM

Amid an ever-changing and mega-money football landscape, does the goal of achieving promotion and being competitive in the Premier League still hold true?

When Sunderland were promoted to the Premier League at the end of a memorable 2006/2007 Championship campaign, it was hard to shake the feeling that this time, it would be different.

Bob Murray's tenure had ended with control passed to the Drumaville Consortium, and unlike in 2005/2006, we were in rude financial health, with a chairman who'd reinvigorated the club and given the fans hope that the future would be bright, as well as a manager blessed with aura and presence.

Of course, we all knew that during that crucial first season, survival was the primary aim.

Achieving it would hopefully allow us to build and establish ourselves in the top flight over time, and that's what happened — albeit after some major missteps in the transfer market of summer 2007 and January 2008.

However, almost two decades on, the lie of the land is very different and for a club set on gaining and then retaining a seat at the top table, the challenge is daunting and we'd be entering a new world entirely if we're celebrating promotion come May.

The days of the Premier League's 'Big Four' are long gone, with Leicester City in 2016, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa all having crashed that party in recent years. On the South Coast, Brighton are now arguably one of the top flight's most efficiently-run teams, and Manchester United have suffered a spectacular fall from grace.

Elsewhere, Roman Abramovich's petro-dollars are no longer propping up Chelsea, Manchester City have gobbled up trophies like Smarties since 2011 and just up the road, our black and white neighbours have become the latest shiny addition to the ever-growing Saudi sporting portfolio.

Furthermore, the gulf between the Championship and the Premier League — once bridgeable with a fairly modest financial outlay — is arguably wider than ever, with the combined goal difference of last season's promoted teams presenting a stark figure in itself.

During our almost decade-long top flight exile, Sunderland have had an excellent view of the changes that have been wrought and as we target promotion during the final run of games, I find myself asking: 'Whereabouts in the football pecking order do we belong, and are we on the path that'll eventually lead us to where most fans would love to be?'

Perhaps it's a reaction to our own recent form, the likelihood of keeping this squad together should we fall short, or maybe even Newcastle's cup win, but it's certainly in sharp focus and I do think there's a discussion to be had about our ultimate destination under the stewardship of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, though not necessarily a negative one.

Our current method of working has often yielded spectacular results in terms of player development and the style of football we've graduated to playing, but like any process, there's a danger it'll eventually hit a natural ceiling and that we'll find ourselves stagnating — and what happens then?

It's one thing for the cash flow graphs to head in the right direction and for the club hierarchy to talk about how fantastic a 'product' the Championship is, but we can't lose sight of the fact that as soon as we get too comfortable and begin to settle for what we've got, we could easily find ourselves being overtaken by others.

Promotion to the Premier League this season would be a noteworthy achievement and I do believe that the likes of Jobe, Dan Neil, Chris Rigg and Wilson Isidor would be able to make the step up and eventually prove their worth against the cream of the domestic crop.

Additionally, it would more than likely enable us to retain the bulk of our current squad and combined with the addition of several experienced signings and injections of pace, power and penalty box prowess, we could hopefully finish above the dreaded dotted line when all was said and done.

That said, recent games have been a somewhat sobering experience as it's felt increasingly as though we're beginning to lose our nerve — first as we struggled to find a way past a dogged Preston team and then during last weekend's capitulation at Coventry City.

It provided further evidence that in terms of the on-pitch mindset needed, we're currently below the required standard, and this leads me to another key point: the club's attitude towards promotion and what would follow.

In recent times, there have been plenty of clubs who've achieved promotion to the Premier League, seemingly accepted that relegation is an inevitability and attempted to justify it by citing the financial rewards of even a single season in the top flight.

'Get promoted, bank the cash, and if we go down, we go down' seems to be the prevailing mindset for many who make the step up and if that's how they view it, good luck to them.

However, I believe that in our case, that would be a small-time and frankly wrongheaded way of looking at things, and no counter argument will ever convince me otherwise.

The goal for Sunderland AFC should be an ability to compete strongly in the top flight and for whoever happens to be the 'custodians' of the club at any given time, it should be their ambition too.

The potential within our club is significant and it's occasionally been unlocked — most notably from 1997 to 2001 — but we also got it horrifically wrong on a number of occasions and I hope there's a determination within the boardroom for Sunderland to add genuine value to the Premier League, if and when we make it there.

The idea of bouncing between divisions in an endless cycle of 'build, achieve promotion, struggle, dismantle, rebuild and go again' leaves me cold, and it's right that we should strive for more.

Additionally, trying to ease the pain of relegation from the Premier League by citing filled coffers via profits made on player sales might be OK at executive level but try selling that notion to the fans who feel those emotions even more acutely than those in the boardroom, and you're probably destined to fail.

During his years as a player, an ambassador for the city and then as chairman, Niall Quinn repeatedly demonstrated that he understood the aspirations of the Sunderland fans:

I really firmly believe if I can reconnect the players to the people and the club in general to the people, and the passion flows around the stadium with its positive charges, this team will get back to where it deserves to be.

It must be stressed that there's nothing to suggest Dreyfus and his team are out of sync with the supporters, but I sincerely hope that amid the talk of what we've achieved in recent times, they're not resting on their laurels and convincing themselves that where we currently are is where we should always be.

Restoring Sunderland AFC to long term competitiveness in the Premier League can't be viewed as a task akin to painting the Forth Bridge — an undertaking that goes on and on without ever actually finishing.

Our rate of progress since promotion in 2022 has been steady if not always smooth, but it's imperative that it doesn't stop now.

The day those Premier League flags are flying outside of the Stadium of Light is the day we'll feel the next major sense of accomplishment, and it'll then be up to the decision makers to prove they've got what it takes to keep us there.

Here's hoping.