Summer 2016 saw Sunderland preparing for a 10th consecutive campaign in the Premier League. In the previous nine campaigns, we’d finished above 15th on just three occasions, and for some reason, we thought this would change under David Moyes. Of course, it didn’t.
That summer, we signed several players who were either not good enough, past their prime, or both. We broke our transfer record on a player who would have his contract cancelled barely a year later, and failed to pay a minimal fee to bring
fan favourite Yann M’Vila back to Wearside permanently.
The previous season ended with renewed hope that we could finally become established in the Premier League. Sam Allardyce and a decent January window built up hopes, and the miserable figure of David Moyes knocked it all down.
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Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty ImagesOur summer recruitment efforts seemed to lack direction, suggesting a team with plenty of money but no clear idea of where to invest it. We signed some utter shite and replaced better players with far worse alternatives. A dismal start to the season only got worse, and our first win wouldn’t come until November at Bournemouth.
Relegation at the end of that season put us out of our misery of a declining period in the Premier League. Almost 20 years since our last promotion to the top flight, we are back and with far more ambition and fight. Back then, we were signing Steven Pienaar on a free - this summer we’ve spent over £100 million on players with Premier League and European experience.
The differences between the 2016 and 2025 pre-seasons are stark, and it's only through reflecting on nine years ago that I remembered how little enthusiasm I had for that Moyes-led campaign. It’s amazing how much more exciting a Premier League campaign is after two promotions in three years compared to getting ready for a 10th straight year after stagnation and the club being operated by clowns.
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Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty ImagesNine years on, and the Premier League has changed a lot, but so has Sunderland AFC. We are preparing for the 2025-26 season like a club that wants to stay in the top flight. In the summer of 2016, all of the signs pointed to a club coming apart at the seams. We had owners desperate to sell, executives making decisions to line their own pockets, and players who couldn’t give a solitary shit about the club or fans.
The structure is in place for Sunderland to at least compete in the Premier League, and with less than a month until the campaign kicks off, the time to prove all of the infrastructure-building and preparation is almost here.
This club was poisoned by people who treated it with utter contempt for years. We can banish these awful memories by bringing to the Premier League a club that at least acts like a professional outfit. Exciting times are here, and let's hope we can do the talking on the pitch come August 16th.
More from rokerreport.sbnation.com:
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- As Yet Another Defeat Blends In With All The Others, Questions About Our Future Still Remain
- The Relegations: #2 - 1969-70
- BCA: The Magnificent Twenty Seven
- Fan Focus: The Ugly Inside Talk Saints v SAFC
- Is Ellis Ready To Embrace The Drop?
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