Joseph Tulip says…
Undoubtedly, the club’s overall atmosphere has much improved in the last week thanks to the much-awaited hiring of a new coach and possibly one of the most well-publicized apparel and retail debuts in club history.
Pre-season excitement and the nostalgia trip we’re all experiencing because of the Hummel reunion have definitely piqued interest in what’s to come.
That being said, the real work starts now. With work, travel, training, and getting to know his players, Régis Le Bris has a packed month ahead of him.
Along with the arrival of the Frenchman’s coaches, Kristjaan Speakman will be hard at work strengthening the team.
Who knows how we’ll line up on the first day of the season as I have no idea what will happen with ins and outs? Though things have undoubtedly improved, we still need to have faith that people in control of the club’s operations will have us ready.
Malc Dugdale says…
The hard work begins on Monday, but the kit launch and the enhanced knowledge of what supporters desire in terms of merchandise (and being a fan who wants to spend money) are encouraging signs.
From the pink slices in the long wait to the signs that was perfectly tailored to Mackem language and culture (Lads, Lasses and Bairns, etc.), the subtleties and touches that came with the inauguration of the new club shop were a breath of fresh air compared to the previous past. Is that an indication that the owners are beginning to “get” Sunderland? Perhaps.
The real test, though, relates to the football.
Can Régis gel with the squad and determine a playing style and set of tactics that will reinvigorate the squad and reconnect with the crowd? Can he rapidly take us back to recent comparative glory days, with goal-of-the-month scorers most weeks?
Can he make us want to come back time and again just for the games we watch?
Can the club do as well with the transfer needs as they have with the SAFC store? Sorting out your own merchandising is one thing, but being poor in the Championship football transfer market will rapidly turn down the mood and spark that the last week or two have created and will make the season a very long one.
My point is, way bigger battles are ahead of us than behind us.
We want to look up in this league, not down. We want to praise our gaffer and our team, not moan about the tactics and how badly the lads are playing with or against them.
We want to be fans, not critics, to be proud of our side despite the comparative success of our northern neighbors, who are funded by means we feel are questionable and far from the values we hold dear.
As fans, we want to rave about the club we love, and only from Monday onwards will we start to see green shoots of how that will pan out.
Good effort on the shop. Now let’s carry on this trend and show this league we are here to compete, as we did in season one back in this division.
That season was a bit of a fluke, we accept that. Success this time can be planned, sustainable, intentional, and all our own making, and that is precisely what we want.
Can’t bloody wait.
Phil West says…
Though I feel rejuvenated following a week of encouraging changes at the club, I know that more work needs to be done before we can enter the 2024–2025 season prepared to make up ground lost the previous season.
It feels like the wheels are turning at the club again following a less-than-harmonious offseason thus far, from the hiring of Régis Le Bris to the spot-on Hummel kit introduction, complete with eager supporters lining up to get their hands on the new strip.
That’s definitely necessary, but it would also be incorrect to say that every problem has been resolved and every box checked.
There’s little doubt that in terms of recruitment, we face some tough challenges this summer, and we would have done so regardless of the positive developments of the past seven days.
How many key players we retain and who we can add to the ranks to provide depth in crucial positions will be key. Resetting the balance with a mixture of experienced recruits and young prospects is the path I hope we choose.
For Le Bris to oversee a recovery on the field next season, he needs players who can make an impact from the get-go. To that end, we need to move with efficiency and decisiveness in the transfer market.
I hope our new head coach can hit the ground running when our pre-season schedule begins, not least to rebuild the players’ confidence and get them pointing in the right direction again.
I’m also confident that the players will be eager to impress him from day one, many of them desperate to get back onto the training pitch to start putting in the hard yards.
There’s no doubt this needs to be a collaborative effort, with the players, Le Bris, Kristjaan Speakman, Stuart Harvey, and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus all working for the good of the club.
The painful experiences of last season must be learned from and used as a stimulus to drive the club forward again.
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