Sunderland blitzed through to the play-offs on their return to the Championship in 22/23, but with key members of the team departing and a lot of upheaval late in the window it looked like a difficult second album was in store prior to last week's walloping of Southampton - we spoke to Pete Sixsmith and SAFCFanInPeace from our message board.

With the likes of Stewart and Diallo gone, how do you look back on last season - amazing progress and a great return, or a missed opportunity for a double promotion with a talented squad?

PS: We knew that both players would not be at Sunderland and, although disappointed, I am sensible enough to realise in Ross Stewart’s case he had one last opportunity to make a decent amount of money out of his talents and abilities. It has been a pleasure watching him develop as a player and as a man on the pitch. He has ability, a great attitude and a desire to do well. Southampton (a vastly inferior club to the one he has left) offered him 4x as much as Sunderland were prepared to so who can blame him. As for Diallo, we just loved having him and that the chances of signing a £25m player were as remote as Nadine Dorries showing decorum as she leaves Parliament. We made real progress last season - far more than we expected to but we would not have survived in the Premier League. Let Luton have a season there- any decent players will leave after that single year.

Dave: Much has been made of Stewart going, however he only played about 13 games last season and yes when fit he was outstanding. However, he was in the last year of his contract and his expectations were by all account more than we were willing to offer him after the injuries. Getting £10m for him has funded our summer recruitment, so while I will miss him as a player I think a balance the move was the best for both clubs and the player. Remember we got to the play off without him in the team scoring goals for fun.

Diallo, will be a bigger miss, but he was never ours to keep. He had an almost telepathic understanding with Roberts, at times it was almost like having a cheat mode when they played together. But he has gone and the model we have now is to find the replacement before a key player leaves. To that end we now have Jobe Bellingham from Birmingham, the younger brother of Jude, who is the current England under 19 captain. We also have the England under 17 captain, Chris Rigg, only 16, but already looking like he can play at Championship level. This season he has already become the youngest ever goal scorer in a cup tie, then in the last match the youngest to score in a league game.

So, we have replacements but time will tell if they can fill Diallo’s boots this season, both however could well be better than him in a couple of seasons.

Sunderland in the league so far…
Sunderland 1-2 Ipswich Neill 86 – Broadhead 45, Hirst 53
Preston 2-1 Sunderland Keane 25, Frokjaer 59 – Clarke pen 31
Sunderland 2-1 Rotherham Bellingham 22, 52 – Odofin 20
Coventry 0-0 Sunderland
Sunderland 5-0 Southampton Clarke 1, Ekwah 7, 45, Dack 48, Rigg 90

Summer transfer window looked fairly traumatic, with a late loss of Stewart, struggles to add a striker, a lot of late activity - how was it for you? How do you assess the business done, or not done?

PS: The sensible members of the support trusted the recruitment team to come up trumps. The likes of Jobe Bellingham and Bradley Dack are good business for the future and the present respectively. The others who came in are to bring on. There are two young central defenders from The Netherlands and Australia; two interesting French players, one who could be included in the first team squad immediately; a Ukrainian forward who has had good reports from his poor, benighted homeland; and a youngster from Chelsea in Mason Burstow, who certainly looks the part. Throw in Hemir from Benfica B and a Franco-Spanish youngster, and they all fit the model. None cost huge amounts of money, all have something to prove. No more Will Griggs or Danny Grahams at Sunderland.

Dave: If I was to rate the window out of ten, I would say 8/10. We have only used one loan signing this window bringing in 20-year-old Mason Burstow from Chelsea.

The pattern is clear: sell Stewart to fund a team of highly technical quick young players who are hungry for a chance to shine. In a couple of cases they have previously been outstanding prospects but have not found a home at their previous clubs. Not all of the players will work out, but I think I am right to say that all of the players apart from Dack, have played for their respective countries at various age groups. Time will tell if all of this talent will gel with the squad we already have. It does mean that we have two players for every position, so we now have strength in depth and will have several players who can come off the bench and make an impact.

