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Haway The Podcast | ON THIS WEEK | 4-10 August | Gates, Bent, Son of Pele & More!

2025-08-04T07:10:41+01:00

Join us for our weekly jaunt down Sunderland memory lane…

What’s The Crack?

Join Martin, Chris and Gav as they take a trip down memory lane and chat all things Sunderland history!

This one heads off in every imaginable direction, talking about the likes of Eric Gates, Darren Bent, Darren Ward, Roy Keane, Niall Quinn, a pre-season win against Newcastle (not that one) and much, much more. Enjoy!

All of this and more - subscribe to Haway The Podcast so you never miss another episode!

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Eric Gates, Darren Bent, Micky Bridges, Martin Smith… and just about everywhere in-between!

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— Roker Report (@RokerReport) August 4, 2025

Fan Letters: “This is our time to grow as a Premier League club!”

2025-08-04T06:00:00+01:00

Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

RR reader Peter Milton is hopeful that starting this season, Sunderland can begin to re-establish themselves in the top flight. Got something to say? Email us: RokerReport@yahoo.co.uk

Dear Roker Report,

Are we in for a ride this season? However, can I put a slightly different slant on how things could actually play out as opposed to the more general view seemingly being aired at this time?

The populist talk is that the signings we’ve made “could be just enough for us to avoid relegation.” What a blinkered view from so-called experts.

We’ve signed almost a full team and some of the signings would walk into any team in the Premier League, let alone a newly-promoted side.

Granit Xhaka will bring on the outstanding potential of players such as Chris Rigg and even Dan Neil, and we also have Harrison Jones on the cusp of making a genuine claim for a first-team place. Sure, we have AFCON to contend with, but so do the others and we’ve bought big in midfield to hopefully ride out the short storm should our players be leaving for the tournament.

I think we could actually be looking at a top-ten finish first time back.

I’m not going daft and screaming “Champions League glory”, but take a look at Nottingham Forest last year! At one stage, they looked nailed on for a brilliant top-four finish and they still eventually settled for what I would certainly say was a successful season.

Let’s not underestimate the vociferous crowd at the Stadium of Light.

Going back to Reidy’s time, teams used to dread coming here and some well-established visiting players would buckle in the white-hot cauldron atmosphere. Although we’re classed as a big club, some of the opinion holders out there still don’t quite get it.

When the Stadium of Light is rocking, there simply isn’t a ground in the UK that can match it. The whole place comes alive and that’s absolutely worth a point against any side out there.

So, let’s not go into the new season with the assumption that we’re hopefully going to finish fourth from bottom. Let’s give it a real go and let Xhaka inspire and kick backsides when necessary.

We’re not nailed on to go back down and this is our time at last. This is our time to grow as a Premier League club and steadily begin the aim for a higher finish each season going forward.

The potential of this great club has been completely untapped for decades and this is the beginning of the way back at last.

Peter Milton

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Peter. Thank you for your letter.

I’d love to think that with a new-look team, a revamped Stadium of Light and a fanbase feeling more optimistic about the future than we have in a long time, 2025/2026 could be a pivotal campaign in our recent history.

It’s also fair to say that the signings we’ve made certainly don’t hint at the club hierarchy being happy to merely tread water during our first top flight campaign in eight years — and that’s extremely promising.

Despite some underwhelming results in pre-season so far, I’m still feeling excited ahead of the opening game against West Ham, and if we can get some more new signings onboard during the next week (with the defence being the number one priority), there’s every chance we can kick things off with a good result.

Will it be tough? Yes. Should we be afraid? No. This is what we worked towards during those long years in League One, and the fact we’re back in the big time is something to be incredibly proud of!

Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

Well, just two weeks before the big day.

Just a thought: if Robin Roefs is in goal and we win our first game, will we be ‘raising the Roefs’ off the stadium?

Sarge

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Sarge. Thank you for getting in touch.

I thought Roefs made a good first impression against Real Betis on Saturday and although it’ll be a big step up when West Ham arrive on the 16th, as debuts go, it was quite impressive.

He looked solid, commanding, reliable when claiming crosses and he also appeared to be quite vocal as well. All promising signs but it’s still early days, so we’ll see how he continues to develop.

