Sunderland AFC: The Blueprint for Europe?

Sunderland FC under Chairman Niall Quinn have no fear of change. Of this much we can be certain. Since Quinn led a cohort of investors in purchasing the Wearside club in 2006, the team has embarked on a remarkable remodeling of the then-recently relagated club, solidified this week as the club signed promising South Korea striker Ji Dong-won, highly-touted Ipswich forward Connor Wickham and finally - perhaps definitively - Birmingham midfielder Craig Gardner.

Deals for Manchester United trio John O'Shea, Wes Brown and Darron Gibson are still pending and the club reinforced its goalkeeper and right-side last week by signing established internationals Keiren Westwood and Sebastian Larsson on free transfer deals last week. Egyptian winger Ahmed Elmohamedy signed a permanent deal two weeks ago. Should the United deals go through - it appears the bids have been accepted by the Red Devils - the Mackems could field a side almost completely made up of new players next year. This is in keeping with manager Steve Bruce's modus operandi, as since Darren Bent's departure in January has announced the club in desperate need of remodeling.

The funds have come from player sales. Bent's January sale to Aston Villa brought in £24 million, while emergent midfielder Jordan Henderson cashed up to a reported £20 million. Sunderland - perhaps like even Arsenal now - have developed behind Shrek's pink cousin (Bruce) a reputation for developing players to on-sell. As a management philosophy, it's as practical and pragmatic as it gets - contending for the title is unrealistic, so building a solid contender for European football is a big win for a club only years removed from the embarrassment of footing the Championship.

In the five years since Quinn took control, he's brought in three managers after the demise of Mick McCarthy. Irishman McCarthy, who subsequently took Wolves to the Premiership and has kept them there for two years, was hamstrung in 2005-06 with a substandard squad which claimed a record-low Premier League points tally until Derby County's calamitous season two years later. Quinn invested unexpectedly in Roy Keane, who took Sunderland from the bottom of the Championship to the title. When Keane soured, the unlamented (and ill-suited) Ricky Sbragia was brought in, followed by Steve Bruce - another with a Man U connection.

The Wearsiders have re-tooled various times over the past five years; and though they flirted with the drop zone last season they are with Stoke city now considered the model that promoted teams should attempt to mimic should they want to retain their EPL status. It started with experience as players like Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Danny Higginbotham. There's a certain United theme to their squad as all the above, plus Kieren Richardson, Paul McShane, Fraizer Campbell, Phillip Bardsley plus loanees Jonny Evans and Danny Welbeck have apparated Wearside from the red half of Manchester, no doubt a direct consequence of the managers' places in United lore.

Season 2010-11 presented the Mackem support with their first top-10 finish since Peter Reid led them to seventh twice in Quinn's halcyon years partnering Kevin Phillips. The aim next season with such quality inclusions should be to replicate last season's success and perhaps sneak into Europe - Gardner and Larsson were Birmingham's shining midfielders last term, while releasing the versatile pair of Gibson and O'Shea could pay benefits. The "little and large" combination of Quinn and Phillips could have it's best long-term succession in two six-plus footers Gyan and Wickham.

Quinn, Keane and Bruce - uncompromising as during their playing days - along with majority owner Ellis Short, have assembled perhaps the most apposite mid- to long-term plan in the Premiership. However, the day by day management of Sunderland isn't above question - Bruce's skill as a tactician has been the subject of occasional scorn, while their squad still appears a striker short. It wouldn't be surprising at all to see Federico Macheda in the Northeast next season, perhaps accompanied by a tried-and-tested Assistant Manager (Ray Wilkins, anybody?). More importantly, they also need to get healthy after the end of last season was obliterated by injury.

Sunderland AFC - and subsequently Stoke City and even (perhaps) Wolves could solidify themselves as regular mid-table-or-better teams in the English Premiership. Swansea City, Norwich City and QPR would be wise to heed their example.

Image of Craig Gardner courtesy: www.goal.com. Image of Bruce/Quinn: sunderlandafc.info

Bent's goals will save (or cost) Aston Villa

Darren Bent looks likely to seal a £20+ million transfer from Sunderland to Aston Villa within the next forty-eight hours. From the outside, it’s when and not if the ex-Tottenham and Charlton forward departs the Northeast after he handed in his second written transfer request of the term - this request follows a rejected plea in August. Gaffer Steve Bruce sounds resigned to losing him and England’s The Guardian reports the Mackem manager stunned both by Bent’s desire to leave, and the amount at which Villa value the hitman.

It’s rumoured that an initial £18 million bid was rejected by the Mackems as they held out for a bid over milestone figure 20 millio. Add-ons have been suggested raising the deal to around £24M but the final shape of the transaction is still murky. Given Sunderland’s history in the transfer market – they rejected a £16 million bid for striker Kevin Phillips in the early years of this century only to sell him for £3 million two years later – it’s likely they can’t resist the lure of Gerard Houllier’s lucre and Bent’s future lies at the Birmingham club.

Usually unshy of expressing his admiration for the people and fans of the Northeast, Bent’s season so far has been a pale imitation of his outstanding first year on Wearside. His relationship with the region may have soured for good when his car was vandalised by Newcastle fans while shopping and whispers suggest the striker’s reputed fragile headspace has become an issue again after being overlooked for England’s World Cup campaign after his 2009-10 tour de force. He started brightly this season, scoring seven times by September’s end but since then has only tinkled the twine four times amidst a flurry of speculation regarding his happiness in the region. His starting position has been shared/usurped by offseason signing Asamoah Gyan and loanee Danny Welbeck, so it’s hardly a shock Bent’s head has been turned by a club closer to his Cambridgeshire roots.

In all probability Bent has played his last game in Sunderland’s red and white stripes and will leave the club he’s helped build from relegation fodder into challenging for European honours. He will re-inject himself into a situation with which he is very familiar - the relegation battle – having waged similar wars with Charlton, Tottenham and Sunderland. Aston Villa sit outside the drop zone only on goals scored, their goal difference mirroring that of 18^th-placed Wigan at -15. Under Martin O`Neill the Clarets challenged regularly for a top four berth but since the Northern Irishman`s departure, front men Gabby Agbonlahor and John Carew have been perpetually injured while reserve Emile Heskey scores goals with the same frequency as sightings of Halley’s Comet. Given the mixed returns of his youth policy, Houllier has identified a need for goals – quickly – and is gambling much of the dosh the club received from selling James Milner on a Bent revival and him leading the club to survival in an incredibly even Premiership season.

It’s an enormous gamble by the Frenchman – betting Bent’s recent goal drought comes from a lack of supply from midfield – and the manager is riding the hope that his wide men (Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Marc Albrighton) can provide the ammunition the twenty-six year old needs to fire Villa to safety. With only sixteen EPL clashes remaining, DB “The Truth” will probably need to score somewhere around 7-10 goals or more to ensure safe haven for the Midlands club, at a composite cost of about £3 million per goal. When considering the money in top level football – and how much Villa would lose if relegated – that rate is unquestionably a bargain.

Should they survive.

If, however, the young Clarets can`t arrest their slide into the Championship, they will be forced to sell this new star at cut-price rates. The gamble is on display for all to see: how Bent settles into his new footballing home could cost Villa 18, 20, 24 or even 60 million pounds. Darren Bent will leave Sunderland to become Aston Villa`s talisman, for better or for worse.