The Saviour - Kick starting a Career?

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Arsenal are the Champions of England once more as they pip United to the post to lift their 14th first division title, their 4th in the Premier League era. They were simply not to be denied with Sanchez, Ozil and Oxlade-Chamberlain forming the most lethal attacking midfield combination in the league.

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A draw for Everton on the final day of the season was not enough to keep them in the Premier League. United, City and Tottenham all claim Champions League spots.

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Zlatan finishes as the leagues top scorer, despite the best efforts of Vardy while Petr Cech claims the golden glove deservedly.

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In terms of our personal form, Jermain Defoe was our go to guy for the season and his goals helped fire us up to a 10th place finish! a phenomenal achievement if I do say so myself. Craig Bryson proved to be a great signing, keeping play ticking over with his 88% pass completion rate. Javi Manquillo has a £13 million buy out clause in his loan which I would dearly love to activate, he has been incredible, but can we afford it?

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Stand out performers? Defoe, Watmore, Bryson, Khazri, Ndong, Manquillo, Van Aanholt, Dominguez and Pickford. With the exception of Manquillo who will return to Atletico (barring a transfer offer from us) the spine of this squad is now fairly strong.

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Just look at that end of season form. 26 points out of a possible 36 in our final 12 games of the season. This means that after 26 games we were a little bit stranded on 27 points, having not won in 7 and staring at relegation. Just incredible.

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Great work to finish 10th with that team. Looking forward to bigger and better things next season.

Will you be applying for jobs or just see if anyone approaches you?
 
neavie pops23 said:
Great work to finish 10th with that team. Looking forward to bigger and better things next season.

Will you be applying for jobs or just see if anyone approaches you?
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Thanks! :) it depends entirely on what jobs are available and how much money they give me to spend.
 
Well done on keeping Sunderland up, cracking job. It is a tough save to play considering the financial situation of the club.

What are your plans moving forward?
 
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Lloyd extends Sunderland stay​

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Sunderland fans have today woken up today to the news that manager Tom Lloyd has penned a new two year deal for the club. Lloyd, 24, gained huge plaudits for leading what many people perceived to be an under strength Sunderland squad to a 10th place Premier League finish last season, the highest finishing position in the last 16 years for the club, tying their 10th place finish of 2010/2011.

"I am delighted to be extending my deal with the club" Lloyd said in a statement last night. "It took a while, but I feel that myself, the squad and the fans have a great understanding now and that we need to continue the forward momentum that we started at the end of last season."

There had been rumours of Lloyd looking for pastures new having grown frustrated with chairman Ellis Short's alleged lack of interest in the club, but Lloyd was quick to quash these rumours.

"I sat down with the chairman and we had a really good discussion about his ambitions for the club. Obviously I was satisfied with the outcome of that talk, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here today having signed a new contract. The end of last season was superb, but now is not the time to get complacent. We need to continue the fantastic work we have been doing, develop the squad and make sure we establish ourselves as a force in the Premier League."
 
andy_14clark said:
Well done on keeping Sunderland up, cracking job. It is a tough save to play considering the financial situation of the club.

What are your plans moving forward?
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Staying put for now :) mainly due to their not being any other opportunities at the moment. Thanks for following!
 
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So I am sure a lot of you are probably quite surprised to see me deciding to stay at Sunderland. A lot of this decision was forced by the lack of opportunity elsewhere, with Villareal being the only other viable option but that seemed very much a sideways step, moving away from the Premier League for a club with no continental football and a smaller wage budget. In terms of moving backwards to move forwards, Everton decided to stick with Sam Allardyce as their man to get them back to the Premiership.

So now that I have decided to stay put for a while, we get to the most important factor.

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As it was, by upgrading my expectations with the board, I have managed to wrangle a bit of money to improve and upgrade the squad.

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While its not earth shattering, it is a tidy amount of money. If we do our shopping smartly and make the most of transfer listed and unhappy players we could pick up some real quality for the squad. The budget is a few million more than they originally offered because I have already completed my first two deals for the club in the off season.
 
