Sunderland Poised for Promotion Push as Squad Matures

12/24/2024 01:00 AM

With a strong league position and a maturing squad, 2025 promises a memorable chapter for the Black Cats.

We have passed the Winter Solstice, and Sunderland AFC sit in a very tidy fourth place, two points behind second place and eight points above seventh. What a difference a few months make.

In addition to the positive league position, this season has been so enjoyable — unbeaten at home, late goals, some lovely football, and late winners have all contributed to making us feel good about the club again. As the days start to lengthen into early 2025, there is so much to look forward to. The season, at this point, is really set up to be something great.

Above all else that has happened in the last few months, the most pleasing thing so far this season has been witnessing how this group of players has matured. Saturday's team contained five players who have been with us since our League One days, and they remain key to the team now.

Most weeks, Trai Hume would start, so we regularly have six players who have shared this entire journey. The club has allowed this group time and room to grow, and the benefits of that are plain to see. They aren't the same players as they were, though — they are bigger, stronger, faster. They are much better. That is quite remarkable, really, in modern-day football.

So, here we are with everything to play for, and I think we all agree that we have not seen anything to be afraid of so far this season. Yes, Sheffield United and Leeds are just ahead of us. They have experienced squads, which are bigger and more expensively assembled than ours, but over the last 22 games, they haven't proven to be any better than us. So, with our returning players and with a fair wind, we surely have a real chance of taking them all the way. Why shouldn't we?

The January transfer window will be crucial; however, it usually is in the section of the pyramid that we are in. Whatever occurs, we have seen that the club will do whatever they do with thought and purpose and for the long-term benefit of the club.

So, what might that long term be? The Premier League has held only a passing interest for me over the last few years. Having a break from something that just seemed so far away — having a break from the obsession with money, the media circus that goes with it, the on- and off-field antics of players, from VAR, and the general over-emotional state of the managers, fans, and owners — has been quite nice, if I am honest. But eight years is enough. It is too long. It is time to think about getting back to all of that nonsense.

Should we return, then the part of the Premier League table that we would have to think about is the bottom eight — that is true for all promoted clubs. The bottom four doesn't make happy reading for anyone looking up from the top end of the Championship.

Out of last season's promoted clubs, the struggles of Southampton — whilst both hilarious and expected, given who their manager was until recently — look to be doomed already. Ipswich spent a fortune on not very much and seem to be built to yo-yo for a while, at best. Leicester have some highly paid and decent players but sit fourth bottom, shipping four two Saturdays in a row. Wolves, who not long ago felt established, seem to be in a state of crisis despite a rare win at the weekend.

Our approach is nothing like those clubs, though. We are trying to be more like Brentford or Brighton or even Bournemouth — clubs who have successfully retained their status. But will it work out for us? We will have to wait and see, should we get the chance.

At the top end, the gap seems to widen year on year. The top eight or so are state- or hedge-fund-owned or just so rich after so many years at the top it doesn't matter. This last week, talk of the European Super League has resurfaced, admittedly from Spain, not from England. It won't be long, however, until such talk spreads across Europe, as the demand for more, and then more again, will become irresistible to those clubs' owners' ambitions.

As those clubs become ever more dominant, then the need for UEFA and FIFA will become less so. Political changes in the last few years have seen serious challenges to the established world order, making the post-war organisational bodies much less powerful and at risk of break-up. 2025 will likely see an acceleration in that.

The growth in importance and influence of the major clubs above the various Football Federations and national leagues just makes it inevitable that some form of league or competition outside of UEFA and FIFA springs up in the next few years.

That isn't something for us to worry about, though, as even the Premier League remains a long way away. The improvement in this squad, whilst remarkable, feels like there is more to come. That is the journey that we are on. To witness the growth of the boys of 2021 into the men of 2024 and beyond has been fantastic and sometimes frustrating. But it is a unique thing that we should all treasure.

The first part of 2025 is all set up to be one of those periods in this club's story which will be memorable for all of the right reasons. These lads deserve the chance to have a go in the league above next season. It really feels like their time to kick on is not next season or the season after—they look ready now. It feels like their time to do it will be over the next five months.