Photo by Ed Sykes/Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

Wow. Just wow. What a few weeks we’re having.

The excitement of the playoff semi-finals and the ultimate glory we all shared in with the heroics at Wembley. Thanks to everyone at the club — especially the players who truly fought ‘Til The End’.

And now, rather than expecting relegation, we have real hope of giving it a proper go in the Premier League, as more exciting players and backroom staff are recruited.

Credit to the chairman and board for all their hard work and endeavour to make our club truly great again.

Just want to mention our former chairman Sir Bob Murray, whose foresight and love for our club brought us the magnificent Stadium of Light — without which, maybe none of this would’ve happened.

Thanks, Bob. You did us proud and I believe you played no small part in our current success.

Edwin Grenfell

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Edwin. Thank you for your letter.

It’s certainly been a memorable summer and things haven’t been the same at Sunderland since Tommy Watson sent us to the Premier League with his late winner at Wembley.

Things have changed on so many levels and I agree that the club hierarchy deserves a lot of credit for the steps they’ve taken — on the field and off — to ensure we’re as ready as possible for our return to the top flight.

There’s still some work to do ahead of the first game of 2025/2026 against West Ham, but I don’t feel we’re a million miles away and hopefully, there’ll be some more breakthroughs in the transfer market during the coming week.

Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The battle for the Sunderland goalkeeper’s jersey could be well and truly on!

2025-08-04T06:00:00+01:00

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

The arrival of Robin Roefs ended our summer-long pursuit for a new stopper, and how the young Dutchman fits into Régis Le Bris’ side will be intriguing

One of the most eye-catching aspects of Robin Roefs’ transfer to Sunderland (aside from its sudden nature — another hallmark of much of our summer transfer business) was the reaction from those associated with his former side, NEC Nijmegen.

If the figures quoted are accurate, you could understand why the Eredivisie outfit would be only to happy to part ways with the Netherlands U21 stopper, and the fact they wished him well for the next stage of his career was a classy note on which to end.

Photo by Stefan Koops / EYE4images/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Roefs is clearly rated very highly in his homeland — as well as by the wider footballing community as well.

This was highlighted by his inclusion in the ‘team of the tournament’ at the recent UEFA U21 European Championships, and after Senne Lammens, Djordje Petrović, Marcin Bulka and — God help us — Aaron Ramsdale, were linked with a move to the Stadium of Light, we’ve finally got our man and it sets up what could be a fascinating dynamic between the sticks.

First and foremost, it would be remiss not to mention that this signing ticks many of the boxes we generally look to fill: youth, enormous potential, and significant resale value should he make the kind of impression we all hope.

Roefs’ lack of English top flight experience and his relative youth may cause nerves to jangle among pockets of the fanbase, and in some ways, it’s understandable.

A well-travelled goalkeeper such as Stefan Ortega might’ve been an attractive proposition, but having players on tap who can develop along with the club is a key component of the ‘Sunderland way’, and they’ve clearly worked hard to identify possible targets.

Roefs’ debut — a promising display during Saturday’s narrow defeat to Spanish side Real Betis — was encouraging and he certainly didn’t look overawed by the occasion or the fact that his Sunderland bow came at the end of a whirlwind week.

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

Indeed, he looked confident, assured, solid when claiming crosses and more than capable of commanding his area. All vital qualities, but I suppose the key question is whether we now have a nailed-on number one goalkeeper for 2025/2026.

Ahead of his arrival on Wearside, David Ornstein’s story-breaking tweet referred to Roefs arriving as our ‘new number one’, but will it be as cut and dried as that, even with Anthony Patterson currently out of the picture?

Whatever the naysayers may claim, he’s undoubtedly earned his status as our starting goalkeeper during three eventful years in the first team.

He usurped Thorben Hoffman under Alex Neil and held his nerve in the League One playoff final before stepping up — with the odd error along the way — to the Championship. He then performed superbly during the memorable playoff final victory over Sheffield United, with a Jimmy Montgomery-like save from Kieffer Moore proving vital.

Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images

Of course, Roefs’ arrival will almost certainly lead to one of Blondy Nna Noekeu or Simon Moore leaving the club, but as is so often the case when multiple players find themselves vying for one position, why shouldn’t this drive both Patterson and Roefs on?

One accusation that’s often been thrown at Patterson is that he’s seldom had genuine competition for his place and therefore hasn’t had to push himself as hard in order to retain the gloves.

The first point is hardly his fault, but now it’s different as Roefs will be eager to give a good account of himself and the whether he chooses to knuckle down, continues to improve or loses heart will therefore be Patterson’s.

If he sees this as a challenge to be embraced, so much the better, because I want to see these lads driving each other on and raising their standards as a result. Depth in all areas is crucial and if we can bring the defence up to par ahead of the visit of West Ham, I’d feel confident in Roefs’ ability to begin his Sunderland league career in solid fashion.

Two of the most notable goalkeepers of the Stadium of Light era — Thomas Sorensen and Simon Mignolet — arrived at Sunderland as young and relatively unheralded prospects, and nobody could claim they didn’t live up to their promise during their spells as the last line of defence on Wearside.

Roefs is the latest stopper to walk that path but under a revamped coaching team and with the backing of an expectant Sunderland fanbase, I’d love to think he could do exactly that, with his teammates hopefully close by and matching him save for save.

On This Day (4th August 2017): Sunderland begin life back in the Championship!

2025-08-04T06:00:00+01:00

Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

In the aftermath of the David Moyes era, we prepared for life outside of the Premier League and the summer of 2017 wore away much of the hope we’d have for a quick return.

We couldn’t say it hadn’t been on the cards for a good few years, but David Moyes didn’t half make sure we went down without an ounce of fight.

First, the former Manchester United manager announced we would have a fight on our hands after defeat to Middlesbrough in only the second game of the season. Then we’d not see a win in the first ten league games, waiting for the eleventh fixture at Bournemouth on bonfire night to record a 2-1 win.

This triggered a period of false hope, in fact, mainly because we were prepared to cling on to anything, but also because we won four in seven, but after that, we won two in the remaining twenty-one games.

After relegation it was quickly apparent that Moyes wanted nothing more than to leave the club and it also became clear that the owner Ellis Short had lost all interest in his little hobby that was owning Sunderland AFC.

We desperately needed something to pick us up. A big character to replace Moyes, who the fans could get behind. Sometimes an appointment at times like these has nothing to do with experience or tactical awareness; it just needs someone who lifts the place and gets the fans back behind the club.

We appointed Simon Grayson.

Now, Grayson isn’t a bad manager, his record was pretty good to that point, especially at his previous club Preston North End. And we could all see the reasons why he was given the job - but he wasn’t the name that would lift the club from where Moyes had dropped it.

The former Aston Villa full-back was appointed with around a week of June remaining, and within a fortnight had lost Jermain Defoe, Sebastian Larsson, Jan Kirchoff, Joleon Lescott, Steven Pienaar, Will Buckley, and Victor Anichebe all on free transfers, and Jordan Pickford left for £30m to Everton.

Photo by Scott Heppell/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

The assumption was that the transfer of Pickford would provide the funds for us to strengthen with the aim of a swift return to the top flight and no doubt Grayson saw this as his big chance to do this from a personal viewpoint - as he will at the end of his career by the looks of it. But with big earners still on the books, it was simply swallowed by the crippling wage bill.

Aiden McGeady arrived from Everton for around £250,000, James Vaughan from Bury and Jason Steele from Blackburn signed for around £500,000 and Robbin Ruiter came from Utrecht on a free transfer ahead of the opening day of the season.

On paper, pre-season was decent, until a disastrous day on and off the pitch against Celtic at the Stadium of Light did more to dampen the mood, which was followed by Darron Gibson’s recorded rant under the influence, so by the time Gary Rowett’s Derby County arrived, there wasn’t much optimism left around the place.

Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

But, nearly 30,000 turned up for the fixture that kicked off the EFL season as it was moved to the Friday night for the Sky cameras and ahead of kick-off, there was a pre-match minute’s applause for Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery, who lost his battle with neuroblastoma the previous month.

