2010-2011 EPL Preview: Sunderland

Official Name: Sunderland Association Football Club

Nickname: The Black Cats

Home Colors: Red, white, and black

Trophy Case: Fairly full, although getting a little dusty. Sunderland was a real powerhouse before World War 1, winning the first division title five times between 1892 and 1913. They won the league again in 1936. The Black cats have won the second division (now the NPowership)  on five occasions, most recently in 2007 to confirm their most recent promotion to the EPL. Sunderland also won the third division in 1988. Sunderland has won the FA Cup twice, in 1937 and 1973, and the League Cup once, in 1985.

2009-10 League Finish: 13^th with 44 points, just two behind Fulham and well ahead of the relegation scrum.

2009-10 Average Home Attendance: 40,355 (good for sixth in the EPL).

2009-10 Cup Finish: Lost in the fourth round of the FA Cup to dreadful Pompey, and lost in the fourth round of the Carling Cup to Aston Villa on penalties.

History: The club was founded in 1879, and joined the league in 1890. As mentioned above, Sunderland enjoyed success in the early years of the football league. The 1930s were another period of triumph, with a league championship followed by the FA Cup in 1937. In the 1950s, the clubs fortunes took a turn for the worse after a financial scandal, and they were relegated in 1958 for the first time in 68 years they had been a member of the football league. In 1973 they won the FA Cup again, beating mighty Leeds United helmed at the time by the legendary Colm Meany Don Revie. In the modern era, Sunderland has bounced back and forth between the Premiership and the Championship, finishing as high as 7^th in 2001 and 2002 under the leadership of Peter Reid.

Team Legends: Bobby Gurney is the club’s leading scorer with 228 goals in 390 appearances in the 1930s and 1940s, and his goal helped Sunderland win the FA Cup in 1937. Charlie Buchan is Sunderland’s second all time leading goalscorer with 222 goals for the club between 1912 and 1924 before being sold to Arsenal. Other long time players of note include Garry Bennett, Bobby Kerr, and Michael Gray.

Does Bruce know the way to the top half?

Gaffer: Steve Bruce. I’m not terribly impressed with him as a manager and find his tactics and style a bit old school, but he does seem to know how to run a bottom half Premiership club without turning it into a smoking, rotted-out bankrupt husk.

Transfers In: Titus Bramble(Wigan, undisclosed); Simon Mignolet (Anderlecht, undisclosed); Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul, undisclosed); Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (ENPPI, loan); Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes, undisclosed).

Titus Bramble, James T’s most hated player, joins from Wigan to “shore up” a defense that conceded 56 goals last year, 7^th most in the league. Riveros, a wide midfielder, was part of the Paraguay squad that reached the quarterfinals in South Africa, and he scored against Slovakia. Angeleri is likely to slot in at right back, and has been capped by Argentina. Steve Bruce is sniffing around for a keeper due to Craig Gordon’s injury troubles, having failed to capture David James last week. Joe Hart is a rumored target, although lately Bruce has been singing the praises of the 21 year old Belgium keeper Mignolet. Sunderland has also been linked with Steven Ireland and host of other City players on their way out of Manchester.

Yeah, this is your big summer transfer

Transfers Out: Lorik Cana (Galatasaray, £5m);Daryl Murphy (Celtic, undisclosed); Conor Hourihane (Ipswich, undisclosed);Roy O’Donovan (Coventry, free); Jamie Chandler (Darlington, free); Nyron Nosworthy (Sheffield United, loan)

The Albanian Cana leaves after just a season, despite being the captain of last year’s side. Depending on how you think about exchange rates, Sunderland likely took a small loss on his transfer.

Key Players:

Darren Bent: The third leading scorer in the Premiership last year with 24 goals, Bent is the Black Cat’s offense. The former Tottenham man made Steve Bruce look like a genius for buying him off the Yids for 10 million pounds last summer.

Anton Ferdinand: Probably the most naturally talented of Sunderland’s defenders, Ferdinand has not turned into the star people thought he would become a few years ago. He was even on the summer transfer block, although he is supposedly showing well in pre-season training.

Rising Stars:
Jordan Henderson: A product of the club’s youth set up, he locked down a first team place in the midfield last year and was voted the club’s young player of the year. He plays on the right side of midfield, scored against Man City last year, and has been capped by the England U-19s.

Stadium:
The Stadium of Light, which was completed in 1997 and at the time was the largest English ground built since the end of World War Two. Has since been expanded to seat 49,000 and may be expanded further to 66,000 if England host the World Cup.

Drama:
Not much. In fact, everyone seems quite cheery up in the North East this summer. Darren Bent failed to get a plane ticket to South Africa with England (probably a good thing in the end), so he will be motivated to show Fabio Capello the error of his ways.

Tactics!:
Steve Bruce has generally favored a fairly traditional 4-4-2, but he has been experimenting with a 4-5-1 during preseason with either Jones or Bent alone up front. Expect to see the five man midfield with regularity this season whenever Sunderland are away.

Question Marks:
Injuries to a host of players, notably Craig Gordon (who broke his arm), Anton Ferdinand (who tweaked his hamstring, Darren Bent (ankle) and George McCartney (ankle) have left Steve Bruce scrambling to field coherent sides during the preseason trip to Portugal. Will everyone heal up in time for the start of the season, or will Bruce be forced to start the 21 year old Belgium in goal for an extended period of time?

Best XI: Hard to judge with so many new transfers coming in and all of the injuries, but something like this, in a traditional 4-4-2.

Gordon; McCartney, Turner, Ferdinand, Angeleri; Malbranque, Al-Muhammadi, Richardson, Henderson; Campbell, Bent.

Important Fixtures:
The promotion of the Barcodes means that the Tyne-Wear derby is going to be contested in the Premiership this year. The Black Cats visit Newcastle on Halloween, and then host the return leg of the derby on January 16^th.

Prediction:
The side looks easily strong enough to avoid relegation, and if they can find goals from somewhere besides Darren Bent (who accounted for half of the club’s scoring in the Premiership last year) and strengthen the defense, a top half finish might even be possible. Realistically, though, I think they finish 11^th-13^th.