It’s been a tumultuous few months for the Wearside club ever since Tony Mowbray was sacked, with Michael Beale’s spell failing terribly and his interim, Mike Dodds, has yet to take a point at the Stadium of Light.
They are now a long way out of the play-offs, and any chances of climbing into the top six now feel as though they’ve passed the club by.
But with a young squad to work with, there are certainly good times ahead on the north east coast – and that has been exemplified by their commitment to bringing up a youthful squad.
The 14-year-old record that Sunderland decimated
Taking to the field against Southampton at the weekend, the Black Cats obliterated a 14-year Championship record that was held by Peterborough United back in 2009/10.
Under the guise of Gary Johnson, the Posh fielded a team that had an average age of 21.8 years old – and whilst Mike Dodds almost beat that by fielding a team averaging 21.9 years old earlier in the season against Leicester City, he decimated that on the south coast with a team that had an average age of just 21.0 years old.
Lining up with Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham on the wings, having a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old in the side was always going to drag the average age down – and alongside other players such as 20-year-olds Mason Burstow, Romaine Mundle and Abdoullah Ba to form the front five, having an attack that could all feature for their under-21 side is quite the feat.
It will take a lot of beating to decimate that Championship record once again, though Sunderland of course could do so again if they play even younger players for the rest of the season – and it does spell out a clear transfer strategy from the higher-ups at the Stadium of Light.
How this spells out a clear transfer strategy from Sunderland and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus
Even looking at Sunderland’s transfer windows since the end of last season shows a clear picture.
Bellingham is likely the marquee of their signings, but alongside the likes of Mundle, Adil Aouchiche, Jenson Seelt and Nazariy Rusyn, there are a lot of young talents at Sunderland that they will be aiming to develop before selling on for higher fees.
