Sunderland
Last Season: 13th
New Signings: Angeleri, Mignolet, Bramble, Mensah, Riveros, Al-Muhammadi
Key Player: Darren Bent
One To Watch: Jordan Henderson
Needs A Big Year: Kenwyne Jones
Would Quite Like: Long unbeaten runs rather than long runs without beating. Remain ahead the Magpies.
Steve Bruce reveals how many Twitter followers he has. Darren Bent not impressed.
Prediction: 14th
Thoughts: Sunderland started off very well last season before enduring a horrible 14 game run without a win. They recovered towards the end of the season but it felt like they underachieved somewhat. Darren Bent was predictably excellent with 24 goals and Steve Bruce will be looking to him to produce similar numbers.
The surprise departure of captain Lorik Cana after just one season leaves quite a big hole in central midfield so the hope is Lee Cattermole will have a less injury truncated season this time round. Bramble is a decent addition in central defence – let’s not forget it was Steve Bruce who got him to a consistent level, while Jordan Henderson will want to continue making an impression.
Kenwyne Jones needs to rediscover the form that saw him linked with big money moves to the likes of Spurs and Liverpool. It’s hard to know what to predict for Sunderland – the teams between 9th and 14th are all very even in terms of ability I’d say. The high turnover of players at the Stadium of Light means it might be another season towards the bottom end of the group.
T.
