Black Cats - out with the old and in with the new

This season, more so than at any other time in his tenure, Sunderland owner Ellis Short has come under fire from Black Cats supporters.

There was a wave of animosity aimed at the American during the early stages of the current campaign, whilst former head coach Dick Advocaat was still in charge. Supporters were frustrated by the club’s apparent lack of spending during the summer transfer window and certainly made their feelings on the matter clear.

Fast-forward to the here and now and the tensions have appeared to subside somewhat. However there are still contingents that were disappointed by the investment made during the recent winter window.

Yet the problems that exist within Sunderland are a symptom of years of poor recruitment. This has left the Black Cats very much restricted in terms of the business that it can conduct and it won’t be put right overnight.

For those who are frustrated by the incomings, let’s be clear, you cannot lay any blame at Ellis Short for any perceived failings during this transfer window.

Whether Short should be blamed for the overseeing of this previous mismanagement is an argument for another day but Sunderland did all it could during January, of that there can be no doubt.

So, this is the backdrop to Sunderland’s January transfer window. Now you’re up to speed here’s my thoughts;

On the whole and after having time to reflect, it was better window than some would have you believe. The clear success story was the fact that Sam Allardyce managed to discard so much deadwood from the Sunderland squad, albeit the majority on loan deals, in order to free up the wage bill. A clearout was needed and that’s just what happened with nine departures in total.

Outgoings: Nine

• Will Buckley loaned to Birmingham until the end of the season.

• Jordi Gomez loaned to Blackburn until the end of the season.

• Lynden Gooch loaned to Doncaster Rovers on a one-month loan deal.

• Liam Bridcutt loaned to Leeds United until the end of the season.

• Danny Graham loaned to Blackburn Rovers until the end of the season.

• Charis Mavrias loaned to Fortuna Dusseldorf until the end of the season.

• Steven Fletcher loaned to Marseille until the end of the season.

• Sebastian Coates loaned to Sporting CP until the end of the season.

• Costel Pantilimon permanent transfer to Watford with a rumoured fee of around £500,000.

Danny Graham and Sebastian Coates were the two players that needed to leave the club. They simply were not Premier League standard as far as I’m concerned, yet found themselves in the side more often than they should.

Steven Fletcher’s departure was a rather more complicated situation. Given his contract expired in the summer, and with presumably no noises emanating from inside the club about renewing his deal, he had the opportunity to look around at what offers were on the table.

Fletcher scored some big goals for Sunderland but could never produce his quality on a consistent basis. It’s hard to argue that this wasn’t a good deal for both player and club.

Costel Pantilimon was another strange state of affairs, at least at first glance. He became Sunderland’s number one keeper shortly after his arrival on a free transfer from Manchester City. However, if the books needed to be balanced the Romanian stopper’s wages were likely to be the highest out of the three goalkeepers on the payroll. Indeed, with the emergence of Jordan Pickford, Allardyce’s decision to move Pantilimon on appears justified.

Incomings: Five

• Lamine Koné signed for £5mil from FC Lorient on a four and a half year deal.

• Wahbi Khazri signed for £9mil from FC Girondins de Bordeaux on a four and a half year deal.

• Jan Kirchhoff signed from Bayern Munich on an eighteen month contract for a transfer fee of approximately £800k

• Dame N'Doye signed on loan from Turkish side Trabzonspor until the end of the season.

• Steve Harper signed on a free transfer until the end of the season, having been released by Hull City.

In respect of arrivals this is where, at first blush, perhaps things may not look particularly impressive.

The two big money captures, Koné and Khazri, have no experience of the top flight and the pressure is on them both to hit the ground running. Early signs look promising though as they both performed very well indeed against Manchester City earlier this week.

Moving down the list to N’Doye and he has some of the attributes that Sunderland needed in a player. Big. Powerful. Pacey. However what he seems to lack recently, certainly on a consistent basis, is the ability to score goals. It’s likely that if Allardyce persists with one up top N’Doye’s game time will be limited in any event but his other strengths may still be vital to Sunderland’s survival chances.

Onto Jan Kirchhoff and he had a dismal debut against Spurs but found himself in midfield against Manchester City in a defensive role. The two performances were poles apart. Let’s hope the latter outstanding display is the sort of standard we can expect to see from him on a regular basis.

Finally, Steve Harper is third choice goalkeeper and in all likelihood will not even get the opportunity to play in the red and white on the big stage. I can understand the reasons for his arrival and it does make sense on a number of levels but, as a fan, I just can’t get excited about a 40 year old released by Hull City signing for Sunderland.

Summary:

So, what does all this mean for the Black Cats? Well, those who found themselves regularly on the fringes of the side have moved on, albeit on a temporary basis. Hopefully the unit that remains will become tighter and more focused because of it.

Make no bones about it, the arrivals are a gamble, although early signs are promising. Looking at the context of the parameters within which Allardyce was forced to work, Sunderland have managed to conduct some excellent business during the transfer window. The proof of whether it was truly successful though lies ahead in the remaining games of the season.