As far as players leaving I have already said that with his injury record and being in the last year of his contract, the Stewart deal was good business. There are a lot of fans who were unhappy with the sale of Danny Batth, last season’s player of the year, but he is 33 only one year left on his contract and we have signed two talented central defenders and in Compton we have ourhome-grownn England under 17 international, so I think this was good business on a number of levels. I would rather remember Batth at his best and not as an ageing player, it has also shown that we are happy to help players who need to move on at a time which is right for them. In the process making the club a more attractive one to sign for.

The player who will be missed most on an emotional level is Gooch. While I think the club have out grown him, he has been here since he was a very young teenager and always gave 100% and bled Sunderland. He actually broke down in tears in his leaving interview. Once again it’s an example of letting players go when it is best for their careers, his opportunities here would be very limited.

So in summary, we have had a good window and it looks like we have made a profit, while we have continued to bring in young talent.

You've done a nice line in picking up young players from all over Europe of late - who's the pick of the current crop?

PS: Pierre Ekwah - French but from the Chelsea and West Ham academies has the ability to do very, very well. He scored two goals against Southampton and was commanding at all times. It's also a big season for Abdullah Ba and Jemmison Bennete. Both have settled in, both have pace and both could replace either Patrick Roberts or Jack Clarke if they were to leave. Bennette did well to set up the fifth goal against Southampton and then the next day scored a blistering equaliser for the Under 21's in a sensational 5-5 draw against a talented but brittle Manchester United team - sounds familiar, eh.

Dave: There are so many, it is too early to say much about this year’s signings other than Bellingham, who has already shown he is very capable at this level. If he is half as good as his brother we will have a star on our hands. From the players signed last year Ekwah, is the pick of the bunch. I don’t think he played at your place last season, having only signed in the January window and forcing his way into the team towards the end of the season. He is big, quick, strong, good feet and a good shot on him. If in doubt look at the highlights against Southampton and then watch the first leg of the play off semi-final against Luton.

Two players who seem to be finding their feet in their second season are Ba, and Bennett. Ba was hit and miss at times last year but over the last couple of games he has started using his pace to good effect and is bringing other players into the game more. Bennett is just raw talent and now that he is starting to get to grips with the language the coaching staff are getting to harness the ability. He is the sort of player who you don’t know what is coming next. Watch his triple spin to set up the fifth against Southampton and you will see what I mean. The cross at the end of that move was perfect and summed up what the club is about. A 19-year-old having fun making experienced players look silly crossing to a 16-year-old to score his first league goal, real life Roy of The Rovers stuff.

I think it is true to say that as fans we are loving this new model and have every confidence that the recruitment team will pull in a couple of diamonds each window, who we have never heard of before.

Ins >>> Nazariy Rusyn, 24, CF, Lugansk, £2m >>> Jenson Seelt, 20, CB, PSV, £1,5m >>> Jobe Bellingham, 17, CM, Birmingham, £1.5m >>> Eliezer Mayenda, 18, CF, Sochaux, £700k >>> Luis Semedo, 19, CM, Benfica, £500k >>> Nectarios Triantis, 20, CB, Central Coast, £300k >>> Bradley Dack, 29, AM, Blackburn, Free >>> Timothee Pembele, 20, RB, PSG, Undisclosed >>> Adil Aouchiche, 21, AM, L’Orient, Undisclosed >>> Nathan Bishop, 23, GK, Man Utd, Undisclosed >>> Mason Burstow, 20, CF, Chelsea, Loan

Outs >>> Ross Stewart, 27, CF, Southampton, £9m >>> Lyndon Gooch, 27, RW, Stoke, Undisclosed >>> Danny Batth, 32, CB, Norwich, Undisclosed >>> Isaac Lihadji, 21, RW, Al-Duhail (Qatar), Undisclosed >>> Leon Dajaku, 22, ST, Hadjuk Split, Free >>> Bailey Wright, 30, CB, LC Sailors (Singapore), Free >>> Carl Winchester, 30, DM, Shrewsbury, Free >>> Alex Bass, 25, GK, Wimbledon, Loan >>> Joe Anderson, 22, CB, Shrewsbury, Loan >>> Elliot Embleton, 24, AM, Derby, Loan

Tony Mowbray, where are you on him? Looked a very shrewd appointment to steady things down after Neil's defection, but would you have kept him on another year? How's he doing?