In the first ten minutes, things looked promising. George Honeyman, loan signing Lewis Grabban and new-boy McGeady all had opportunities to give Sunderland the lead, but after eleven minutes Bradley Johnson gave the away side the lead.

I doubt any of us expected Sunderland to get back in it, we were too used to seeing us crumble, but a few minutes before half-time, Jacob Butterfield was adjudged to have handled in the area, and Grabban stepped up to slot home the spot kick and level things going into the break.

In the second half, it could have gone either way with both sides having chances to claim all three points, but it would end in a 1-1 draw, which meant we still had no league win in August since 2010 and no home win in the calendar year of 2017 was delayed once more.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

But Grayson was hopeful based on what he saw during the game:

The most important thing is we didn’t crumble. Previously this team might have gone under. We got on the front foot and asked questions of Derby. People have questioned the players’ desire this week but what you saw was eleven players who chased every ball. Testament to that was the round of applause from the supporters.

He would last until Halloween.

Friday 4th August, 2017

Sky Bet Championship

Stadium of Light

Sunderland 1-1 Derby County

[Grabban 42’ - Johnson 11’]

Sunderland: Steele, jones, Browning, Kone, Galloway, Honeyman, Cattermole, Ndong, McGeady, Vaughan, Grabban Substitute not used: Ruiter, Matthews, O’Shea, Gibson, Gooch, Khazri, Asoro

Derby County: Carson, Wisdom, Forsyth, Butterfield, Keogh, Davies, Russell (Bryson), Huddlestone, Martin (Nugent), Johnson, Weimann (Vydra) Substitute not used: Mitchell, Baird, Pearce, Bennett

Attendance: 29,578

Niall Huggins - does he deserve a chance or should he move on?

2025-08-04T06:00:00+01:00

Photo by Scott Heppell/PA Images via Getty Images

Having recovered from a major injury, Niall Huggins is back and available for selection. What’s the next step he needs to take in his Sunderland career?

Niall Huggins signed a four-year deal under Lee Johnson, but would only play four times that season. He picked up an injury that would sideline him for the best part of two months and Dennis Cirkin would go on to play the majority of games in the left-back position for that League One promotion season.

In our first season back in the Championship, Niall would only play three league games, but it was the season after where we finally saw him string together some minutes and show the fans the potential that the club had clearly seen in him. Cirkin would pick up a string of bad injuries, opening the door for Niall to get some playing time – he played 19 league games and made a good impression (you may remember his wonder goal in a 2-0 home win against Watford). He even earned himself an international call-up for Wales in late 2023.

However, his fortune would eventually turn again. That horrendous knee injury that required surgery ruled him out for 18 months and could have easily ended his career. Luckily, he bounced back and it has been great to see him back on the grass this pre-season.

Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images

I do like Huggins. I was impressed with him during that run of games a couple of years ago and this pre-season he has not performed badly. I highly commend him for his resilience and commitment to battle back from his injuries.

He is only 24 and the club seem to like him (offering him a contract extension during an awful injury), but honestly, I can’t see him sticking around for much longer. Like a lot of the squad, he is not Premier League proven, but I cannot really see him making the step up.

If the club do decide to keep him, I hope I’m proven wrong and he surprises me and the rest of the fanbase who share my perspective.

Currently, he is needed due to injuries to Cirkin, Alese and Hjelde, but once they all recover, he could easily become fourth or fifth choice.

We seem to have a problem with our left-backs being quite injury-prone (Huggins included), so keeping him around the squad may not be the worst idea, especially due to his versatility and ability to play left- and right-back, but for his career and age, I think he needs to be playing regularly.

A move away from the club may be a good solution for him and the club and I wouldn’t be too upset either way. What do you think should happen?

Lasses Review: Sunderland Women start their pre-season with a win over Celtic

2025-08-03T17:09:26+01:00

The Lasses start pre-season with a 2-0 win over Celtic Women at Eppleton CW

Sunderland AFC Women commenced their pre-season today with a 2-0 win over Celtic FC Women at Eppleton CW.

It was the lasses’ first game since they finished the 24/25 season back on 4th May, with a side full of new faces.

