Anth Gair says…
Hark back to the era where teams ‘gelling’ was a thing. This can only be good news for us as a side, as this will be their first pre-season together.
I know, it’s not always as straightforward as that, but I’m holding out hope that some of the young lads will kick on this season and become important members of the squad.
Would it be mad of me to say we should be aiming for the top ten again? I don’t think so. If we do indeed improve as a team, we’ll be a force to be reckoned with and if we bring some kids through doing it, even better!
I’m looking forward to our FA Cup quarter-final away tie the most.
Ben McKevitt says…
Personally, I’d still like us to push for another top ten finish. Of course, our current depth may not allow for it but once we have the predicted four to five ‘precise’ signings in.
I think we’ll be in a good place to challenge on all fronts.
There’s no real difference between eighth and seventeenth but as we saw last season, if you aren’t in the mix, you can’t win the prize (the prize being the Europa League for us in that instance). It’s worth noting that Brighton are a team that’ve paved a path for us in this regard, consistent European football while challenging each season in the league — it’s possible.
As for away trips, I might not personally get to any but I’m looking forward to Coventry, Leeds and Fulham beyond the standard Mags shout.
Coventry and Leeds have become quite feisty proceedings in the last few seasons due to the proximity between our club and theirs and I’m excited to see how we fare. Fulham is purely because they’re the only team to do the double on us, and I want revenge.
Daniel Crosbie says…
This’ll be the first season in a long time where I think success will be defined less by our final league position and more by what we do in the cups.
A few years ago, if you’d told me I’d see Sunderland qualify for Europe and win a major trophy, I’d have said I could die a happy man. Last season, we ticked one of those off the bucket list, so why not have a proper crack at the other? With that in mind, I’d say seventeenth and a cup would be a successful season, while twelfth and up without one would represent another really good year.
As for away days, one thing that struck me last season was just how soulless so many modern Premier League grounds are.
Because of that, I’m looking forward to the likes of Ipswich, Leeds and above all, Coventry. Their playoff home leg had one of the best home atmospheres I’ve seen, with a brilliant back-and-forth between the two sets of supporters throughout.
That’s the sort of away day I want — a game with a bit of bite and a proper atmosphere, but one where, if we lose, I can forget about it after a few days.
John Wilson says…
My personal league position thought makes me a little nervous!
If we were to win one of the three cups, a lower league finish of fourteenth, fifteenth or sixteenth might not be too disappointing in the grand scheme of things.
If the fans have anything to do with it, I can see the Stadium of Light taking off for every single Europa League game, and the players will have no doubt about the intensity we expect from them. So taking the cup games out of the equation is difficult. Having said that, I think anything from twelfth upwards would count as a good season.
As far as attractive away games are concerned, every home game is an away game, as I have a 500-mile round trip every fortnight, but I’d love to see the new stadiums at Everton or Spurs.
Owen Sara says…
We have to be realistic: even with three or four additions, the season will be a slog. We’re going to struggle, and don’t be surprised to see ‘second season syndrome’ kick in.
Nottingham Forest reached the Europa League semi-finals last season but sacrificed their league position and looked certain to go down untill the last weeks of the season. That said, looking at Crystal Palace last season and how poorly they started and basically put everything into winning the conference league, anything from fourteenth upwards would be a decent season.
Granted, they played their second team against a bunch of teams we barely knew existed. We already have a wealth of experience in regards to European football within the squad with the likes of Chemsdine Talbi, Nordi Mukiele, Thomas Meunier and Granit Xhaka, and we have far too much quality to be within the relegation scrap next season.
Regarding away days, Coventry is always a laugh despite them trying to rip you off every time we go there.
It’s always good to have some ‘new’ grounds to go to from the three promoted teams, which are sure to be bouncing as they acclimatize to life in the Premier League. The Wise Men Say Derby with Hull will be fun too; I certainly won’t miss the soulless bowls of Manchester and London, and the annual three points at St James’ Park will be fantastic too.
Paul Lee says…
Let’s continue to surprise the ‘experts’, as there’s every reason for the coming season to be another strong one for us.
Régis Le Bris advocates consistency and the process, so continue this approach and push for a top ten slot. Europe provides a stretch of resources and quality recruitment is still a priority, with the timing less so as new players can still arrive in the next month and be integrated in time for September/October.
As for league games to look forward to? Two of my old stomping grounds and places I’ve lived.
I have an invitation to the Etihad and am very much looking forward to that. A trip to Brighton is on the cards too — I’d love to visit the Amex, and that’ll do nicely.
Home games are like away games for me and every single one of them is appealing.
Tom Albrighton says…
My personal target is probably a lowball offering, and mid-table would do me just fine.
With a forty-eight game minimum season on the horizon and English teams faring strongly in the past few European seasons, I’d be happy to settle for some consolidation beside a cup run of some sort.
Internally, I’m sure the club will have loftier ambitions but those ambitions will probably be fairly malleable depending on how the league, cups and Europe stack up, so for now, without knowing of any impending incomings, mid-table seems fair and realistic.
As for going away, I’m not particularly moved by any one particular trip and it’s probably the same as last year — trips to the capital always make for a good weekend and having ticked off the ‘Hill Dicky’, there aren’t many, if any other stadiums I’d be keen to get to.