PS: Mowbray has done very well and is just the man to get a tune out of such a disparate group. He is also an excellent coach and is not afraid to make difficult decisions. He realised that if we want to play the ball out from the back, Danny Baath was not the man to do it and he apparently fully acquiesced in the decision to let him leave. He's now at Norwich on a three-year contract. You could have done with him to shore up your defence. "Uncle Tony" is desperate to manage in the Premier League; this is the best chance he will ever have.

Dave: The initial response was not exciting but steady and he had been brought in as a stop gap to steady the ship after Neil left in the way he did. I actually think that was the owners view as well. However, he has turned out to be an inspired pick. He seems to have the ability to develop young talent and keep them happy, he also can set the team up in various ways to out think the other manager. Southampton being the most recent example. He has worked very hard on our transitions, getting ball and in two or three passes turning defence into attack. As a long term supporter - my first game was 1968 - I have to say the football he has served up has been the most enjoyable in all of that time. I am over the moon that his contract has been extended this week.

A lacklustre start to the season suddenly exploding into life against Russell Martin's dance of a thousand passes - how have you done, how have you played, what have you made of it?

PS: Slow start against a good Ipswich side who deserved their win. Better side at Deepdale but couldn't score; their two goals came from deflections. Worked hard to beat an equally hard working Rotherham side who will struggle this year. Decent draw and a clean sheet at the awful Coventry City (we still remember the 1977 relegation - even those who were born long after remember it) before the demolition of an unbalanced and inept Southampton. Ross Stewart must have been wincing if he watched it on tv.

Dave: While we did lose the first two games of the season, both were games that we could have won on the day. In both games we went behind to deflected shots and the second came from giving the ball away in midfield and being caught out of position, although it has to be said that Nathan Broadheads ball for Ipswich’s second was pure quality. From 2-0 down against Ipswich and down to ten men, we out played Ipswich, Dan Neil scored one and hit the post in the 103rd min. Yes the 103rd min, we ended up playing an extra 17 mins, due to time wasting by Ipswich. After two defeats we looked a little low on confidence and went one behind to Rotherham, however if we do well this season we might look back at the equaliser scored only about a minute later as the turning point of the season. From that point on we have been growing in confidence and last week the players just looked like they were having fun. In the post-match interview one telling comment came from Ekwah, when he said it was like playing in the back garden with your mates, just having fun and the freedom to try things out. So, after the first two defeats I think we are getting back to last season’s levels again.

Where is the team strong and where is it weak?

PS: Goalscoring may be a problem; one of the three signings has to take advantage of the chances that Clarke and Roberts will set up. The strengths are in midfield where the likes of Ekwah, Dack, Bellingham and the very much underrated Dan Neil can seize hold of a game. We have far more strengths than weaknesses.

Dave: This is going to sound very arrogant, but other not playing with a recognised striker, we now have four of this rear breed after the last day of the transfer window, it is hard to see a weakness. I know I will be in a very small minority when I say that I think Cirkin might be a very strong weak link, he is great on the ball gets forward beats his man, however there are a couple of times when he can get sucked inside as a full back leaving space outside his for a winger to exploit. Strengths, well I think our rapid transition play has to be top of the list, the ability to go from one end of the park to the other playing controlled fast passing football will embarrass a few teams this year and result in some very attractive goals. The team spirit is also a strength.

Revised expectations for the season?

PS: Let's see how it goes. I'm not convinced that Leeds or Southampton will join Leicester at the top. We have a great chance of getting there and with 40,000 crowds, we have a real base to build on.

Dave: I started the season saying top 6 and I am still of that opinion, I think even without Diallo , who might be back here in January according to rumours, we will be stronger than last year as the very young players from last year turn into young players with a full year’s experience at this level.

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TacticalR added 12:40 - Sep 16 Thanks to Pete and SAFCFanInPeace. Sounds like things are going well at Sunderland, based on a canny acquisitions policy. Getting the ball forward quickly seems to be a strength of the team - this may well catch out quite a few other teams this season.
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