Similarly to the men, Sunderland Women have also been busy during the transfer window, bringing a plethora of talent with vast experience across the pitch – whilst retaining key players.

Quite the statement of intent, it would appear that the lasses are looking to press on this season and look to replicate the success of the 23/24 season, which saw Sunderland narrowly miss out on promotion on the penultimate game of the season.

Starting XI: Maloney, Griffiths, Westrup (C), Greenwood, Corbyn, Fenton, McInnes, Sheva, Blades, Scarr, Dale.

Subs: Lambourne, Brown, Paxton, Cassap, Kitching, Watson, Jones, Parker, West. pic.twitter.com/GZ3CgqakOv
— Sunderland AFC Women (@SAFCWomen) August 3, 2025

Mel Reay opted to field a team of old and new, with debuts for goalkeeper Grace Maloney, defender Hannah Greenwood and winger Reanna Blades.

Within six minutes, Sunderland had taken the lead when new signing Blades won the ball out on the wing and placed a delightful ball to the feet of Eleanor Dale. Dale, who notched twelve goals in all competitions last season, looked to continue her prolificacy in front of goal by slotting the ball into the net from the edge of the box.

The opponents looked to kick into gear at that point and began to see more success in getting forward down the wings. But despite having plenty of the ball, Celtic were unable to capitalise on their chances, either hitting heavy passes or failing to be clinical in front of goal.

The Lasses went in at half-time with a 1-0 lead and the gaffer opted to make four changes at the break, bringing on Emily Cassap, Katie Kitching, Katy Watson and Demi Lambourne for Reanna Blades, Natasha Fenton, Libbi McInnes and Grace Maloney.

Celtic themselves opted for some changes in the second half as they looked to build out from the back and get an equaliser, but they were unable to capitalise in front of goal. Though, Demi Lambourne was called into action to make a fine save.

With roughly 20 minutes on the clock, a further four changes were made, with Jessica Brown, Ellen Jones, Chloe Paxton and Ella Parker coming on for Louise Griffiths, Eleanor Dale, Brianna Westrup and Emily Scarr.

The game was nearing its end and Sunderland were still firmly holding on to their one-goal cushion until Katy Watson made it 2-0 with five minutes left. The pacey forward doubled the lead by putting the ball into the bottom corner, following on from some brilliant work by Marissa Sheva.

Unfortunately for the fans, the match today was played behind closed doors, so it is difficult for us to know exactly how the lasses performed, our style of play, tactics and formation. But it is still promising to see Sunderland kick-start their pre-season with a win over a top Scottish Women’s Premier League side.

Whilst Celtic are not the same side which featured in the UEFA Women’s Champions League a few seasons ago, this is still a team which has won the division once, the Scottish Cup twice and the SWPL Cup twice.

Of course, we can never read too much into pre-season games, but it is good to see Sunderland score twice and keep a clean sheet at the back. Particularly given the numerous substitutions we made and young/Academy players being given opportunities in the senior set-up.

We kick start our pre-season campaign with victory pic.twitter.com/nK2DxCCPqN
— Sunderland AFC Women (@SAFCWomen) August 3, 2025

Next up, the Lasses travel away to Scotland to face Rangers Women in their second pre-season game. With this being one of the only games available to Sunderland fans that is open to the public.

The game takes place at Broadwood Stadium on Wednesday, 6th August, at 2pm, which is a shame, given it is midweek and an early kick-off – and also a shame, as I’m on holiday at the time. But I’m delighted to hear that there is still a strong contingent of Lasses’ fans who are going to be making the trip up.

Safe journey to you all and Haway The Lasses!

2 Up, 2 Down: Sunderland edged out by Real Betis

2025-08-03T06:55:49+01:00

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

The Lads continued their pre-season preparations with a decent performance and a narrow loss against the Spanish visitors. What did our writers make of the game?

Calum Mills says…

Sunderland’s debutants impress

Granit Xhaka and Reinildo looked great. You could see their experience shining through and overall, the team looked better for it.

Xhaka was unlucky not to bag an assist on his debut with a lovely ball over the top for Simon Adingra to run on to, and I think VAR awards the goal.

