Sunderland, promotion, and the luxury of rebuild time

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Sunderland are still firmly in the race for a top two spot despite a poor result against Plymouth, and the need for promotion now might hold off the inevitable of losing key players

The dust has settled after a frustrating 2-2 draw against bottom side Plymouth Argyle. High emotions followed and fans have projected a lot of frustration with a lot of it warranted, some of it not so much.

Sunderland sit fourth in the table and are still within touching distance of the automatic promotion spots. After Sheffield United's 3-0 loss at home to Hull we all hoped Sunderland could avoid 'doing a Sunderland' and beat Plymouth to jump up to third and just a point off the top two. Alas, we could not, and a real opportunity was missed.

In the summer promotion was far from everyone's minds, but as this campaign has worn on we've shown that we are up there with the best in the division. We've been there to be shot at and four defeats from 29 games show that we've kept a lot of blows away from us. The daft habit of conceding in the 80th minute onwards continues to plague us, however, and RLB needs to shift us away from this negative end to matches.

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A lot has been said about how you can't choose when you get promoted. Teams build for promotion and if they do achieve this goal, you can't turn around and not want to go up because they don't feel ready. Few teams who go up to the Premier League are ready, which is why so many sides come straight back down. Sunderland would need to use the money gained from promotion to instantly improve our side if we had any hopes of survival. This isn't lost on anyone, and it's a task few sides can say they do successfully.

This is one example where improvement will be needed. Another example of where a rebuild will be necessary could be if promotion isn't achieved this season. A fourth consecutive season in the Championship would mean several of our players would almost certainly be snapped up. Jobe and Chris Rigg would be two of those most likely to leave first, and the core of our midfield may disappear in a matter of weeks.

Some football clubs who miss out on promotion have the luxury of time to rebuild and have another go at promotion. It used to be easier 15-20 years ago, but in this era, the best players at Championship clubs tend to get snapped up relentlessly. Jack Clarke is the last example for Sunderland, and just look at how little football he has as a Premier League footballer. I hope (in the greatest respect to him) that any young player who is approached for a top flight move is shown Jack Clarke's career as an example that the grass isn't always greener.

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Sunderland may need to go up to keep our best players on board with the ongoing project a the Stadium of Light. We have developed and produced some genuinely exciting talent these last couple of years but with quality players come the risk of them looking elsewhere should brighter lights shine. We would be knocked back several steps and the truth is, most of our best players would likely not stick around for another year in the Championship with agents and others in the profession touting movement elsewhere.

On the other hand, promotion would come with the need to step up even further our recruitment strategy, and failing to do so would lead us to potentially be the next Southampton or Sheffield United (unless of course, Sheffield United become the next Sheffield United).

I'll end with a positive note, as I like to do when it comes to Sunderland. Promotion would bring about such a high for supporters, and it would also give a recruitment team with several ongoing successes under its belt to work with a Premier League budget. There is a genuine excitement from myself at the thought of being able to give the Premier League a stab, but there a more than a few things to iron out and achieve before we can start dreaming about all of that.

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