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Borini Leaves​

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Fabio Borini leaves the club after just two goals for us last season. This for me was a no-brainer and the first thing that I wanted to get done. He was poor when played out on the wings and he wasn't going to get in to the first team ahead of Defoe. He could have stayed and served as back up, but his £60k a week wages are massive for a club of our size, so he joins Marseille for £10 million.

Mendy Joins​

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Our first incoming is Nampalys Mendy from Leicester City for £5 million. He had a decent season for Leicester last time out but for some reason they transfer listed him. I am more than happy to take advantage.

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Defensively astute, fantastic physicals, eye for a pass, teamwork and work rate. Remind anybody of Ngolo Kante? Still only 25 years old, he will be straight in to the first team.
 
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Coates and Lens return​

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This is a real positive for the club. Seb is a terrific defender, just look at those stats! He has come off the back of a fantastic season with Sporting, but rejected the offer from them to make it permanent. That was a real slice of luck as the deal had a £4.6 million buy out clause, when he is valued at £20 mil. His mental stats are a thing of beauty, he can pass, hes tall, strong and not Mertesacker level slow. If he can form a partnership with Dominguez with Mendy just in front, we could be on to a real winner.

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Another player coming back from loan, this time with Fenerbahce. Lens had a great season, scoring 9 goals and bagging 8 assists from midfield. He will fit very nicely back in to our side rotating with Khazri, Watmore, Stanisla and co.

Januzaj and Denayer leave​

Both of these guys have left the club following their loans finishing. Januzaj was on far too much money for his level of quality and although he is transfer listed for £5 mil, I dont want him at the club. Denayer is a different story, the lad is quality and I am sure he is going to be one of the best in the world. Unfortunately that leaves him well out of my price range, we will just have to thank him for his service and send him back to City.


Anichebe and Buckley released​

Didn't lose much sleep over each of these deals. Buckley had been out on loan anyway and was in no way part of my plans. Anichebe was decent for us when played as part of a front two, however we are not going to be pursuing those tactics and I feel I can do better as backup for Defoe. The pair of them leaving free's up almost £50k in wages.

New deal for Larsson​

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He missed the first half of the season through injury, but his comeback sparked some amazing form for us that saw him average a 7.2 rating. While he may be getting on a bit at 32 years old, there is life in the legs yet and on reasonable wages he is the perfect backup or rotation for Bryson and any other midfielders we bring in. He signs a one year contract extension.
 
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Ross Barkley signs up​

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A HUGE signing. He joins for a fee that will eventually be £30 million, but only £14 mil of it is upfront with the rest in instalments and clauses. Ross is without a doubt our marquee signing and for a 23 year old, English talent like he is, I don't think the price is too bad. A controlling central midfield role for him could push our side to the next level. We also did quite well to keep his wage demands down to £50k a week, and tie him up to a five year contract.

Joel Campbell signs​

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Brought in as a Borini/Januzaj replacement, Joel signs for just £5 million following his transfer listing by Arsenal. He had a decent year last time out on loan at Sporting, netting 12 times and I think he can do a real job for us, providing us with goal threat from out wide. Still only 25 years old too.

Jenkinson and Mings strengthen the full back area​

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This one was kind of a backup deal as we lost out on Javi Manquillo to Napoli. He signs for £4.2 million and is the second of three Arsenal players to be signed by the club in this window. Signed to be our first choice right back, he has a lot to prove to get his career back on track.

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Mings was more of a gut feeling kind of buy. Transfer listed by Bournemouth for just £1.1 million, he has been brought in to provide competition for Van Aanholt and to replace Graeme Shinnie. Physically he is excellent and I am sure he can hold his own in the Premier League. Young, English and 6'5, he could be a great buy for very little money.

Akpom joins
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£1.6 million for such a high potential player is an absolute steal. While his finishing and composure needs some more work, I am sure it will come in time. His physicals more than make up for that, with amazing pace and acceleration he can hopefully get on the end of some of Barkleys through balls.