Reinildo looked very composed on the ball, which you’d expect from someone with as much top tier experience. Could he potentially do a job at centre back? Yes. Would I prefer to see him deployed at left back instead of Harrison Jones? Absolutely.

We need to sign a centre back soon as heading into the season without a reinforced back line and relying on a natural left back to deputise in the middle is a bit of a worry.

Another defensive lapse

We can’t keep giving away goals from defensive mistakes.

Three daft goals to concede against Hearts and then switching off from a corner is criminal, and we’ll get mullered by the opposition when the season starts if it continues.

Luckily, it’s pre-season and it doesn’t matter in terms of league progression, but we have to learn and we have to learn now.

A lack of goal threat…again

I think we’re struggling with one striker up top and for me, we have to get someone closer to Eliezer Mayenda.

He had a few neat touches in the first half but he had to drop relatively deep at times to receive the ball. However, he definitely has the pace to get in behind and get on to balls over the top, which we saw in the first half — only to see Chemsdine Talbi dribble it into touch.

For the doom and gloom mongers already hammering social media: it’s pre-season. Get over it.

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

Ciaran McKenna says…

A promising performance against good opposition

We showed glimpses of a good side and there was some nice football played between the lads.

Some quick, one-touch passing emphasised the talent in the squad and showed the signs of progress and cohesion between the players — both old and new.

The new players are starting to grow into their own and show the fans the reason the club bought them.

Captain Xhaka

Leading the Lads out on his debut didn’t have any effect on him.

He was cool, calm and collected throughout, never putting a foot wrong and keeping the pace of the game firmly within his grasp. He was (seemingly) robbed of a brilliant assist and it looked like he communicated with the team well in the game.

Hopefully, after some more time with the team, this relationship will only flourish and he can take these young lads under his wing.

Highlighting the need for a centre back

I was very impressed with Reinildo and he appears to be a great signing, but putting him at centre back strikes me as a limitation of his ability. I feel for Harrison Jones as he’s a young, right-footed midfielder who I assume has never played left back before, but he was awful yesterday.

This was a clear weakness in the side that Betis saw early and looked to exploit.

If we can get at least one big, capable centre back in and move Reinildo into his native left back position, we would look a much better and more balanced team.

The goal we conceded today put our lack of centre backs under the spotlight.

Stay switched on, lads!

I’m aware that it’s only pre-season and there’s no reason to panic, but I feel like we should be making fewer mistakes than we are at this point.

Yesterday, I felt we performed better than at Hearts and Hull City (despite defeat), but the errors we’ve been making are quite alarming.

The lackadaisical pass from Noah Sadiki late on at Hearts and Enzo Le Fée’s uncharacteristic lapse of judgement in the lead up to Hull’s opener could perhaps be evidence of not being on our marks for the start of the season.

Against Betis, we didn’t make any glaring errors like those two, but we still made silly and avoidable errors. I’m sure that in two weeks’ time, we’ll give our best showing against West Ham.

John Wilson says…

Granit Xhaka impresses

We got to see Xhaka in action and after all the build up, he didn’t disappoint.

Continually looking for probing passes, breaking up play and keeping the ball moving, I can tell that in the real heat of battle, he’ll be even more impressive.

Although the pace in general was pedestrian, I was very aware that the quality is on a higher level and bar has been raised around the whole team.

A solid debut for Robin Roefs

He didn’t have a great deal to do but seeing him come off his line and collect high balls played into the box was very refreshing.

He’s a tall lad, and he picks balls out of the air with ease. On this evidence alone, his distribution is also very good, looking to set up attacks. A promising debut.

Another blank in front of goal

Eliezer Mayenda tried to make something happen up top but yet again, chances were few and far between.

Our best openings were mostly from the wings, but their goalkeeper was hardly tested. It’s a conundrum that I’m sure Régis Le Bris is well aware of.

A fragile defence

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that we need to strengthen the centre of our defence and I’m sure that the recruitment staff will be working flat out to put this right.

This was a typical friendly in many respects.

It wasn’t fast and furious and nothing was done in anger. Fitness is key, and looking at shape, building patterns on the pitch.