M'vila joins on a free​

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M'vila rejoins the club on a free transfer from Rubin Kazan. He spent the year with Sunderland on loan in 2014/15 and is a top class player. Both his physicals and his mentals are to die for and his tackling and marking make him an absolute rock in midfield, along with a first touch that can take him past players and initiate quick counter attacks. My kind of player.
 
Some quality signings there, think they are much improved on what you started with. And great signing with Barkley, lucky Everton got relegated.
 
andy_14clark said:
Some quality signings there, think they are much improved on what you started with. And great signing with Barkley, lucky Everton got relegated.
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Cheers man, the squad is all of a sudden looking like a Premier League squad rather than a Championship squad. A couple more and a couple out would still be useful though! going to try and wrap a few more deals up before the window closes. Still want another striker and a goalkeeper.

rossiy95 said:
Loving this story :wub: :wub: :wub:
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Thanks for following buddy! glad your enjoying :)
 
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Sunderland Vs Manchester City
6th August, 2017.​

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Team News
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Its full debuts today for Joel Campbell, Ross Barkley, Nampalys Mendy, Carl Jenkison and Tyrone Mings, while Seb Coates and Yan M'Vila both make their first starts since being back at the club. Van Aanholt, Lens, Watmore and Larsson all miss out with injuries although none of them should be out for more than a couple of weeks. City hand starts to new signings Roberto Firmino and William Carvalho.

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Not a bad performance to start the season, especially considering the amount of new players in the side that have never played with each other before. The frustrating thing is that we had our chances! we could so easily have nicked a point here, but there is no use getting downhearted about losing to a massive club like City in the first game of the season.
 
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Rossi joins Sunderland​

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Sunderland have today signed 30 year old Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi on a free transfer after his contract with Fiorentina expired. Former Manchester United striker Rossi ha been capped 30 times for his native Italy, scoring 7 times and spent the last season on loan at Celta Vigo where he contributed 3 goals and 3 assists in 10 appearances.

Former Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has likened Rossi to Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge. "I am super excited by this deal" Said Quinn "For anybody who doesn't know a lot about him, he is very similar to Sturridge at Liverpool. His movement is superb, he is sharp and in terms of finishing he is one of the best in the world. Unfortunately his career has been hampered by injuries, but on a free transfer I cant see the risk in the deal for Sunderland. If it works out, they have themselves a world class striker, if it doesnt, he hasnt cost them anything."

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Went through the whole story, fantastic run towards the end of last season.

With the signings you've made, what's the target for this season?

Last question, with the screenshots from FM, how do they look so big for you? When I insert the picture in on mine, it's quite small and I have to click on the picture to see them properly.

Good luck for this season.
 
Just read from start to finish. Excellent story and some nice signings!

From a personal point of view make sure you muller Exeter :P
 
mathllanber said:
Went through the whole story, fantastic run towards the end of last season.

With the signings you've made, what's the target for this season?

Last question, with the screenshots from FM, how do they look so big for you? When I insert the picture in on mine, it's quite small and I have to click on the picture to see them properly.

Good luck for this season.
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Cheers for following man, the target for this year is probably to stay well clear of the relegation zone, and perhaps with some good form push for top half. In all honesty I would be delighted with an 11th/12th place finish.

In terms of screenshots, when you insert them, double click on the picture and it iwll come up with a menu where you can select the size you want it displayed as :)

PafcLad said:
Just read from start to finish. Excellent story and some nice signings!

From a personal point of view make sure you muller Exeter :P
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Thanks! I will try my best, got a soft spot for the argyle ;)
 
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West Ham Vs Sunderland
12th August, 2017.​

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Team News​

Patrick Van Aanholt returns to the side, taking his place back from Tyrone Ming, while Duncan Watmore is fit enough to take his place on the bench. New signing Giuseppe Rossi is not match fit and takes no part today.

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Our worst performance under my management. We were dreadful, we didnt create anything, we couldnt keep hold of the ball, we didnt mark them properly and we had no coherency whatsoever. Troubling, but no need to panic just yet.
 
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