Just like when we ‘coasted’ to the end of last season, when the stadium is rocking against West Ham, the tempo will be there, the fight will be on, the game faces will be on, and I’m looking forward to seeing the opening team in fighting mode.

Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Joseph Tulip says…

A settled-looking team

For a squad which has undergone so many changes this summer, we now have a good idea of what the starting eleven will be on the first day of the league season against West Ham.

There may well be more arrivals but with a completely new midfield, we played some good football at times and looked as though we’re starting to gel as a team.

You never see ‘full pelt football’ in pre-season, but all of the lads looked bright and keen to make an impression, with new skipper Granit Xhaka leading by example.

Simon Adingra shines

This was my first time seeing the new players in the flesh and I was impressed with each of them, but Adingra really caught my eye with a skilful display, especially during the first half.

He was a box of tricks at times on the left, taking on his man and making some intelligent runs.

It’s early days for all of these new lads but I liked what I saw from Adingra, who also linked up well with our central midfielders.

Stadium changes

The artwork and the concourses look good, as do the early signs of sprucing up the outside of the stands with a new lick of white paint — certainly on the East Stand.

There was a fairly relaxed vibe and it was good to see signs of our preparations for the Premier League both on and off the field.

A lack of substitutions

I’d liked to have seen a few more players get a run out, especially Patrick Roberts and Dan Neil, so it’ll be interesting to see how things play out in the weeks to come.

Although it’s great to see exciting new players, it’s hard to see some of our promotion-winning side being left on the sidelines, but sadly there’s no room for sentiment in a ruthless results-based business.

Talking Points: Sunderland back in action on home soil!

2025-08-03T06:00:00+01:00

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

The sun was shining, the Lads were eager to make an impression, and Andrew Smithson was there to take in our latest game of pre-season!

The Lads are back in town

Quite a lot has happened since we were last at the Stadium of Light and whilst this time it wasn’t quite as intense as the Coventry City playoff match, it was still nice to get back into the home matchday groove.

There were plenty of Sunderland fans out and about in the hours leading up kickoff, and everybody seemed to be confident going into the new campaign — not long until the competitive action begins!

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

A Stadium of Light spruce up!

We’d looked at the photos beforehand but it was great to see first hand the work that’s been carried out to make the ground feel a little more special.

The simple things like a lick of paint and updated signage/branding within the standard concourses make the stadium more appealing for supporters, whilst the new signage along the top of the Jimmy Montgomery Stand acts as the fitting tribute to one of Sunderland’s greatest ever figures — as we knew it would be.

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Short corner concerns

This was something that bothered me last season and it still seems to be an issue as for whatever reason, Sunderland remain vulnerable to short corner routines.

I can’t imagine that this is an oversight as Régis Le Bris and his staff are so thorough in their preparations, so there must be some thinking behind constantly letting teams get a free cross into the box.

Real Betis had two such opportunities in the first half and whilst nothing came of them, it still feels like a risk to keep letting them happen unchallenged.

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Decent debuts

We saw three people turning out in Sunderland colours for the first time and although this was just a friendly, the early signs were good.

Robin Roefs was assured; Reinildo steady away and Granit Xhaka was exactly what we hoped he would be: strong physically and he made good use of the ball.

You can’t always take much from this type of match, but it was obvious that the new lads all have something about them.

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Competition for places

Although some areas of the pitch obviously still need strengthening, our midfield options look very encouraging at the moment.

It might be assumed that Xhaka will be first choice alongside Enzo Le Fée and Habib Diarra, yet nobody should rule out Noah Sadiki just yet.

He’s been one of the most eye-catching players during pre-season so far, and against the Andalusians he displayed the type of energy and agility that’s going to be needed in the coming weeks.

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The final countdown

With Le Bris making only two substitutions, this felt more like a ‘proper’ game than the ones that went on before.

Had it been fully competitive, I don’t think the defence would’ve switched off like they did for Betis’ winner, but with only two games to go before the Premier League starts, you have to assume that one of next weekend’s clashes will be approached as if it were the real thing — particularly if there’s been a busy week in the transfer market as is hoped.

That means a first choice starting eleven and a more suitable tempo, and that’s when we’ll get a better idea of where the team stands.

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